Working toward zero waste in the cafeteria

One Florida school district has been making great strides toward its goal to reduce the amount of waste it sends to the local landfills. Alachua County Food & Nutrition Services is enlisting its youngest community members to help get there!

Students at Stephen Foster Elementary School separate their lunch leftovers and trash for compost and recycling, with some food scraps repurposed to feed pigs at a local farm.  The Food & Nutrition Services department received a grant from the State of Florida to launch its new accelerated composting system. 

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Survey Prompts Major Updates to Nutrition Program

Wayzata Public Schools (MN) nutrition professionals spent the summer of 2018 overhauling the nutrition program in the district’s Culinary Express. They created new school menus, with delicious scratch-made recipes, including homemade chicken noodle and chicken wild rice soup, vegetable lo mein, spicy black beaned burgers, baked ziti and pork carnitas burrito bowls. 

While revamping the Culinary Express website, school nutrition staff worked with a local food hub and marketing company to help provide more opportunities for nutrition education, including new graphics, cafeteria posters, food mascots, etc. The innovative changes to their school nutrition program were prompted by survey feedback from parents and staff.

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Specialty Equipment Helps CA District Serve 24,000 School Meals A Day

Students in Modesto City Schools (MCS) in California started classes last week, but school nutrition professionals had been preparing for the new school year all summer long. Something exciting was in store, helping to improve the more than 24,000 meals made daily – new equipment for their specialized bakery.  Think about 24,000 meals in terms of a restaurant – what kind of facility is needed to produce that many meals every day? Read more…

Cafeteria On Wheels Feeds Even More Students Over Summer Months

After a successful pilot program last year, Alachua County Schools in Gainesville (FL) has added a food truck to their free summer meals program, bringing delicious options to neighborhoods in need over the summer months.

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A new food truck in Alachua County Schools (FL) is traveling to feed more students over the summer months. Staff is preparing to use the “On Point Food Truck” at the district’s high schools in the fall.

The three additional neighborhood stops will serve about 150 children who would otherwise go without these meals over the summer. All children under 18 years old are eligible for free summer lunch, but even adults have shown an interest and are buying from the enticing food truck as well, said Rowe. Read more…