Dream Camp

In 2010, Michael Rouse, the director of ESF Dream Camp Foundation, came to Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin to ask for help. Lunch is the only part of Dream Camp that is not dream-like, he argued.

Two years and 7500 lunches later, all agree that lunch is one highlight of the camp day. Rouse describes Dream Camp after the first summer of Eatiquette: "Some of the amazing outcomes that we saw were that our kids really learned to how take care of themselves. They were feeling different as a result of this one meal they were having every day. They were feeling happier, they were feeling more energetic, they were feeling calmer. We saw behavioral infractions decrease significantly. We were averaging somewhere in the area of 22 per day last year and we averaged somewhere in the area of 4 a day this year as a result of the food program."

Wissahickon Charter School

Starting in the fall of 2011, Wissahickon Charter School added healthy, family style school lunches to their curriculum. Every day the lunch menu is included in morning announcements. Table captains are dismissed to lunch 15 minutes early so that they can set and serve their tables. Both children who eat hot lunch and those who bring their lunch from home sit together at round tables with a teacher or staff member either at every table or overseeing two tables. Kristi Littell, co-Ceo of the school, includes the following as the benefits of implementing Eatiquette:

• Shorter waiting times for food means more time to eat, relax and enjoy conversation.

• Greater insight into student nutrition because of teacher involvement.

• A less chaotic experience overall

Wissahickon Charter School students work together to clear and clean their tables and have even become pros at composting their table scraps.