(TEWKSBURY) – New York Jets teammates Linebacker Kenwin Cummings and Wide Receiver Marcus Henry today teamed up off the field to congratulate Old Turnpike School in Tewksbury, NJ for being one of this year’s winners of the Jets and New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Eat Right, Move More program.
Cummings, Henry and representatives of the Department of Agriculture presented a program at the school today to call attention to the importance of eating nutritious foods and increasing activity whether you are a professional football player or a student.
“Old Turnpike School is committed to ensuring that its lunch menu is filled with healthy foods, including Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “The Eat Right, Move More program with the Jets reinforces that to be a healthy adult, children need to make nutritious choices now and that the school cafeteria is a great place to find creative offerings of healthy food for our students.”
Today’s lunch menu at Old Turnpike School featured grilled chicken on a wheat roll, Caesar salad and fresh fruit. A salad bar and fresh fruit are available every day.
The Eat Right, Move More program, a partnership between the Jets, the Department of Agriculture and the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council’s Fuel Up to Play 60 campaign, encourages New Jersey school children to take advantage of healthy foods in their school cafeterias and become more active. This year, schools had to show strong support and use of locally-grown products in their school meal menus, as well as demonstrate efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity among their students.
This is the fourth year of the Eat Right, Move More Program. The campaign features posters with campaign spokesman Jets’ offensive tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson that tell students, “Eating healthy meals helps me play my best. Your school cafeteria has a variety of nutritious foods to keep you going all day long. So let’s get up and Eat Right and Move More!”
“Old Turnpike School really shows how important it is for kids to eat well and get regular exercise,” said Jets Linebacker Kenwin Cummings. “I am happy to be here today to congratulate these kids for leading healthier lives and setting a good example.”
Karin Laraway, Tewksbury Schools Business Administrator, said Old Turnpike School uses locally grown produce from farms in Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren Counties and white flour items have been replaced by whole grain breads.
“We recently had the National School Lunch Review and the state’s comment was, ‘Menu items were attractively displayed on the serving line and an extensive variety of choices is available,’” said Laraway.
In addition to Old Turnpike School, five other schools from around the state were selected as winners in the Eat Right, Move More program: Brookside School in Allendale; Elmwood Park Memorial High School in Elmwood Park; Summit High School in Summit; Cold Springs School in Gloucester City; and the grand prize winner, Harrison High School in Harrison. Harrison High School was visited by D’Brickashaw Ferguson in November, representatives from the school were honored during the December 20 Jets game at the Meadowlands, and the school received a $5,000 grant for cafeteria upgrades made possible by the Jets and the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council’s Fuel Up to Play 60 campaign. The five runner-up schools received visits from various Jets players as their prize.
Programs funded by the New York Jets Foundation touch the lives of countless young men and women in the tri-state area. Over the past ten years, the Jets and their charitable foundation have donated or raised more than $10 million to promote youth health, fitness and education, particularly in disadvantaged communities. From fighting childhood obesity through the Generation Jets: Be Lean & Green initiative to launching a football team in an urban high school, urging students to eat right and move more, and supporting the efforts of the Alliance for Lupus Research, the New York Jets invest in programs that make a difference in the lives of others. In addition to the Jets Foundation, which supports their own extensive youth initiatives, the Jets partner with numerous established charitable organizations and participate in causes sponsored by the NFL.
The Department of Agriculture’s school nutrition policy is the most comprehensive in the nation and covers pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students. The policy limits fat and sugar content in foods offered in a la carte lines, snack bars and vending machines, school stores and as part of on-campus fund-raisers.
More than 673,000 students in both public and private schools participate in the National School Lunch Program, administered by the Department of Agriculture.
Source: New Jersey Department of Agriculture
