Chef Partnerships – TrayTalk.org

Iron Chef Breakfast Competition in NY School

Hosting Iron Chef-style competitions has become an anticipated special event for Mechanicville City School District students in New York. Deborah Mackey, Food Service Director in the district, helps to put on about four each year, typically giving student teams a specific ingredient to include for a lunch dish. Past competitions have featured locally grown beef and apples, but the focus has never previously been on breakfast.

Mackey introduced the idea recently and held a breakfast competition to lead up to National School Breakfast Week (NSBW), a great opportunity for students to try new menu items and focus on the importance of breakfast.

Minnesota Thursday Program Kicks Off Black History Month

Food can be a window into different cultures and a learning tool to introduce students to meals not typically served within their homes. To that end, students in 16 schools across Roseville Area and St. Anthony Schools (MN) were treated to made-from-scratch menu items from St. Paul-based West Indies Soul Food chef Sharon Richards-Noel on Feb. 1^st in conjunction with Black History Month. The menu included sizzling jerk chicken drumsticks, seasoned curried rice, and delicious sides of Caribbean black beans and watermelon radishes.

Seattle Schools Source Salmon from Native American Tribe

Many school nutrition programs were forced to take a closer look at how they operate and where they source their food following pandemic-related supply chain challenges. For Seattle Public Schools (WA), that meant new opportunities to consider local sources to supplement shortages. Through assistance from Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE), the district now serves locally caught salmon for lunch several times a year from Muckleshoot Seafood Products, a company owned by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.

Cooks & Books Kicks off Summers in Kansas

Cooking lessons and good books are the perfect ingredients for a successful summer lunch program in one Kansas district. The Cooks & Books program began as a collaboration between Wamego Unified School District 320’s food service director and the city’s library director and has become something that members of the community look forward to each year.

Illinois Student Guest Chefs

The school kitchen is proving to be a popular choice for some Illinois students to cash in on their good behavior rewards. The “star bucks” rewards can get them perks such as having lunch with the principal or providing a pass to skip homework for a day. But elementary students at two McHenry School District 15 schools have enjoyed the option to redeem their rewards to be guest chefs for the day, according to the district food services director.

Taking Farm-to-School Food on the Road

To get farm-to-school and locally sourced foods to more students, Buffalo Public Schools (NY) invested in a food truck, which went on the road in October of 2020.

“We only serve New York-made beef, hotdogs and hamburgers on the food truck. Any entree served comes from local farms, such as locally grown eggs, New York grown potatoes and hydroponic lettuce,” said Bridget O’Brien Wood, Food Service Director for Buffalo Public Schools. The menu is dependent on the current growing season.

Montana Made Marinara is a Hit on Lunch Menus

There were rave reviews from some young food critics when meatball subs with locally produced marinara were served at Belgrade School District #44. The sauce was made with ingredients grown on Montana farms and the initiative was started to help solve a problem brought on by supply chain shortages. The goal was to have a product consistently available for school nutrition programs.

Culinary Students Bake Rolls to Overcome Shortage

Supply chain shortages have been impacting schools across the country. According to a recent survey by the School Nutrition Association, 97% of school meal program directors nationwide were concerned about continued pandemic supply chain disruptions and 90% were worried about staff shortages.

In Virginia, instead of looking at the supply chain shortages as a negative, the Louisa County School District turned it into a positive and a lesson. At Louisa County High School, located about two and half hours southwest of Washington, D.C., the food services program was only able to get white bread through their vendors and could not get any rolls.

Thankful for Students, Schools Provide Holiday Lunch Celebrations

Ask anyone about their favorite school meal as a child and the Thanksgiving turkey lunch usually comes to mind. The love of the turkey day meal remains, but much has changed about what it looks like today. Schools have created new recipes and ways to incorporate turkey in their meals, with a variety of trays, bowls, dishes or curbside pickup containers needed to deliver holiday traditions. Through soups, pot pies, sandwiches, whether carved, sliced, roasted, cubed or diced, turkey is still the star of the show.

Port Clinton City Schools (OH) served a delicious apple crisp this year as part of its holiday meal.

Thanksgiving school meal sides include everything from whole grain rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potato mash, roasted potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, salad, sweat peas and yams, to seasoned corn, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, broccoli and fresh fruit.

Lunch Participation Jumps When Students Learn About Local Ingredients

One school district increased school meal participation by educating their students about the local, healthy options they were already sourcing from local Kentucky Farmers. Fayette County Public School’s (FCPS) Nutrition Department (KY) worked closely with their Farm to School program to coordinate the Fayette Farm to School Challenge, a weeklong program filled with taste tests, cafeteria guests and educational programs to help increase student participation.

The Fayette Farm to School program worked to promote the educational aspect to families, students and staff, while the FCPS School Nutrition Department procured and prepared local menu items for the week. They featured recipes including cheesy chicken étouffée, an original created by District Chef Todd Gorrell, containing Kentucky sweet potatoes and butternut squash. The week also showcased how kid-favorites, like hot dogs and Sloppy Joe’s, could be made healthier, using locally-sourced produce and local farm-raised meats. Read more…