Powered by School Food Professionals

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

At Oxnard Union High School District, School Food Professionals like Vou Suafoa and Sarah Phillips are cooking up more than just delicious meals — they’re also supporting students’ success. Vou and Sarah know that a student who’s just had a nourishing meal is more likely to be able to focus on learning. One way they make sure meals are delicious and full of things students need? Fresh, local ingredients. That’s why their September menu includes meals like Mediterranean salads, chicken alfredo with broccoli and fajita chicken and rice bowls, plus fresh watermelon from their Farm to School program.

School Food Professionals across California are cooking up delicious, healthy meals to set students up for success. But it only matters whether a meal is healthy so long as students actually eat it. Esther Huizar, Cafeteria Manager at Oak Valley Union Elementary School District in Tulare, CA, has advice for cooking up healthier meals without intimidating students: take the recipes students already know and love and make swaps for healthier, fresher ingredients. Learn how she does just that with her student-approved chicken quesadillas: https://lnkd.in/gFbkNWrA

Across California, School Food Professionals are operating farm to school programs that provide students with integrated food-based education and access to healthy, fresh food. Take Anna Nakamura Knight from Old Grove Orange. Her family has farmed citrus trees for five generations in Redlands, CA, and has partnered with School Food Professionals to support local students for two decades. Farm to school programs don’t just support students. They also support the farms and surrounding communities. For Anna, the large purchases schools made from her farm enabled her family to pay for her and her brother’s college education. Learn more about how farm to school programs benefit students, farmers and communities: https://lnkd.in/eJkAWZcJ

Harvest of the Month programs, like the one at Oxnard Union High School District, have a three-fold positive impact: they increase fresh produce in school meals, introduce students to new fruits and vegetables and they support local farms. Cafeteria Manager Elizabeth Mungia has seen the impact firsthand. Her students, who might otherwise be cautious of new vegetables, love the idea of produce like radishes, broccoli and persimmons coming straight from the garden to the tray. After all, as Elizabeth says, “It’s all fresh from the ground, and that’s what makes it taste so good.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/d6UBGXnu 

There’s a reason Stella Ndahura’s team is full of passionate and skilled professionals. Stella, Director of Nutrition Services at Azusa Unified School District, knows that cooking fresh, healthy meals that support student success isn’t just a one-person job. Her team of dietitians, chefs, menu planners and more are all key to creating nourishing meals that make sure students are better able to focus on the task at hand: learning. Learn more about how Stella and her team are cooking up better school food: https://lnkd.in/gYSF4xMw