Farm to School – TrayTalk.org

Teaming up to Enhance Scratch-Made Menus for WA Students

The Ellensburg School District, located in central Washington, is revamping school meals for its 3,300 students across six schools. Working to transform offerings with more scratch-made recipes, vegetarian options and locally sourced meats and produce, the team is now led by a dietitian and chef partnering to develop meals that are nutritious and flavorful.

Together, they have successfully introduced popular dishes such as miso-ginger ramen with tofu or beef, scratch-made Alfredo pasta, vegetarian enchiladas and build-your-own bowls.

Touchless Salad Bar Transforms Lunch at CT High School

Customizing entree salads has gone high tech at one Connecticut high school. Students in Meriden’s Platt High School can now build their own salads without ever handling a pair of tongs thanks to a state-of-the-art touchless salad bar.

Transforming the way healthy meals are served, the bar has streamlined the entree salad service line. Students start with a clamshell base of lettuce and protein – chicken, tuna or marinated mozzarella are common offerings – then move to the touchless bar. Motion sensors dispense toppings like tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, black beans and dried cranberries in precise portions.

Produce Auction Helps PA District Serve Up More Local Foods

“Going once, going twice…sold to the Manheim Township School District!”

That phrase is heard weekly at a local produce auction in Pennsylvania, where the district is working to elevate school meals with a focus on fresh, local produce. The auction features local farms, many from the Amish community, offering colorful, seasonal fruits and vegetables that are bid on to be served in school meals that nourish the district’s 6,200 students.

TX Districts Cultivate Farm to School Connections Through Local Food Hub

Lake Travis ISD and Manor ISD in Texas have reimagined farm-to-school connections through a Food Hub Pilot program.

The collaborative program relies on partnerships with the Central Texas Food Bank for infrastructure and delivery support and the Sustainable Food Center to help align menu forecasting with regional harvests. Connections were made with local farms, including Farmshare Austin, Hope Full Farms and The Refugee Collective, who contributed fresh, organic and sustainably grown foods.

School Meal Planners Share Lunch Tray Ideas for the Fall

Earlier this summer, Alamo City served up more than just Tex-Mex; it provided inspiration and fresh recipe ideas to fuel school nutrition teams from across the country.

More than 6,000 school nutrition professionals gathered in San Antonio from July 13–15 for the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) Annual National Conference (ANC), the largest event of its kind in the country. ANC gave attendees a firsthand look at the tools, techniques, and tastes shaping the school meals.

School meal planners filled the nation’s largest exhibit hall in school nutrition to visit nearly 360 exhibits. From the moment doors opened, attendees sampled new recipes, foods and beverages for lunch trays, previewed cutting-edge kitchen equipment to help prepare and serve meals and exchanged ideas on replicating restaurant trends to meet school nutrition guidelines.

Utah Elementary Lunchroom Leads the Way in Food Waste Diversion

At Academy Park Elementary near Salt Lake City, sustainability isn’t a buzzword, it’s a practice woven into the fabric of the school’s daily cafeteria operations. Thanks to the hard work of head custodian Rylie Ogden, the school is leading by example with their innovative food waste diversion process. The initiative is a perfect blend of education, teamwork and commitment to preserving the planet for future generations.

Students in WI Eat Their Way Across the Globe

While students in Wisconsin’s Prescott School District were not afforded the opportunity to sail in a gondola in Venice or visit England’s Buckingham Palace, their tastebuds got a chance to take a tour of the world via delectable cuisine spanning the globe.

The students recently took part in the Around the World in 80 Trays program, which encourages school nutrition programs statewide to incorporate international cuisines and culturally-significant meals into their menus.

Plastic Free Day: A step toward greener lunchrooms in GA

When lunch was served at two schools in Georgia’s Gwinnett County School System recently, something was missing. Plasticware, a lunchroom staple for years, was nowhere in sight. Excited students could be seen eating scrumptious and nutritious lunch items sans plastic utensils and served in paper boats, bowls or wrapped in paper. This was a day when eating with hands was encouraged!

Hydroponic Gardens Sprouting in Schools

Hydroponic gardening is taking root in many schools across the country, offering students a unique, hands-on way to learn about sustainability, nutrition and science. By growing fresh produce in garden towers, schools are not only providing healthy ingredients for meals but also teaching valuable lessons in innovation and environmental responsibility. It’s a fresh approach that connects students to the food they eat and the science behind it.

For the past six years, the Unified School District of De Pere in Wisconsin has maintained three hydroponic towers, starting with one and adding two more over time. The primary goal is to educate students about an innovative way to grow fresh food while ensuring a steady supply of lettuce for school meals.

Texas School Co-op Hosts Popular Food Expo for 25 Years

Consumers have many ways to share their voice when it comes to menus and restaurant reviews – good, bad or indifferent, opinions on Yelp or Google reviews can be taken into consideration by chefs and foodservice managers. It only makes sense that students are interested to share their voice in school menu choices too, which can be both empowering and satisfying as they evolve into future decision makers.

Food Service Specialist Lauren Bush prefers to go straight to her young customers when it comes to critical menu decisions for schools within the Region 5 Food Service Cooperative, comprised of 43 school districts in East Texas. Two food show expos each school year are held to showcase new food items and gather student feedback on what’s new in healthy school menu offerings. The Lufkin Expo took place in the fall and the Beaumont Expo will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on February 4^th.