Creating Change from Scratch: Building a Fresh & Healthy School Food Program
December 11, 2024
Change isn’t easy. But with the right people and the right attitudes, it can happen. When I started in school food, you could still sell sodas, and there was no oversight in terms of what was stocked in the vending machines. Deep fryers were only just getting phased out when I was coming in.
But then you had trailblazers like Chef Ann Cooper and Michelle Obama who really pushed the status quo and promoted healthy, scratch-cooked school meals. Seeing them advocate for change and actually get it done was inspiring and eye-opening, and it made me want to do the same.
When the director position at Tahoe Truckee Unified School District opened, they told me they wanted someone to come in and introduce a more nutrient-dense, fresh and scratch-cooked model for the school food program. I can’t tell you how amazing that was to hear. For someone who really cares about school food, that’s like winning the lottery. So I submitted my application immediately. I must have been a good fit, because I’ve been here for 13 years!
Today, the food we serve is as fresh, scratch-cooked and locally sourced as possible. The tomatoes in our salad bar are picked fresh within 150 miles of our school, and they go right to our sites. If you’re used to mealy, frozen-and-thawed tomatoes, this is a whole different experience. They’re like candy.
The reason we were able to make those changes happen is because we had the right people working together. We had parents, the school board, the superintendent and an amazing school food team, and all of them were on the same page. Everyone was concerned about the heavily processed food that was being served, and they were determined to do something about it.
Every School Food Professional on our team is committed to what they prepare, how they serve it, and getting feedback from students. You can see the results in every meal and on every smiling kid’s face. The recipe ideas they come up with are fantastic, and it’s not just our students and teachers who think so. Many districts across the state now use our breakfast muffin bar recipe. It’s hard work, being on your feet all day, prepping and cooking food, getting deliveries out, keeping on the timeline and meeting everyone’s needs. We need to give our School Food Professionals the recognition they deserve.
When other directors ask how they can push their own programs to be healthier, fresher and more focused on scratch cooking, I tell them that it has to start with relationships. If there are parents who support you, grab them, hang on to them, invite them to everything, get their feedback. Students, teachers and community partners can absolutely help programs succeed.
At no other time in my career has there been so much support for farm to school, local sourcing, organic food and scratch cooking. You have the Chef Ann Foundation, Eat Real, the Center for Ecoliteracy, the National Farm to School Network, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the California Department of Education, Nutrition Services Division, just to name a few. So don’t try to go at it alone. Bring people into your circle and tell them, “Here’s the help I need.”
We’ve made so much progress over the last decade — the upgraded veggie pattern, sodium restrictions, whole grain and new sugar rules that’ll be coming up in the next year, for example — and we’re just getting started. I’m really proud to be part of school food service and what it stands for now.
Photo Credit: SteveKepple.com