Expanding Horizons THROUGH MONTHLY FEATURES
How You Can Do It Too: While a weekly or monthly feature might feel daunting at first, start small with a quarterly dish that celebrates a cultural dish or ingredient. Worried that kids won’t be interested? Ask them what foods and cuisines they are curious about! Spend 10 minutes scrolling TikTok, you might get hints about what is trending that diners are seeing too and would be excited to try for themselves. Reach out to your suppliers. Tap into their specialties, they might already have data that will help you deter- mine what could be a success and often are happy to help you pilot it. Props to Beaverton School District’s Nutrition Services for giving us all a great example to follow! Happy summer.
Beaverton School District’s Sunset High School in Oregon has pioneered a “Feature Friday” program that celebrates cultural diversity through monthly meal offerings. Rather than treating multicultural food as an afterthought, their team of chefs is making it a center- piece of their programming. The program has featured everything from mango chicken over rice for Holi celebrations to salmon for Native American Heritage Month and dumplings for Lunar New Year. This approach transforms cafeterias from mere feeding stations into spaces that honor and celebrate the communities they serve and helps stu- dents feel accepted. Kids also shared that it felt special, like they were dining out at a restaurant! Some recent menu features: • Columbia River Steelhead with Teriyaki Sauce • Orange Chicken Bowl with Rice • Chickpea Chana Masala • Chicken Shawarma
From PB&Js to crunchy snacks, peanuts are a nutritious, versatile, and affordable ingredient that kids love. Excluding peanuts isn’t the answer. Research shows allergen management is a safer, more effective solution, and is the recommended approach by experts and organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Now peanuts can safely fill that empty spot on your menu.
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Annelise McAuliffe Soares | Ready Foods Annelise is the Director of Marketing & Brand Stewardship at Ready Foods in Denver, Colorado. Graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Annelise has spent her career making sure food sounds appetizing on paper, looks good in pictures and tastes amazing when you order it. Her day-to-day consists of working at Ready Foods to connect food service operators with ready-to-use kitchen solutions that are delicious, not difficult. Her favorite hot lunch in elementary school was always nacho day.
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