In recent years many groups including : garden / local food / composting advocates ; government organizations such as the USDA , Let ’ s Move , and the EPA ; parent groups clamoring for better food ; and students storming board meetings demanding better school food across the country have all been focused on trying to make school food better .
Clearly these groups are working very hard to make an impact on children ’ s eating habits , but many students are still unsure about where their foods come from and how they should eat healthy . Students at many schools are eating mostly processed foods that they end up throwing away ( at least 40 % of what they take is being tossed into the trash can , according to a food waste study I did with the EPA in 2016 ).
Is there anything that can tie these silos together to make real change happen in our school dining centers ? The ONE ingredient that can and will bring all the silos into one congruent shared vision is scratch cooking . Scratch cooking in schools is where it needs to start in order to help students learn how to make healthy food choices for life .
This may sound easy enough , but it is not . The system is stacked against scratch cooking . Commodity purchasing and the reimbursable meal program ( USDA ) make it nearly impossible to produce good tasting , healthy meals . A majority of schools rely on the reimbursable meal program as well as the trend to fast , convenient , processed foods that so many of us have become accustomed to .
My partners in sustainable school food and I have worked in school food environments nationwide for many years . During this time , we have learned that people simply need to get back to the basics of cooking foods from scratch ( without being held hostage to commodity programs ) in order to make real change . Wholesome , good-tasting food can be the catalyst to make a difference throughout the school and into the community .
We have developed a proven process to achieve the goal of serving fabulous school food in a sustainable system . The following steps build sustainable food systems that engage all members of the school community .
STEP 1 - Assess Reality
To start the process , we need to identify how a school currently approaches its food service . Our first step is to perform an assessment where we make on-site observations and ask questions to determine the current reality is in the school .
STEP 2 – Determine the Vision and Develop the Strategy
Once we know the lay of the land , we then develop a vision for the future . We meet with members of the kitchen staff , students , parents , school administration , and some community members to determine what is important to the school community as it pertains to food , sustainability , and engagement . We find that it helpful to let people vent their frustrations and then let them talk about all that they are trying to accomplish and what they have already tried to lead students to make healthy food choices as well as be good stewards of the earth . The feedback is used to lay out a strategy with benchmarks , so there are clear outcomes and quantifiable results .
STEP 3 – Implement the Strategy and Engage the School Community
Once the strategy is developed , we make sure that all stakeholders are in agreement . Then it ’ s time to implement the strategy , engage the school community and start COOKING ! It is critical to track all data points so that progress can be continuously measured . We also identify where any funding may be needed to improve the kitchen equipment or facility . To be the most effective in driving food and sustainability education throughout the school , we often suggest to our school clients that they consider hiring a green team coordinator to lead these education initiatives .
SOURCE THE INGREDIENTS FIRST – THEN BUILD THE MENU BASED ON THOSE INGREDIENTS
Flavorful meals are the result of fresh ingredients . Therefore , by determining which local ingredients are in-season and best priced , it is possible to source meal components that are optimal for cooking great tasting meals from scratch that students will love ! This way of planning is not a common practice in many commercial kitchens today . It takes time , preparation , and lots of practice to get there , but once this method is in place it leads to sourcing more local foods which taste better than foods that have traveled great distances . It ’ s no secret that eating flavorful foods that taste great is more enjoyable .
Once we establish our ingredient base we can then plan the menu . When the menu is built based on the ingredients , similarly to the way upscale restaurants source seasonal ingredients and build the menu , the result is better tasting food .
We also believe in eliminating variety . Let there be one fabulous entrée a day that kids will eat , with a fantastic salad bar , with homemade dressings , hard boiled eggs , maybe even a ‘ make your own sandwich ’, for those that don ’ t want the entrée . Reducing variety and waste will offset any additional funding
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