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Unity Charter School

340 Speedwell Ave
Morristown, NJ 07960

973.292.1808 (tel)
973.267.9288 (fax)
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Serving Students Healthy Lunches

Food director earns 'Carrot' award
BY WENDIE MAKOUJY SPECIAL TO PLUS
DAILY RECORD, Morris County, NJ (11/08/06)

It's not a typical school lunch menu: pizza with whole wheat crust, organic flour and tomato sauce; black bean enchiladas with fresh tomato salsa; and shepherd's pie with brown rice, lentils and mashed potatoes.

But, it is the lunchroom fare in Morristown at the Unity Charter School, which has an unusual organic health food program that recently netted the school's food service director, Judy Mancini, a Golden Carrot Award by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).

"Judy knows that taste, color and texture are key to creating fun and palatable meals for school-age kids," said Dulcie Ward, a registered dietician for the committee. "At Charter Unity, kids are encouraged to try new things and to keep tasting -- a tried and true method of exposure to new foods."

Charter school leads the way in healthful lunch programs

BY SUSAN ALAI
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The Morristown-based Unity Charter School, a kindergarten through eighth grade school, has received the 2006 Golden Carrot Award from the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The school was recognized for its more healthful lunch program, which features a vegetarian menu of salads, fruits, vegetables and other low-fat foods. Most entrees are vegan, gluten and dairy-free. The school does not serve such typical lunchroom meals as burgers and chicken nuggets.

Healthy life lessons

Wellness programs and new guidelines designed to help fight obesity and illness
BY SUZANNE ZIMMER LOWERY
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Wednesday, September 6, 2006

School bells are ringing throughout the state this week, and parents are once again are faced with the lunchbox/cafeteria dilemma. During my own elementary years, I pulled an estimated 500 bologna sandwiches on spongy white bread, with a generous spread of mayonnaise, from my Brady Bunch lunchbox. By the time I reached the middle school cafeteria, I became a master at stuffing all those mushy green peas into my empty milk carton. (Hey, at least I drank the milk!)

A school's yum factor honored, as healthy

Vegetarian lunches win an award
BY MAURA McDERMOTT
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Tuesday, October 10, 2005

Sam Marks thought the healthy, vegetarian lunches served up at Unity Charter School in Morristown might be hard to stomach.

But it turns out that's baloney.

"At first I was like, 'I don't really like health food,'" said Sam, 14, an eighth-grader from Randolph.

Then Judy Mancini, who presides over the 102-student school's compact kitchen, won him over.

"Her food is really, really good," said Sam, now in his second year at the school. "She just knows how to put things together so it tastes good."

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine agrees.