Powered by School Food Professionals

Submissions are still open for the Powered By School Food Professionals Awards! School Food Professionals working in a California K-12 public school food program are invited to submit recipes from their program for the chance to receive national recognition and win exclusive prizes across six categories: Best Original Recipe Best Scratch-Cooked Adaption Best Farm to School Recipe Best Take on a Culinary Trend  Best Culturally Relevant Recipe Community Choice Recipe Submit your entry today or share with a school food program who should: https://lnkd.in/emuGng6Z Submissions close December 1, 2024. 

How does the third-largest school district in California provide nourishing, delicious meals for thousands of students each day? It takes a team of skilled School Food Professionals including nutritionists, chefs, bakers and site managers who coordinate a complex process with recipe-testing, local ingredient procurement, project management and more. See how Fresno Unified School District cooks up fresh meals by the thousands in our newest Food for Thought: https://lnkd.in/eDsidSgh 

We’re pleased to announce the Powered By School Food Professionals Awards! This competition celebrates the work of California’s teams of School Food Professionals leading the movement for fresher, healthier meals and more scratch cooking in school food programs across the state. Professionals working in a California K-12 public school food program are invited to submit their teams for an opportunity to receive national recognition and win exclusive prizes. Submissions for six categories are open starting today and are due by December 1st. Enter today: https://lnkd.in/emuGng6Z

School Food Professionals are putting success on the menu for California’s students. With students consuming more than a third of their daily calories at school, it’s crucial that school meals support their physical health, mental health and classroom performance! Explore how better school food supports student success in our new Food For Thought: https://lnkd.in/eC4VHPgv

For over 60 years, people across the country have been celebrating National School Lunch Week and the impact of healthy school meals on student wellbeing and success. One thing is clear: delicious, healthy meals start with the School Food Professionals who make them. Curious about what it takes to put together a great school lunch? Understanding federal nutrition standards, culinary skill and creativity are just a few pieces of the puzzle. Learn more in our latest Food for Thought: https://lnkd.in/eCgDVRrB

Thanks to District Chef RJ Lane and his team, students at West Contra Costa Unified School District are eating meals made with the same high-quality ingredients that are used in some of the best restaurants in Napa Valley.  “I talk to people all the time who tell me they wish their district could do what we’re doing here, I tell them to keep advocating for it, because there’s change coming. Here in California, the whole state is moving toward better and scratch-cooked food.” – RJ Lane, West Contra Costa Unified School District RJ spent 25 years working in the restaurant industry before deciding to switch to school food. He was inspired to reduce waste and cook more from scratch using local ingredients, and that’s exactly what he’s done at West Contra Costa in Richmond, CA. Learn more about his work: https://lnkd.in/g6GmF6qG

Happy National Farm To School Month! Across California, School Food Professionals are partnering with local farms like Old Grove Orange to bring the freshest, ripest ingredients to students. But that’s not all! Farm to school partnerships also support local farmers and economies, teach students about agriculture and gardening and build more sustainable food systems. The state of California and its School Food Professionals have a strong commitment to the growth of farm to school programs. Since 2020, the state has invested over $100 million to support and expand access to these programs. Learn about the positive impact of farm to school programs: https://lnkd.in/exKF2UEA

Changing the way schools feed nearly 30 million kids a day has the power to fundamentally transform the food system. School food professionals are at the center of this change, but their critical role in shaping our nation’s relationships with food, the environment, and each other is rarely recognized or understood among the general public. That’s why we partnered with the state of California to launch a first-of-its-kind perception change campaign — Powered by School Food Professionals — to showcase the passion, skill, and creativity of school food professionals across the state who are working to make school meals fresher, healthier, and more delicious. Learn more about this campaign in our recent blog: https://ow.ly/BH7M50Txyje

Lead Cook Baker Maria Hernandez works in Fresno Unified School District’s Nutrition Center, where School Food Professionals plan, prepare and cook healthy and delicious meals for 20,000 students across the district. Putting together fresh and tasty menus takes passion, dedication and time — and it’s one of Maria’s favorite parts of her job. The menu planning process takes about two months from start to finish and includes creating recipes, sourcing ingredients and taste testing. Learn more about the work School Food Professionals like Maria are doing to improve school food and student success across the state: https://lnkd.in/dsayj7kM

This National Food Service Employees Day, we’re spotlighting Nutrition Services Supervisor Michelle Pruitt Roybal and her team at Azusa Unified School District! Everyone knows that nothing beats a family recipe. So in her mission to bring more home-style cooking to schools, Michelle hosted a pozole contest. Michelle and her team of School Food Professionals at Azusa Unified School District shared their favorite pozole recipes, taste-tested them, voted for the winner, and served up the best one in schools. They also found the secret to a delicious pozole recipe: high-quality ingredients. The winning recipe had flavorful hominy, fresh chilis, and a rich broth. Across California, School Food Professionals are following Michelle’s lead and serving up more home-style meals that reflect the tastes and cultures of the students they serve. Learn more about Michelle’s pozole contest, plus get a scalable recipe for chicken pozole: https://lnkd.in/gsKxVqHJ