News Release

Contact: Sondra Katzen, Public Relations, 708.688.8351, sondra.katzen@czs.org
 
May 20, 2016
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Healthy Fare for Kids logo

Photo Captions
Photo 1: Two of the Healthy Fare for Kids® menu items offered at Brookfield Zoo are a half chicken sandwich on 100 percent whole grain bread with baby spinach served with quinoa salad and a fresh fruit cup and baked chicken tenders served with a side of hummus and cucumbers, carrots with ranch dipping dressing, and a fresh fruit cup.

Photo 2: A young Brookfield Zoo guest enjoying a Healthy Fare for Kids® menu item.

Photo 3: Kids visiting Brookfield Zoo dining on Healthy Fare for Kids® menu items.

Photo 4: In partnership with Healthy Fare for Kids®, Brookfield Zoo now offers healthy alternative menu items for children.
 

Brookfield Zoo Introduces Healthy Food Options for Kids
Partnership with Healthy Fare for Kids Launches Memorial Day Weekend

 
Brookfield, Ill. — The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, is kicking off summer this Memorial Day weekend with healthy food choices for children through a partnership with Healthy Fare for Kids. As a result of the partnership, Brookfield Zoo will introduce five meals that meet Healthy Fare’s nutritional guidelines and will be offered at the zoo’s BZ Red Hots, Café del Sol, Bison Prairie Grill, Oaks Café, and Castaway Grill.

“I applaud on the Chicago Zoological Society for joining the Healthy Fare for Kids’ initiative to ensure that children and their families have access to healthy food when visiting the zoo,” said Forest Preserve of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. (The zoo sits on land owned by the Forest Preserves.)

Chicago-based Healthy Fare for Kids works with restaurants for nutritionally sound menu items that can aid in the fight against childhood obesity. President and founder Diane Schmidt, a local parent and health educator, developed the initiative with James Beard Award-winning chef Sarah Stegner, co-owner and co-chef of Prairie Grass Café in Northbrook, IL. The venture began as a grassroots program and now reaches more than 45 million people each year.

“We are excited to work with the Society, offering nutritious and delicious meals to children,” said Stegner. “We hope introducing healthy meal options at the zoo will empower families to make healthier food choices at home and at school.”

Healthy Fare for Kids works to bring sustainable practices to these meals, too. Menu items will be changed throughout the season depending on product availability, and all meats will be antibiotic- and hormone-free. This program will offer healthy options to more than one million young zoogoers each year.

“We are excited and proud to be a part of an initiative that is dedicated to providing children and their parents with the information and meals necessary to help them live a healthy and happy lifestyle,” said Rich Gamble, senior vice president of operations of the Chicago Zoological Society.

The children’s menu will show the Healthy Fare for Kids logo next to certified items, which will include: 
·        A half turkey sandwich on 100% whole grain bread with Swiss cheese and honey mustard served with a side of jicama apple salad.
·        A half ham sandwich on 100 percent whole grain bread with Swiss cheese and sliced pineapple served with a side of jicama apple salad.
·        A chicken salad sandwich on a wheat roll served with a side of jicama apple salad.
·        A half chicken sandwich on 100 percent whole grain bread with baby spinach served with quinoa salad and a fresh fruit cup.
·        Baked chicken tenders served with a side of hummus and cucumbers, carrots with ranch dipping dressing, and a fresh fruit cup.

Brookfield Zoo offers fun for the whole family, welcoming more than 2.1 million guests annually, more than 45 percent of whom are children. The Healthy Fare for Kids logo helps families identify healthy options at a glance and make educated choices at the zoo.