INDUSTRY NEWS FOODSERVICE IN EDUCATION TAKES A SEAT AT THE TABLE
“My hope is that K-12 will be acknowledged and embraced not just as a cafeteria-style industrial feeding operation but as the quality restaurants we are,” said Solomon who spent the first part of her career working for Yum Brands in restaurant hospitality.“School dining operations are the leading restaurant brands in every community they serve. We serve the most breakfasts and lunches in our communities. Service is service, not matter what type of dining operation you run.” She also stated that she hopes equipment manufacturers and food providers will realize that K-12 is as significant as any other restaurant category. “They can help innovate for high volume food operations like ours and create more healthy options for kids.” Shelly, who serves 50,000+ meals a day, said she always believed that the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act that was enacted in 2010 was really targeting the class of 2024. The act allowed the USDA to set health standards—for the first time in 30 years—for school meals that she says have taught children to now expect fruits and vegetables at every meal and has shaped their taste buds as future adult diners. “Our preschoolers who grew up after this was enacted know no difference from healthy eating.” “K-12 deserves to be highlighted,” Shelley emphasized, “We’re educators, too, along with the math and English teachers, we are teaching good nutrition. We have an active kitchen
laboratory where we experiment with new food flavors, textures, and cultures every day introducing our kids to a vast variety of healthy foods.” She added that the work all schools do everyday in the dining room helps reduce long- term health costs for conditions like diabetes and obesity. “We are the healthy food choice.” Innovation and collaboration set these two dynamic directors apart. Solomon, who serves approximately 38,000 meals a day, runs her school dining program as the restaurant that is truly is. She treats her students as restaurant patrons. She uses a mystery shopper program, invites parents in and is launching a drive- thru foodservice for high schools. Her dining experience includes music and inviting décor. The high school dining area has TVs running sports programs and she has created an in- house restaurant brand: A-Town Eats. It appeals to teens who like dining at popular QSRs. For her K-8 students, she is collaborating with an equipment manufacturer to develop a hydraulic servicing line that moves up and down to adjust to the height of her growing kids. And she partners with local restaurants such as Domino’s and Chick-Fil-A to build a branded product with the correct K-12 nutritionals that she can serve to her kids. Shelly says K-12 is the only foodservice segment that shares successful strategies and ideas with their peers. “No other restaurant segment does that. We support each other and share our successes and dedication to our kids.
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