Inside School Food
72 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 7 years ago - ★★★★ - 7 ratingsA showcase for fresh insights that are making a difference, and progressive solutions that really work. Peer leaders from across the nation share their stories about fighting hunger, coping with regulation, and meeting sustainability goals. About winning kids over and changing lives with creative menus packed with fresh whole food. Need help keeping up with emerging school nutrition policy, legislation, and research? We’ve got that covered, too. From the Heritage Radio Network.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Episode 72: In Michigan, "10 Cents a Meal" For Farm To School
October 17, 2016 16:01 - 32 minutes - 30 MBWhat can you get for a dime? Add it to the federal reimbursement for a school meal, and it buys a lot. Use it to support spending on farm to school, and it generates many more times its value in local economic development. That's the thinking behind Michigan's "10 Cents a Meal" pilot, which directs millions of dimes into locavore salad bars, entrees, and snacks for children in 16 districts. Modeled after trailblazing farm to school policy in Oregon, the program received state funding for the...
Episode 71: Smart Snacks and Sneaky Snacks
September 26, 2016 15:09 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBWhat's so smart about those USDA-regulated "Smart Snacks" sold in school vending machines? More whole grain, and lowered sugar, fat, and calories—even if they're Cheetos, Doritos, or Pop Tarts. These reformulated items are less unhealthy, sure, but new research from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity proposes that their "copycat" look and packaging is designed to maintain brand loyalty outside of school, where the original versions are heavily marketed to teens. The strategy may be ...
Episode 70: Remembering Philando Castile
September 19, 2016 15:26 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBOn July 6, 2016, the school nutrition community suffered the tragic loss of one of its own when Philando Castile was shot by police during a routine traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Philando—a.k.a. "Mr. Phil" and "Mr. Rogers with dreadlocks"—was the beloved 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor for the J.J. Hill Montessori School in Saint Paul. In this special episode, produced in collaboration with Saint Paul Public Schools, we hear about Philando from his colleagues and his mother, Va...
Episode 69: Why #StopTheBlock?
June 27, 2016 14:04 - 44 minutes - 41 MBIn a move they say will “spur innovation,” Republicans on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have voted to issue block grants for school nutrition programs in three pilot states, cutting them loose from federal federal mandates and supervision. #StopTheBlock’s opponents to this measure—to date, more than 1,000 organizations—say these states would be cut loose from a lot more. On today’s episode, Education/Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) describes how block grants,...
Episode 68: Community Eligibility Explained
May 23, 2016 16:43 - 51 minutes - 47 MBCommunity Eligibility (CEP) is the most popular program to be introduced to federal school meals programs in many years. To date, 18,247 high-poverty schools in nearly 3,000 districts have begun using it to slash cumbersome paperwork, eliminate stigma, and include food-insecure children whom the previous certification system had left behind. Under CEP, every child eats for free, regardless of pay status. This might seem wasteful of taxpayer dollars, but that's only until you take close look ...
Episode 67: New research for boosting breakfast
May 16, 2016 22:32 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBFrom two new studies, research you can use to pitch your breakfast program to students, parents, and school administrators. First, evidence that a morning meal is critical to maintaining healthy weight in adolescents. In fact, two breakfasts—at home and at school—are not just better than none, but very possibly better than just one. Second, evidence that participation goes up most reliably when the marketing strategy is direct, personal, and on-the-spot—and as simple as “Good morning, Johnn...
Episode 66: Trending: Food Courts
May 02, 2016 15:31 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBFood courts at school are an increasingly popular way to win the participation of trend-savvy teenagers. If you’re flirting with the idea for any of your sites, give a close listen to today’s guests. They’re equally prepared to either talk you into or out of the immense investment involved in embracing this style of food service. Because it doesn’t involve just money, but also—and more significantly—a commitment to sea change in the entire school community’s attitude towards lunch. Not ready...
Episode 65: From California, New Recipes for Success
April 25, 2016 17:13 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBWe've all heard that too many cooks can spoil the broth, but that's hardly the case on today's episode. The new FRESHMeals collection of recipes for schools is the work of several dozen cooks from 18 "California Ambassador" districts, pledged to mentor and share best practices state-wide. It took more than two years of tightly coordinated trial-and-error to build a database of 140 (so far) dishes that are off-the-shelf school ready—fully vetted for practicability, affordability, customer app...
Episode 64: CNR Update: House Committee Pushes Back
April 19, 2016 03:22 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBTen days ago, POLITICO's Helena Bottemiller Evich reported the latest development in the long and difficult path to CNR 2015 (now CNR 2016, as it is more than six months overdue). "The House Education and the Workforce Committee has finally come up with a child nutrition reauthorization bill," she wrote, "and it looks like it could be everything health advocates feared." Indeed, there appear to be critical, troubling differences between this bill and the one released by the Senate's committe...
Episode 63: Intact Grains 101
February 22, 2016 17:20 - 35 minutes - 33 MBWhen did school children start gobbling up quinoa with such pleasure? And how is it that they’re also reaching for salads made with unprocessed (hence “intact”) and highly nourishing unpolished rice, wheat berries, barley, buckwheat, and farro? Join Coleen Donnelly of InHarvest and five food service professionals from across the country to learn how to win over staff and students with intact grains. Which grains are gluten free, why are sprouted grains so special, and what makes a quinoa-kal...
Episode 62: Salad Bar Strategies: Learning From the Best in Riverside, CA
February 08, 2016 17:43 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBToday we re-visit a June 2014 episode with the salad bar gurus at Riverside Unified School District, in southern California. With new technical support for salad bars in schools on the way in CNR 2016, now is the time to take a close second look at a pioneering and celebrated program that still works as safely, profitably, and deliciously as it ever did. “Our attention to detail is what makes us different,” says Chef Ryan Douglas. Learn just what that means—and catch up on what RUSD has been...
Episode 61: In Maryland, “boot camp” for food service workers
January 25, 2016 18:16 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBAs we await resolution on CNR 2016, one thing is certain: there will be new technical assistance grants for districts seeking to introduce more freshly prepared food in their cafeterias. Today, we update a Summer 2014 episode about an exemplary “train the trainer” program run by the Maryland Department of Education. Launched in 2011, its goal is reach every food service worker in the state by 2020 with a hands-on kitchen curriculum that restores pride in craft to their profession.
Episode 60: Trendspotting 2016 with Dayle Hayes
January 18, 2016 16:44 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBFor the first time in the history of the USDA school meals programs, success in feeding kids (adolescents especially) is regarded as hip. K-12 nutrition providers, from the people who grow the food to those who serve it, are riding the national tide of food service trends that emphasize vivid, authentic flavor. “Cool ideas are going mainstream really quickly,” observes School Meals that Rock’s Dayle Hayes, who joins us today to review recent innovations—Asian street foods, mac-and-cheese bar...
Episode 59: Lunch Lessons from Japan
December 14, 2015 18:33 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBKyushoku, or elementary school lunch, is a cherished tradition that embodies values central to Japanese culture: gratitude, cooperation, courtesy, cleanliness, reverence for nature, and pride of place. Much more than a meal, it’s a critical learning period at the heart of the school day. You’ll find it depicted in loving detail in a wildly popular short film by today’s guest, Atsuko Quirk. Americans might take away many lessons from what they see there, she says. But the Japanese, as they co...
Episode 58: Dora Rivas Remembers
December 07, 2015 17:00 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MBAs the year draws to a close, Dora Rivas joins us to look back and reflect—not just on 2015, but a half century of service as a dietitian and school food service director. Last August, when she left her post as Executive Director of food service for Dallas ISD, Dora was an iconic figure in K-12 nutrition, recognized nationally as an early adopter of well-defined public health goals for schools. But her story is about private goals, too, and their roots in family and a career launched in a So...
Episode 57: Reformulation Revealed
November 23, 2015 21:06 - 53 minutes - 49 MBFor processors of foods for the K-12 market, new USDA nutrition requirements arrived at the same time as increased public scrutiny of unfamiliar, often unpronounceable additives. Moving towards “clean label” while simultaneously lowering sodium and introducing whole grains is no problem when money is no object. But when constrained by school budgets, how do manufacturers deliver on all fronts? Today’s conversation with representatives from the nation’s largest suppliers in two key categories...
Episode 56: Better School Food: Borrowed, Hacked, and Shared
November 09, 2015 16:45 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBToday we venture into new territory with the help of Chef Lisa Feldman, who is Director of Culinary Services for Sodexo USA. As a major provider of school meals (413 districts, two million meals daily), it’s significant and influential in ways you may never have imagined. The company’s ambitious strategies to introduce ever-fresher, more wholesome, and more appealing food on a mass scale are freely shared throughout the K-12 nutrition industry. “Nothing is proprietary,” says Feldman, who pri...
Episode 55: In West New York, NJ, The Kids Eat It All
November 02, 2015 17:25 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBNew Jersey is called the “Garden State” out of pride in an agricultural heritage that dates back hundreds of years. But in West New York, NJ, in the heart of the most densely populated area in the nation, the farms to the south were long unknown to low-income children growing up across the river from Manhattan. Today, that’s changed. The school menus and classroom curricula follow a locavore, culture-changing agenda that connects urban students to the land and the enjoyment of a wide variety...
Episode 54: WI Students Meet the Harvest Challenge
October 26, 2015 15:49 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBHigh school cooking competitions can be hugely effective in generating excitement around school food, especially during Farm to School season, when students can work with locally grown ingredients. In rural Vernon County, Wisconsin, there are just six high schools, each with an enrollment of less than 400. But their small size doesn’t undermine the excitement as teams and their chef-mentors spend a month preparing to capture top honors in a delicious face-off. The challenge: create a winning...
Episode 53: A Taste of Hope
October 19, 2015 15:56 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MBFor tribal communities across the Great Plains and Southwest, buffalo is the centerpiece of of traditional culture, a sacred food critical to the restoration of health and independence. As new herds grow on Native lands, a small group of schools have joined a pilot program that introduces buffalo not just to lunch trays, but also the classroom and students’ very idea of who they are. For the Intertribal Buffalo Council, which sponsors the project, it’s taken years to get this point. But for ...
Episode 52: Fresh Food and Fresh Ideas from the Iowa Food Hub
October 05, 2015 17:10 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBThe USDA definition of a “food hub” is loose enough to include many iterations of the concept. Whatever the business model, most hubs aspire to increase access to local whole foods across the socioeconomic spectrum. And there’s no better way to accomplish that than through Farm to School. Today we profile a pioneering hub that is making great strides in serving 18 districts in rural northeastern Iowa, helping school buyers quadruple local purchasing—produce, dairy, pork, and beef.
Episode 51: USDA on CNR 2015: a conversation with Katie Wilson
September 28, 2015 17:22 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBToday we welcome the new USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, for another deep dive into conversation about the future of school nutrition programs. While the delay of Child Nutrition Reauthorization can hardly be described as a good thing, it does give us more time to assess where we are and what’s changed in recent months with the emergence of new leaders, data, and research. We ask Dr. Wilson what, if anything, may impact current USDA positions on CNR.
Episode 50: What’s new this year? We hear from YOU!
September 21, 2015 15:16 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBInside School Food asked listeners to call in about their favorite back-to-school innovations, and they did, from all over the country. Today, with the help of co-host Dayle Hayes, we bring you six of these messages about fresh ideas that are making a difference. Our selection is highly diverse. Because when you’re growing and improving your program, there’s a multitude of needs to think about, and multitudes of strategies to consider for meeting them. “Millbrae School District food service...
Episode 49: Towards a “Robust HHFKA”: New SNA Leaders Speak Out
September 14, 2015 15:35 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBTo kick off the school year, we are joined by the School Nutrition Association’s newly elected President, Jean Ronnei, and Vice President Lynn Harvey. They take on these roles—and this conversation—at an exceptionally challenging and sensitive time for SNA and the school nutrition community as a whole. On today’s agenda: Is school nutrition really a “battleground”? What’s the difference between “flexibility” and “rollback”? Just how much controversy in school food would fade into the backgro...
Episode 48: First Taste Matters Most
August 10, 2015 17:37 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBMany American children have developed a strong, stubborn preference for sweet and salty processed food before their second birthdays. If they haven’t, it could well be because they became accustomed to healthier flavors much earlier, beginning in breast milk or even in utero. What babies taste in the first weeks and months of life really matters, says Dr. Julie Menella of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Her research suggests that school meals can only ever be just one of a much larg...
Episode 47: Sustainable New England Seafood for New England Kids
August 03, 2015 15:51 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBFor decades, fish at school mostly meant one thing: breaded fingers and patties–tasty enough with ketchup, but completely detached from their natural origins. That’s beginning to change in regions with access to local fisheries and processors. There’s keen interest in New England districts with strong local procurement programs and cultural affinity for seafood. Learn how a New Bedford processor is creating new opportunities for the sustainably managed Gulf of Maine fishery, with fres...
Episode 46: Courting customers: Fresh ideas from Chandler, AZ
July 27, 2015 15:45 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBThese days, we hear a lot about districts in well-to-do communities dropping out of federal meals programs. While the numbers are in fact miniscule, the conversation about them is significant. Dwindling revenue from paying students is a grave issue for many. On today’s episode, join Wesley Delbridge, Food and Nutrition Director for Chandler Unified School District, to hear about radical marketing and design solutions that are generating excitement and trust among middle class students and th...
Episode 45: Sortin’ it out: Composting comes to NYC schools
July 13, 2015 17:05 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBHere’s one of the surest signs we have that swift and substantial progress in school food is possible: Beginning this fall, the nation’s largest district will not only be serving on compostable plates, but actually composting them. The introduction of the new tableware is occurring simultaneously with a city-wide ban on most single-use, non-recyclable Styrofoam—a giant first step in Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s ambitious “Zero Waste” campaign. Astonishingly, this story begins just six years ago, ...
Episode 44: High hopes for Farm to School Act 2015
June 29, 2015 15:55 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBWith so many elements of Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2015 hotly contested, it’s good to know we can be bullish about Farm to School. After a successful first round of USDA grants under CNR 2010, advocates are hoping to leverage strong bipartisan support to triple funding to $15M. But as the Farm to School movement matures, the conversation is not just about new grants. It’s about institutionalizing the presence of local food in schools, and how else this year’s CNR can help that happen. ...
Episode 43: CNR 2015 walk through
June 22, 2015 15:30 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBIs Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2015 moving too fast for you? Join the club. We all feel that way, and it’s still only June. Today’s episode will help. Jacqlyn Schneider, Policy Director for the Senate Agriculture Committee under Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, is here to walk us through the process. She’ll review some of this huge bill’s many moving parts, and tell us what to expect—and how to weigh in—in the weeks and months to come. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard ...
Episode 42: Cafeteria (not!) of the Future
June 15, 2015 15:33 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBFirst off, stop calling it a “cafeteria.” And don’t just re-configure the physical space and the equipment, but the entire dining experience. San Francisco Unified School District is doing just that, in partnership with one of the world’s sharpest, most sought-after design firms. More than 1,300 school community stakeholders have weighed in on a vision for the future that looks and feels both radical and perfectly natural—a paradigm shift away from assembly-line style service to more intui...
Episode 41: Learnings from West Virginia
June 08, 2015 19:59 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBIn West Virginia, many children suffer from levels childhood poverty, hunger, and obesity well above the national average. To meet this troubling challenge, the state’s Department of Education has been exceptionally energetic in its top-down efforts to win student acceptance of healthier menus while eliminating costly inefficiencies in the system. Is it working? Rick Goff, Executive Director of the Office of Child Nutrition, says it is. Join us to hear about his compelling testimony before t...
Episode 40: Tales from the trenches with Chef Cyndie
June 01, 2015 15:29 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBCyndie Story has consulted in school kitchens in 37 states, where she has spread a gospel of work simplification that can transform the lives of food service staff. The humility and humor with which she approaches the job makes her an inspirational figure. “I love to laugh,” she says, “and once we laugh, learning begins.” Join us for a tour of Chef Cyndie’s best practices, honed over 25 years on the job. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard and Winery. “My dad always told me in ...
Episode 39: Locavore Mayor Takes on Lunch
May 18, 2015 15:40 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBWhere do you set your goal for local food purchasing? How about 50 percent of your total food budget? How about trying to do this in Maine? In Portland, ME, Mayor Michael Brennan believes it can be done; and the school district’s food service director, Ron Adams, is getting close. No, they don’t have extra money. And Portland students are as resistant to change as kids anywhere else. But there’s deep political will, and pressure, in a city widely regarded as one of the foodiest and most loca...
Episode 38: El Monte Magic Explained
April 27, 2015 17:18 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MBEl Monte City School District is celebrated as a leading edge reformer well beyond the cafeteria. Over the years, this high-needs district has established a rigorous, comprehensive approach to student wellness that attempts to touch every aspect of their lives in and out of school. The exuberant press and many awards it’s attracted a along the way are enough to make El Monte seem charmed. But there’s no secret sauce. They’re just tenacious here, and they’ve been that way for years. This prog...
Episode 37: Are Smart Snacks Half Baked?
April 20, 2015 16:33 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBSince July 2014, an interim USDA regulation on foods sold outside the reimbursable meals program requires healthier offerings nationwide. But questions remain. Many of the new “Smart Snacks” are reformulated copycats of highly processed stuff sold outside school. In some states, liberal waivers of restrictions on bake sales and junk-food fundraisers keep sugar levels high. Should we be worried? Not necessarily, say today’s guests. Districts can choose to adopt (or retain) stricter standards,...
Episode 36: Reading Plate Waste
April 06, 2015 14:46 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBAmid widespread complaints about discarded school food, enter a new study that tells us things may be not as bad as they seem. Careful measurements of plate waste taken in twelve Connecticut schools in 2012, 2013, and 2014 tell a different story, of students eating better and wasting less as they adjust to changes on their lunch trays. Lead author Marlene Schwartz, Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, unpacks this new data and reviews the study’s conclusions.
Episode 35: Good Food Measures Up
March 30, 2015 16:48 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBOf course students eat better when healthy food is prepared with care and skill. We all knew that. Now we have important new research to back us up, the result of a year-long collaboration between the Harvard School of Public Health and Project Bread’s Chefs in Schools program. The study’s two leaders–the head author and the head chef–describe the complexity involved in making targeted changes in the school kitchen and cafeteria while systematically assessing the impacts. This program was br...
Episode 34: More about food processing (“Have it your way,” part 2)
March 23, 2015 15:27 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBProcessed foods: Whether you need them oven-ready or as components for speed scratch, you probably want them without additives you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce. You want fresh and vivid flavors kids will go for, and you would prefer to know where and how the ingredients were grown. Possible? Two progressive vendors say yes, if you can make just a little extra wiggle room in your budget. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard and Winery. “Over the last ten years, there’s been a hu...
Episode 33: Feeding Summer
March 16, 2015 15:35 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MBIt’s planning season for USDA summer meals sponsors–the people who know that, for children from food-insecure homes, the last day of school isn’t necessarily a happy occasion. Currently, only a small fraction of students eligible for federally funded summer meals actually get them. Today’s guests talk about why, and what school districts can do to help meet the need. The best programs, they say, are served up with sides of fun. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard and Winery. “We hea...
Episode 32: Florida (school) Food Truck Sizzle
March 02, 2015 21:16 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBFood trucks are rolling statements about some the values Americans hold dearest: independence, entrepreneurship, and mobility. Authenticity. Creativity. Affordability. With the movement growing so fast across the nation, it was only a matter of time before school food innovators started getting in on it. Today we profile two programs in sunny Florida, where hip new trucks can work year-round, winning teenage converts for healthy school meals. “The students are more aligned to things they ca...
Episode 31: Participation: What’s really going on?
February 16, 2015 16:55 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBWhether your sales up or down, there has to be a reason. So what’s behind the participation slump among students who don’t qualify for free or reduced-priced meals? Some school nutrition professionals say it’s a clear case of cause and effect: paying kids don’t like the new menus, so they’re not buying. But a recent report from the Food Resource and Action Center describes a much more complex set of circumstances. So does the experience of one well-to-do Kansas high school, where competitive...
Episode 30: Making FoodCorps Work
February 09, 2015 20:49 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBIt’s been more than five years since the inception of FoodCorps, the AmeriCorps division that sends young service members into school gardens, classrooms, cafeterias, and kitchens, where they’re tasked with generating excitement and support for healthy whole food. Today’s guests describe how it’s done. Idealism is the catalyst. But it’s creativity, tenacity, and–most important–humility that really make it work. This program was brought to you by Visit Napa Valley.
Episode 29: Kitchen Workhorses
January 26, 2015 19:46 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBWhat’s behind the “True Food” revolution in Minneapolis Public Schools? Ambitious purchasing of industrial-strength gadgets—cook-chill tanks, vacuum baggers, a meat shredder, a “gentle mixer,” and a 30-foot-long sous vide cooker—may be costly, but food costs are down, participation is up, and unpronounceable additives are out. This program was brought to you by Rt. 11 Potato Chips. “Food has to look good so people eat it. It starts with the eyes.” [09:00] —Ricardo Abbott on Inside Scho...
Episode 28: Serving Food Justice at School: A Conversation with Audrey Rowe
January 19, 2015 16:35 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBThis week on Inside School Food, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, join Audrey Rowe, Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA, in reflection on socioeconomic justice in school nutrition programs–historically, currently, and going forward as we approach Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2015. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market. “Instead of the dialogue focusing on how we provide more resources to school meals programs, it seems to be centered on how do we curta...
Episode 27: “Bay to Tray” in Monterey
January 12, 2015 19:49 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBThere is perhaps no city in the nation more strongly associated with fish than Monterey, CA, home to the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and the setting for John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. But most of the seafood harvested from local waters is processed in China and sold to international markets. At Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, food service director Jenn Gerard wants to do something about that. Learn how she’s teamed up with a pioneering CSF (community supported fishery) to p...
Episode 26: School Food Social Media That Rocks
January 05, 2015 16:09 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBWe kick off the new year with Dayle Hayes, the activist blogger behind “School Meals That Rock,” a multi-platform social media campaign that draws attention to news of healthy, delicious, sustainable progress in K-12 food service. Last year there was plenty of that kind of news. And there’s lots more to celebrate–along with lots of media negativity to deflect–as we move towards Child Nutrition Reauthorization 2015. Want to join the movement? It’s easy. All you need is a smart phone, a Facebo...
Episode 25: Mastering the Art of School Cooking
December 15, 2014 16:55 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBIt took a village to produce New School Cuisine: Nutritional and Seasonal Recipes for School Cooks by School Cooks. This pioneering new book features 78 rigorously tested, fully reimbursable dishes that Vermont children have enthusiastically voted for with their sporks. “The final ingredients added to each recipe,” write the authors, “are dedication, tenacity, patience and kindness. These ingredients infuse the recipes with the hope that we can change lives by helping our students understand...
Episode 24: Top Chefs
November 24, 2014 20:28 - 47 minutes - 44 MBBig districts have long employed chefs, and smaller ones are increasingly relying on them as consultants. But what happens when a mid-size district hires a classically trained restaurant industry veteran as food service director? In this episode, we talk to two CIA alumni who love the job, and whose scratch-cooked, delicious, USDA-compliant meals programs are in the black. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market.
Episode 23: New Menus = New Price Tags?
November 17, 2014 19:53 - 38 minutes - 35 MBWhat’s really behind the controversy over Healthy Hunger Free Kids 2010? According to today’s guests, it’s dollars that don’t make sense. Join Gitta Grether-Sweeney of Portland (OR) Public Schools Nutrition Services and Gary Vonck, a national leader in K-12 food service sales, for their take on rising food and labor costs, diminished revenues, and reimbursement rates that aren’t keeping pace with the required changes in many districts. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market. ...