closely with school nutrition profes- sionals every day—listening, testing, and adapting recipes to meet each district’s unique needs. By combin- ing data with hands-on collaboration, we help our teams innovate, improve efficiency, and bring menus to life in ways that truly support students. In today’s fast-paced school nutrition environment, it’s the bridge between technology and teamwork that drives meaningful change. PONDER Are you using your partnerships to their full potential? Partnerships in school nutrition come in many shapes - work- ing with vendors, collaborating with other districts, connecting with local organizations, and even engaging stu- dents and families. In our NutriSmart Culinary Training: Cooking and Con- versation series, bringing multiple districts together in a shared learning kitchen showed us just how powerful teamwork and shared knowledge can be. It made us ask, “Why not make the most of the partnerships we already have and collaborate more closely with our teams?” You don’t need a big event to make it happen. Look around at the people and resources already in your network, and find creative ways to work together. Partnerships don’t just make work easier—they strength- en skills, spark new ideas, and help your school nutrition program thrive. Even something as simple as inviting a vendor to co-host a quick demo with your staff can bring fresh ideas and hands-on learning to your team. LEARN Over the years, we’ve learned that behind every strong school menu
veys and traditional try days , we took it a step further by inviting students to attend this training session on their day off from school to sample recipes. Their honest feedback was invaluable in guiding our decisions and shaping the final results. After the taste test, we decided to take student involvement further by inviting them to join an episode of our Pisanick Partners NutriSmart Snax Podcast . It was an absolute blast hearing their thoughts and ideas firsthand! If you haven’t already, this could be the perfect inspiration to en- gage your students in new ways. Dur- ing the podcast, we explored favorite flavors, creative ways to enjoy healthy foods, and fun ideas for making school meals more exciting and ap- pealing. Their perspectives not only informed our menu decisions but also reminded us that students’ voices are essential in shaping meals they’ll enjoy and actually eat. wich paper, but swap that out for a checkered pattern sheet, and stu- dents start to feel like they are at a trendy eatery. If your serving line looks like rows of styrofoam contain- ers, it might be time to peruse that catalogue of packaging supplies.
is strong data. Tracking production numbers, participation trends, and recipe performance not only keeps programs compliant - it also tells a story about what’s working and where there’s room to grow. Start by creating systems that make data easy to collect, analyze, and share. For us, data and compliance start at the recipe development stage. For example, every year and throughout our culinary series trainings, we em- phasized the importance of accurate measurements and recipe compli- ance. Before implementing a recipe, we test it thoroughly: does it meet all component requirements, are the measurements correct, and would the students enjoy this? We record our observations and adjustments so we can standardize recipes that meet both the nutritional needs of the dis- trict and the expectations of the stu- dents. INNOVATE Innovation doesn’t happen in isola- tion - it thrives through connection. As part of our NutriSmart Culinary Train- ing: Cooking and Conversation ser- ies, we actively involved students in the process. While we still value sur-
Pisanick Partners Pisanick Partners is a nutrition and operations based consulting firm with decades of experience in Child Nutrition. We have refine our approach through creation of cycle menus, training and development of staff, and implementing strategies that take on the task of not only attaining nutritional excellence, but also financial success in the K-12 environment. Our experience not only supports a school district in meeting all state and federal mandates for implementing the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs,but also the menu creation with an eye for detail and meticulous organization. The objective is to quickly and accurately evaluate, analyze and organize a district’s nutritional program to insure compliance and easy on-going maintenance.
Powered by FlippingBook