What’s on Your Summer Plate? However you are feeding this summer, have a plan!
team, and employees only had to work 2-3 hours per day instead of 6-8 hours. Another wonderful perk was that there was little to no clean up! So I’m glad I did it, because now I know my district’s personal pros and cons of cooking versus
If you’ve already got the food and labor ready to take charge in the kitchen and cook up a storm, that’s awesome, and you should definitely take advantage of that! Get to cooking and use summer feeding as a time to try new recipes with the students
For the new directors out there, don’t be afraid to try something new, and even if you are a little afraid, don’t let self-doubt make you think you can’t do something. “
there. This is the perfect time to get feedback from a smaller pool of children than when school’s in session. So however you are feeding this summer, have a plan! If summer feeding starts in three weeks and
Self-Proclaimed Recipe Concoctor Valerie Weivoda, MS, RD, LD, SNS
ordering meal kits. I was very afraid to jump into the meal kit world at first, only because I had never done them before now. I believe there is a time and place for shelf stable meal kits and for my district, it was the
Summer feeding can look quite different for all of us. Whether you’re preparing for the largest summer feeding program of your life or just something small, we’re all pretty spent on the COVID- drama of supply chain issues. I’m a firm believer in working together and sharing ideas. So that’s what I’m bringing to you today - ideas! No matter if you’re a small school of 4 sites or a really large school of 100 sites, everyone’s ideas can be helpful to one another. So don’t be afraid to call the neighboring district and pick that Director’s brain about what they have up their sleeve. Last summer, my district was struggling with getting labor on top of the food issues. So we resorted to meal kits for the first time in our summer feeding history. It was different, a lot less labor and overall, very convenient!
What wasn’t convenient was purchasing direct from the manufacturer and having to accept 20 plus pallets of food to a warehouse that I rented because we had nowhere on campus to accept that many pallets. Then carefully organize maintenance personnel from each of my eleven schools to drive to the warehouse, load their vehicles and deliver it to their cafeterias. I had to work with the warehouse personnel and their regular shipment schedule to figure out when my food could be picked up so we wouldn’t cause a cluster of drama at the loading dock. Not to mention, I had to sort all of the pallets of food by school before it got picked up to be sent out. How does that Rihanna song go? “Work, Work, Work, Work, Work..” Did you sing that with me? It was a lot of work! By doing this though, I only needed 1-2 employees at each site passing out breakfast and lunch kits instead of an entire
exact time. In the future, I’ll feel more comfortable making that call again. For the new directors out there, don’t be afraid to try something new, and even if you are a little afraid, don’t let self-doubt make you think you can’t do something. I was afraid, but I didn’t let self- doubt take control. I jumped into it and got the students fed, and the summer was great!
your plan is only halfway done, you better get to “work, work, work, work, work..” Rihanna said it. Not me. But what I did say is don’t let that self-doubt tamper with your cool ideas!
xoxo Gal Pal Val
Growing up in a family of 6 children with parents and older siblings that cooked, I have always been curious in the kitchen. My love for food and fitness led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Dietetics and Nutrition from the University of Mississippi. During my internship I had a spark of interest in school nutrition. Now, as a director, I try to create and menu at least one new recipe each month, whether it be a taste test at one school or something menued across the district. In my spare time, I love to create my own recipes at home, prepare and review other’s recipes, and talk about all things wellness on my Instagram page: @val.weivoda_rd. Valerie Weivoda, MS, RD, LD, SNS Child Nutrition Department Director, Lee County School District (MS)
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