Author Archives: schoolmealsthatrock

My comments on the USDA Proposed Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

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Having spent the past 25+ years as an advocate, cheerleader and trainer for the best possible meals in schools, my commitment to healthy school food is long-standing and far-reaching. You may copy and paste any of my thoughts below into your comments. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FNS-2022-0043-52985 for details and to submit a comment. Note the comment period was extended to May 10, 2023.

At this time, I sincerely believe that the current proposal for Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is unnecessary and potentially detrimental, especially to those children who rely on school meals as their primary source of nutrition. As a registered dietitian, a taxpayer, a mom and a grandmother, I urge USDA to “put in pin” in this proposal for two years and give dedicated child nutrition professionals a chance to take a take a deep breath.

Nearly every person who works in school food is exhausted and many are completely burnt out. After the pandemic and the resulting disruptions in supply chains and staffing, most are just now getting their feet back on the ground. What they need is support and funding for programs like universal school meals, farm to school, nutrition education, scratch cooking, culinary training, and waste reduction rather than new restrictions that make it harder to do the jobs they love. My thoughts:

  • Keep the USDA Nutrition Standards for school meals at their current levels for the next two years. School meals served under these standards have been shown to be the “healthiest” place for children to eat in the US. There are also reports that the current standards have had a positive effect on rates of childhood obesity and overweight.
  • Please consider pilot programs. Give schools the chance to develop best practices through your own programs like Healthy Schools Initiative and other efforts for change like Scratch Works by the Chef Ann Foundation and multiple state-level Team Nutrition grants.
  • Revised Dietary Guidelines are currently in progress and will be released in 2025. It would make more sense to wait a couple of years and have the most current dietary guidance line up closely with changes in school meal patterns. While there might not be dramatic changes in the next DGAs, it makes the most sense to have them on concurrent timelines.
  • School meals are NOT the problem in terms of children’s sugar and sodium consumption. Sugar sweetened beverages, high sugar cereals, and high sodium snacks are no longer served in the school meals. Children are consuming excessive amounts of these nutrients at home and in other foodservice locations.
  • No other federal programs or foodservice locations are being asked to adhere to such strict standards. What about meals served in the USDA’s Washington, DC, cafeteria and to our service men/women in the military around the world? What about congregate meals for seniors and, most important for families, SNAP benefits?
  • Few industry partners are truly prepared to provide products that meet these patterns. R-and-D takes time and smaller, local producers may be at a disadvantage in terms of both time and cost of product changes.

Thank you for reflecting on my comments. I believe that the children of our country, especially those in low-income families who rely on school meals, would be best served by delaying implementation for two years. Many programs and initiatives are underway; I believe we should give them time to show results and define best practices in different settings.

Dayle Hayes, MS, RD, EatWellatSchool@gmail.com, Bozeman, Montana

Why Peanuts Belong in Schools

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By Dayle Hayes MS, RD, and Jeanne Reilly, NDTR, SNS

Sponsored National Peanut Board, Peanuts in Schools

There are many reasons peanuts and peanut butter can benefit school nutrition programs. Here are four of the reasons we’re convinced that peanuts do belong in schools.

Kids Love Peanut Butter

Consumer research suggests that the average American will eat as many as 3,000 peanut butter sandwiches in their lifetime. But these days, we know it’s not just the iconic PB&J that kids love. The truth is that the palate of Americans has changed and that’s true for school children too. These days, kids love spicy, global flavors and they come to school looking for meals that reflect the ones they eat at home and at local restaurants. If we want students to eat school meals, they must taste good first.

Peanut Butter is Convenient

Pre-made PB&J sandwiches have been a favorite of students for years. During the pandemic, they became an essential part of emergency meal delivery for schools across the country due to their convenience. Many directors reported that offering pre-made or homemade PB&J sandwiches increase participation. Because it is shelf-stable, peanut butter is also a food that’s perfect for keeping in stock all the time.

Peanut Butter is Affordable

Peanut products provide a cost-effective plant-based protein, meat/meat alternate option with minimal labor investment that children love. Peanut butter is affordable for school nutrition programs to purchase or to divert into processing for pre-made sandwiches. It’s also affordable because it’s versatile and can be used in many other recipes. It can help reduce the cost of a full serving of another meat/meat alternate such as yogurt when mixed to make this Yogurt Dip or served as part of a vegetarian or chicken dish using this Multipurpose Peanut Sauce. Lastly, the value of peanut butter can also be seen in its very low waste – both because it lasts a long time in storage and because students actually consume meals that include peanut butter.

Bans Interfere with Food Equity

While social justice and food equity are currently hot topics, they are not new issues for schools. The school nutrition program was established to help ensure that hungry children were fed. Banning specific foods creates inequalities from school district to school district and even within school districts. It is important to remember that peanuts and other nuts are a valuable source of nutrition for children from various backgrounds, including vegetarians (by choice and by religion). Peanut butter is also often a lifeline for children with diabetes as a snack to help manage blood sugars. Lastly, it is often a nutrient-rich food that children with sensory processing differences (like autism) will eat when they may not eat much else. Restricting access to these foods by children who can safely eat them unnecessarily creates inequalities.

Peanut Butter on The Menu

Wherever you’re serving school meals, peanut butter can help. Breakfast, lunch, snack and supper are all times when peanuts and peanut butter can fit. As we mentioned, peanut butter is a versatile ingredient that can go beyond the PB&J. Get inspired by this collection of school nutrition recipes, including Peanut Butter Overnight oats, African Peanut Soup, Multipurpose Peanut Sauce, just to name a few. If you’re still doing (or need to do again) curbside or delivery meals for students, consider how using individually wrapped or portion cupped peanut butter products can help you serve safe and nutritious meals for students. For remote meals single-serve peanut butter and individually wrapped PB&J are a value-added convenience because they are shelf stable and unitized to prevent cross-contact.

For more about serving peanut products in schools safely, visit PeanutsinSchools.org.

Want to win a peanutty prize pack? Review the content available on PeanutsinSchools.org and take this quiz now through April 29, 2022. Terms and conditions are available here.

Taking Whoa to Wow: The Realities During National School Lunch Week 2021

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Is it possible that this school year is worse for school meal programs than last year? Talk to a few school nutrition heroes and the answer is a resounding YES.

First, the good news: All students K-12 in US schools can receive meals at no cost during SY 2021-2022. This means increased participation (more than double in some schools) and more kids getting healthy meals. This is a very good thing, until you also think about supply chain disruptions and staff shortages.

Word Cloud compiled from parent letters by Mary Rochelle, The School Food Project, Boulder Valley School District Boulder Valley School District, Colorado

There are lots of supply chain problems – late deliveries, no deliveries, substitutions and some amazingly mis-labeled cases. Imagine getting cases of frozen blueberries instead of pizza sticks, sugar instead of pizza sauce, or minced clams instead of bagels. While shortages and substitutions may be relatively easy when feeding a family of four, culinary magic tricks become serious business when you are feeding hundreds or even thousands of hungry kids at school.

Schools are facing increased demand and, in many cases, decreased supply of critical food ingredients and sometimes even the trays needed to serve them. And one more thing that is in short supply: workers. Like restaurants and stores, many school nutrition programs cannot fill open positions and are constantly juggling schedules when workers are out sick. Remember, schools have been feeding millions of students since March 2020, almost twenty months without any real breaks. From emergency curbside pickups and home doorstep deliveries, they have now moved to meals in the classroom and lines in the cafeteria. Schools may have been closed, but school foodservice was – and still is – open for business. These nutrition heroes have worked long, hard hours and they are tired – very, very tired.  

Rosemead School District, California, takes pizza shortage to pizza WOW during National Fruits and Veggies Month #HaveAPlant #HaveAPlantwithCheese

But here’s the incredible thing: During the current challenges, their creativity has continued to shine! As Moss Crutchfield, a school chef, put it, school nutrition pros know how to “turn a WHOA into WOW!” When pepperoni wedge pizza did not show up in Rosemead (CA) school kitchens, they “got innovative with vegetable pizza using roasted broccoli, mushrooms and peppers. We surprisingly found out most students loved the substitution!” In Riverview Garden School District (MO), Shannon Ebron took the pizza substitution challenge head on: “No meat topping pizzas in stock, no problem! Buffalo Chicken and Turkey-Ham Hawaiian pizza comin’ in hot from RGSD high school! Speed scratch pizza featuring a commercial 4-cheese pizza as the base.”

As a chef, Moss (new Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Epping School District, NH) has been using his mad chef skills to create new recipes out of existing USDA commodities: “Asian orange chicken failed to arrive, but I had plenty of commodity chicken and peaches at my new district. I always keep some basic foundational ingredients like teriyaki and soup bases on hand, so I made a yellow chicken curry with spices and puréed fruit. Literally DAY ONE of the new school year. Now they ask for ‘that” chicken!”

Yellow Curry Chicken, prepared by Chef Moss Crutchfield, Epping School District, New Hampshire

So, what am I thinking as we celebrate National School Lunch Week (10/11 through 10/15)? I’m thinking that the creativity of school nutrition professionals is unsurpassed in the culinary world. They have fed children WELL during a pandemic (along with hurricanes, floods and forest fires). They have searched deep into their communities to partner with local farmers, ranchers, bakers, chefs, stores and restaurants – helping local agricultural producers and food businesses survive during hard times. They are the world to hungry children as you can read in this note, shared by Vince Caugin from Natomas USD (CA).

Thank you note from student to Natomas USD Lunch Lady

What can you do? Rather than complaining about school lunch substitutions, take a few minutes to support school nutrition professionals – recognizing that they are doing the best they can, with what they have, in very difficult situations. If you work in a school, take a few minutes to handout meals at a breakfast cart or to wipe down tables between classes in the cafeteria. A simple thanks can also do wonders. It doesn’t have to be complicated or elaborate. Handmade cards from students are always in style. Thank you cards from USDA Team Nutrition are easy to download and send or print out at https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/stronger-school-meals-educational-materials

USDA School Meals Strong materials available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/stronger-school-meals-educational-materials

Grace and Gratitude: 10 Truths about School Meals, Labor Day, 2021

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Some of my best friends are school nutrition professionals. On any ordinary Labor Day, I would salute their hard work, post a few photos of colorful school meals, and move on. But this is no ordinary Labor Day, especially since it is the second observance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, September 6 is also the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a time of introspection and reflection. September is Hunger Awareness/Action Month as well.

For all these reasons, I am sharing some important news about school meals and the dedicated professionals who plan, prepare and serve them to 30 million plus children every school day. There is good news: All students K-12 can enjoy school meals at no cost during SY 2021-22, along with challenging news: Feeding all students K-12 during SY 2021-22 is no easy task. Unfortunately, there is also sad news: School nutrition heroes are being treated with disrespect – by school administrators, by educators, by families, and, in some worst-case scenarios, by their colleagues in the nutrition community.

In my opinion, the only things that we should be saying to school nutrition professionals this September are thank you and what can I do to help? Like your mom told you, if you cannot say kind things, please don’t say anything at all. Here’s why:

1. School lunch ladies and food dudes are true heroes. When COVID shut down the US in March 2020, school nutrition programs kept serving meals for hungry families – curbside drive-thrus when virtually every restaurant was closed, and many grocery stores had empty shelves.

2. School nutrition professionals are exhausted. They have served billions of emergency meals on the frontlines with little time to rest and recuperate. They have been creative with meal kits, emergency food boxes and dining in the classroom – but now they are tired, very tired.

3. Healthy school meals for all increases participation. School nutrition professionals know the face of childhood hunger. They saw it before the pandemic, and they watched food insecurity grow during COVID. They are eager to feed as many students as possible and to see meal counts go up.

4. School meal programs are struggling with staffing. Help-wanted signs are everywhere in foodservice. School food programs are short-staffed at the same time they have more students in line for meals. Scratch cooking with fresh and local ingredients also requires more labor hours.

5. Schools have serious problems getting food they order. If you’ve heard the term supply chain disruptions, you know that food products and equipment are also hard to come by. School nutrition programs are having trouble getting many student favorites in the increased amounts they need.

6. School dining spaces have strict safety guidelines. Keeping kids safe during COVID takes extra work and vigilance. Social distancing while eating and keep dining spaces clean requires extra staff time that is already in short supply. Students may also need extra TLC as they adjust to being back in school.

7. School nutrition leaders go the extra mile every day. They go to work on a holiday to take a delivery that cannot wait until Tuesday. They go in on a weekend to check a freezer alarm. They leave their office computers to go into schools to wash dishes, cut up veggies, serve meals and whatever else is necessary.

8. Contingency planning for B-C-D-E is the new normal. Even the best run programs need much more that a plan B. Directors are continually planning for the “unexpected” – school closures, staff rosters with necessary CVOID quarantining, postponed deliveries and _______________.

9. Rather than complaining, take time to help or support. Give school nutrition professionals grace for doing the best they can, with what they have, in very difficult situations. If you are in a school, take a few minutes to handout meals at a breakfast cart or to wipe down tables between classes in the cafeteria.

10. A simple “thanks” can do wonders. It doesn’t have to be complicated or elaborate. Handmade cards from students are always in style. These thank you cards from USDA Team Nutrition are easy to download and send or print out: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/stronger-school-meals-educational-materials

Dan Gorman and his dedicated team in a year of COVID-19!

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Dan Gorman has been the Food Service Director for two Michigan districts, Montague Area Public Schools and Whitehall District Schools, for 21 years. The two districts have a combined enrollment of about 3,500 students with a pre-pandemic free/reduced rate of 47 percent. Before COVID-19 school closures, their ADP was about 60 percent for breakfast and high 60s percentages for lunch. Like thousands of his colleagues, Dan was notified on Friday, March 13, 2020, that schools would be closed starting Monday, March 16th. And on Monday, families in Montague and Whitehall could start picking up meal packs with seven breakfasts and seven lunches.

From those very first curbside meal pickups, Dan’s team has focused on making it as easy as possible for families to get the food they needed and making the quality worth the effort it took to get the food. They started and continued with a “grocery store” model, packaging pizza kits and taco meals. By working with suppliers to order was actually in the warehouse (rather than specific items with low availability), they were able to give families more food while maintaining food costs. They also worked with local Michigan Grown producers and others to purchase apples and carrots in bulk, creating 1-pound family size bags. Since schools have returned to a fairly consistent hybrid schedule, the districts have maintained a once per week pickup schedule of dinners and snacks plus breakfast and lunch when students are not in school. While participation numbers have dropped slightly, they are still sending out 1,000 meal packs per week, serving BIC and providing lunch in a variety of service locations.

Montague Pickup

What was the biggest challenge that you had to overcome in the past year?

Dan agrees with most of his colleagues that the biggest challenge for the first few months of COVID emergency meals was the ever-changing, head-spinning series of waivers and guidelines. One of his biggest concerns was how to keep their staff safe. By summer 2020 they had figured the logistics out and were able to get into a basic routine. They realized that they were operating more of a warehouse rather than kitchens which helped with the musical chairs of storing large amounts of food in accessible locations. As students returned to school, sanitation became a major challenge in terms of labor – so many surfaces in so many locations.

What achievement are you the proudest of in the past year?

Dan also agrees with other directors here: He is incredibly proud of the food service staff in Montague and Whitehall, of how they stepped up to get the job done, even in the beginning when it was scary: “In those early months my staff were true heroes offering our families the stability and security of food on a weekly basis.” School nutrition became a true safety net for Michigan communities, taking care of the food and nutrition needs of families. Throughout it all the school nutrition employees continued doing things that were not their ‘normal’ job – not what they had signed up for – in a situation with myriad unknowns about their personal safety.

What innovation have you made that you will continue using in the future?

While it may sound minor, a simple innovation made staff’s lives easier while they were struggling to do a hard job. Switching to narrow pallets that fit through a walk-in door minimized loading and unloading, especially of bulk produce. They were able to serve lots of fresh produce with better logistics.

Packing boxes in Montague High School

Jeanne, Dayle and HOPE after a year of COVID-19!

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This blog post is going to be a bit more personal than recent interviews with school nutrition professionals that I have been sharing. It is about hope after social isolation, friendship that thrives in a pandemic, and the heroic efforts of school nutrition heroes in Maine, Montana and every other state. Jeanne Reilly wrote the original post on TIPS for School Meals That Rock and created the fabulous School Nutrition Hero graphic. I have edited the following text for clarity only.

Friends in Maine

Our Thought for today is HOPE. This past week, we had the pleasure of being together for an in-person visit. Hanging with a friend, hiking around southern Maine, enjoying spring weather , chatting endlessly, and contemplating a new school year with a new round of waivers – everything felt hopeful and we were both refreshed by our visit! 

For Dayle a visit to Windham-Raymond School Nutrition Program and the Mobile Meals van was her first on-site school visit since before the pandemic began. Things were certainly different: We were masked and serving meals out of a van, as well as in our cafeteria and classrooms but the simple act of returning to previously “normal” activities felt good and HOPEful. 

Windham-Raymond School Nutrition Program, Mobile Meals Van

For Jeanne, it felt good to have someone to strategize with about next year, to dig into the newest round of waivers, and someone to laugh and whine and obsess about ALL of it! Nothing like a little lobster, accompanied by a healthy dose of lighthouses, fresh Maine air, hikes and bald eagle sightings to give life and a fresh perspective full of HOPE and anticipation! 

As we look forward to next year, we have HOPE that all, or almost all students will be back to learning in person; HOPE that #HealthySchoolMealsforAll will continue to be available at no cost to students next year and beyond. We certainly know that it will be a long time before things feel 100% normal, but we have HOPE that we are on the road back. 

YOU are our HEROES!

As you know School Lunch Hero Day is next Friday, May 7, 2021. We have set a small goal of getting our TIPS for School Meals That Rock membership up to 17,000 by next Friday! Can you invite some of your friends who are not currently TIPS members? If every school nutrition hero invites one of their “essential” friends, we could meet and exceed 17,000 members in no time at all! There is strength in numbers – and the more members we have the better we can collaborate, share and inspire. We look forward to ALL your posts about your celebrations!

Are schools the healthiest places to eat in America?

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A recent study from researchers at Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University grabbed headlines across the country. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the school and senior researcher on the study, was repeatedly quoted as saying “Schools are now the single healthiest place Americans are eating.” Complete results are available in the article Trends in Food Sources and Diet Quality Among US Children and Adults, 2003-2018 from JAMA Open Network.

When RDN colleague, Cara Rosenbloom asked me to comment on the article, I jumped at the chance. This study (and the resulting media attention) is one more important way to share just how essential school meals are for the health of our country. You can read Cara’s excellent summary on verywellfit at Analysis of American Diet Finds School Meals Most Nutritious, including several quotes from me. It is also the purpose of 20+ blog posts where I have interviewed school nutrition leaders about their experiences during COVID-19.

Article by Cara Rosenbloom, RD

Here are my complete answers to the questions that she asked me.

Cara: In the research, it says that “the largest improvement in diet quality was in schools, with the percentage with poor diet quality decreasing from 55.6% to 24.4%, mostly after 2010, and with equitable improvements across population subgroups.” Can you comment on what changed after 2010 to account for this improvement?

Dayle: The major changes after 2010 relate to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFK) passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The USDA website summarizes it well: Improving child nutrition is the focal point of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The legislation authorized funding and set policy for USDA’s core child nutrition programs: the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children , the Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allowed USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. Over the decade since the HHFK was enacted, several other changes have led to improvements in school meals. Briefly these include:

  • Increased funding and dramatic expansion of Farm to School programs (including school gardens and actual school farms) across the US. For details and data, visit the USDA Farm to School website.
Burlington (Vermont) School Food Project serves as many local foods as possible
  • Increased focus on culinary training for school nutrition professionals and school chefs becoming more and more common. These efforts are supported by USDA Team Nutrition training grants and by 3rd party groups, often with industry support. An excellent example is the Healthy Kids Collaborative convened by the Culinary Institute of America.

Cara: Can you describe what children may be given as a typical school lunch? Which particular foods/nutrients may account for it being “healthy?” And how did that change from pre-2010?

Dayle: A typical school lunch includes whole grains, lean proteins and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Serving sizes and sodium levels are specified by age group. More details can be found in the 2018 Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, and School Nutrition Association:Comprehensive Nutrition Programs and Services in Schools and the accompanying Practice Paper. 

Madison County, Kentucky, meals at school and curbside grab-n-go

Within the USDA guidelines and regulations, there is lots of delicious flexibility for schools to offer meals that appeal to students, introducing them to new flavors while respecting cultural traditions and food preferences. Since pictures are worth thousands of words, I invite you to scroll through the photos on TIPS for Schools Meals That Rock, a Facebook group of 16,800 members. Unfortunately the perception of school meals today still relies on some very old tropes of monochrome processed entrees with canned fruits and veggies. Today even the canned products have been reformulated. 

Cara:

Cars: How has COVID-19 affected school lunches? Are they still being distributed? Are they still nutritious?

Dayle: COVID-19 has affected school meals just like it has affected every aspect of our lives! The really good news is that school nutrition programs have been serving meals for children (and sometimes families too) often with 24 hours of school closures last March 2020. 

School nutrition professionals have been true heroes during the pandemic – making certain that children were fed even if it meant putting themselves at risk. The meals, meal kits and meal boxes that they have served – through heat, cold, snow and rain – have been an actual lifeline to families everywhere in the USA. 

Many thanks to the school nutrition staff in Carson City, Nevada

School Food on the Frontlines: It’s been a COVID year for Janis, Ben and 129 Employees of the Year!

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Director Janis Campbell-Aikens, MBA, RDN, SNS, CD, and Coordinator Ben Atkinson, MS, RDN, CD, have worked together in Auburn, Washington, School District Child Nutrition Services for 2 years. The district has about 16,500 students with a pre-pandemic free/reduced rate of 52 percent and daily average of 5,000 breakfasts and 9,000 lunches. When Washington State schools closed in March, Auburn started serving grab-n-go meals curbside and very quickly switched to bus route deliveries in partnership with their transportation department. From March 2020 to March 2021 their department served 1,635,239 meals, including meals at every school break which was new for them. Elementary students, who are currently in school buildings 2.5 hours per day, pick up a cold breakfast and hot lunch on their way home, with some schools receiving Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program snacks as well. Secondary students, who are in buildings for a full day 2 times per week, receive breakfast and a hot lunch during their lunch break. Additionally, there are curbside pick up locations at each school, as well as 8 mobile distribution routes serving about 50 stops throughout the school district.

Child Nutrition Services delivery vans

What was the biggest challenge that you had to overcome in the past year?

Janis and Ben agreed that their biggest concern was keeping their employees COVID-19 safe with precautions unclear and/or changing from week to week. And they succeeded! While there were COVID cases, they never spread within the department. They are very grateful for the ongoing communication and regular guidance updates from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

What achievement are you the proudest of in the past year?

This March Auburn School District honored all 129 ASD Child Nutrition staff members as the Classified Employees of the Year. As noted in the district’s announcement: Staff members in this department are true frontline heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic and have been since the first days of the pandemic. A few examples:

  • They were serving meals to students the week after schools closed. This was during a time when very little was known about COVID-19 and they showed up to prepare and serve meals to thousands of children.
  • Staff volunteered to work on spring break, Thanksgiving break, winter break and mid-winter break to make sure no children in Auburn go without food.
  • They worked all summer serving meals throughout Auburn, Algona & Pacific.
  • They are reimagining in-person school meals so we are sure to follow all of the health and safety requirements AND make sure students have good nutrition.
  • The CN office staff has worked to support families and assist with resources.
Wonderful way to recognize the contribution of Child Nutrition

Janis and Ben noted that between Child Nutrition and Transportation they knew the needs of each and every kid – and they were able to make certain that they got the food they needed.

What innovation have you made that you will continue using in the future?

Even the midst of the pandemic Ben has continued to focus on innovations in packaging and testing new recipes. These have included fresh, new flavors like Bahn Mi and Cuban sandwiches as well as the cultural flavors that reflect the meals that families enjoy at home, including chana masala and beef lo mein. They hope to continue and grow both of these innovation channels in the future.

Taste testing new recipes: Bahn Mi and Mozzarella Tomato Sandwiches plus Beef Burrito Bowls

School Food on the Frontlines: It’s been a COVID year for Maria and Your Choice Fresh!

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Maria Eunice, MS, SNS, has been the Director of Alachua County Food & Nutrition Services, Gainesville, Florida, for 16 years. The district has 30,000 students with a free/reduced rate of about 50 percent. Pre-pandemic the department – also known as Your Choice Fresh with the tagline Empowering Students Through Healthy Meals – served approximately 1.6 million breakfasts, 3.5 million lunches, 420,000 suppers and 680,000 snacks per year.

Cutest pick-up customers ever

During the year of COVID-19, Food & Nutrition Services was an acknowledged “shining star” in the district serving over 6.4 million meals since March 2020. Using a total of 81 sites (curbside and bus routes) during school closures, Alachua actually grew breakfast participation to 2.1 million meals. With only two weeks off in the past year, they have covered families’ nutrition needs every single day of the pandemic. With the exception of 6,500 virtual learners, all students have been in-person and eating at school since August 2020. Twenty-four curbside sites are still open for bulk distribution two days per week from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm. Every decision – like these distribution times – has been made to maximize participant convenience and customer service. If local students needed food, Alachua Food & Nutrition Services was there to provide it.

What was the biggest challenge that you had to overcome in the past year?

The main challenge identified by Maria will be familiar to nutrition directors across the country – how to make long term plans with short term waivers. While the waivers were (and are) wonderful, they often caused disruption in food and commodity orders that had already been placed for summer and back-to-school meals. Shifting gears for major pivots happened on several occasions in Alachua. They also experienced supply-chain issues for food items, packaging and even bins to use on bus routes. They thrived thanks to dedicated employees and community support.

Alachua employees make all the difference

What achievement are you the proudest of in the past year?

Maria is very proud of the new and improved relationships within the school district and the wider community that have grown over the year of COVID-19. Food & Nutrition Services trained paraprofessionals, crossing guards and, of course, bus drivers to help with food distribution – and some have become department employees! Everyone, including the school board, has a new appreciation for the importance and contributions of the Your Choice Fresh. Unexpected assistance came in many forms; at bus route distribution points, the local police would often announce the arrival of meals and encourage families to ‘come and get it’ over their PA systems.

What innovation have you made that you will continue using in the future?

Food & Nutrition Services wants to continue growing their engagement with families around food and nutrition at home. The YC at Home (Your Choice at Home) platform has allowed them to effectively share nutrition and culinary education, reinforcing the benefits of school meals for the whole family at home. The use of QR codes is another successful innovation that they will keep using. Printing the codes onto packaging and menus has made it easy for customers to find cooking instructions and other information on the departmental website – with one click on a smartphone.

Customer service with QR codes for links to recipes and more

School Food on the Frontlines: It’s been a COVID year for Shannon, Katie and the A-Team!

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Shannon C Solomon MS, SNS, been with the Aurora (Colorado) Public Schools Nutrition Services for 13 years. She started as a kitchen manager and rose through the departmental ranks to become Director of Nutrition Services three years ago. Katie Lopez, SNS, has been Assistant Director of Nutrition Services for five years. Pre-pandemic the district had 40,000 enrolled students – approximately 72 percent eligible for free/reduced meals – serving 26,000 lunches and 15,000 breakfasts on daily basis. When schools closed in March 2020, the “A-Team” immediately made one of many pivots to begin serving curbside locations (53) and on bus routes (17) throughout Aurora. This basic Grab-n-Go model – with a daily meal packs for all children served 10:45 to 11:30 – continued throughout the summer.

Starting October, Aurora students gradually returned to school using a hybrid learning plan. The department continues to serve curbside, on buses, and in-school meals – with their mission as their north star: Nutrition Services supports student achievement by serving nutritious, delicious, quality meals with excellent customer service. During COVID-19 the A-Team has focused on feeding students and families where they are. By the week of April 19, they will have served 7 million meals – including 9,000 Turkey dinner kits for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving dinner distribution

What was the biggest challenge that you had to overcome in the past year?

Solomon and Lopez are quick to identify the overarching challenge they faced during COVID-19 – fear. Administration, educators and department employees were afraid of the virus and afraid of failing to feed children adequately. They overcame fear with a combination of transparency and trust – along with healthy doses of persistence, grit and flexibility. The Nutrition Services stayed focused on the mission of feeding kids – this is what we do no matter what. Lopez attributes much of the A-Team’s success to Shannon’s leadership style of consistency and clear direction. She has been at work every day making sure that the employees have what they need to fulfill their motto: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Feeding Kids.

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Feeding Kids

What achievement are you the proudest of in the past year?

In a March 2021 report, the A-Team list best practices that have enabled them to serve 7 million meals. It is worth listing them here because they illustrate that multiple factors are what makes Aurora Public Schools Nutrition Services so special:

  • Culture of open sharing of fears, doubts, unknowns and emotions (no right or wrong)
  • Grateful Challenge exercise
  • Communication, communication, communication
  • Daily wellness checks
  • Daily debriefs
  • Daily virtual huddles
  • Consistency, communication, marketing
  • Having fun!
  • Clear mission
  • Delicious, nutritious, QUALITY meals: If we wouldn’t eat it, we wouldn’t serve it!
  • Fresh fruits and vegetables daily
  • Community outreach
  • Inventory management
  • Utilization of social media
  • Menu flexibility
  • Celebrate all victories – big or small!
  • Embrace failure and daily changes
  • Adapt and pivot quickly with a clear communication process
  • Partnered with neighboring districts on all best practices
  • Partnered with local restaurants to provide a hot lunch option every other week.
  • Providing a ready-to-eat item in each bag. This often allowed families to enjoy their meal on site while socially distancing.
  • Partnered with Children’s Hospital Colorado to help with the need in the community. In April, hospital staff began passing out Food Boxes to our community at APS drive-thru sites. This partnership was a game-changer for the community in Aurora.
  • Sending home Big Bag Friday with meals to sustain over the weekend
  • APS Foundation coordinated donations to cover the cost of adult meals

What innovation have you made that you will continue using in the future?

Shannon and Katie are eager to continue meeting their customers where they are throughout school campuses. They now have grab-n-go hallways carts in every wing of many schools. Now that they have the right equipment – thanks to grants from Dairy Max – they are able to increase participation in a variety of ways. Plus, now that administrators and educators have realized meals in the classroom can work well, Nutrition Services hopes to make BIC and other classroom meals the norm.

Fulton Family Picnic in the park