PONDER What is your path to procuring clean- er food ingredients in your program? Leaders within school nutrition have created science-based resources for all to springboard your local discus- sions and decisions in The Ingredi- ent Guide 2023 for Better School Food Purchasing .
It’s not just your average Ranch dressing - Ranch will continue its reign , but trends are showing fla - vor add-ins like the ever-popular dill pickle flavor or one of our global-on- trend sauces for school-friendly Chi- michurri sauce . Let’s challenge ourselves to include ‘boutique food’ exposure opportunities for kids with special Try Days! Jicama, dragonfruit, and golden berries open opportunities for sampling new and exotic offer - ings for students to learn and ex- pand their produce palates. We can’t think of a better way to prioritize wellness if you have a spend-down plan surplus or a grant to help sup- port nutrition education to budget this year! Let’s UNBOX new food items like the pros! The food industry is getting hip to the power of promot- ing social media-worthy “unbox- ing” opportunities to entice their customers to buy, record, and share! As we witness our middle and high school students become wizards at video shorts and photo montage editing; why not challenge students to help get the word out about the school lunch options that often go without notice or credit? It starts with the packaging! Got a wonderful parfait selection? Have you found an oval pulp bowl or white take-out container has increased sales on your lunch lines in the past? Recruit some of your local talent, aka your students, to help test and try out fun, new, and sustainable options for your program. Bonus - record and share on your district’s social media to promote your program in new and exciting ways.
Let’s not forget the importance of a properly positioned cafeteria line for the promotion of whole food and made-to-order speed scratch bar concepts that not only allow stu- dents to customize their selections but also try new less processed op- tions and flavors. Smarter Lunch- room theory has inspired our work over the past 2 decades and we hope you agree is a great way to check in on how your cafeteria stacks up and provide tools to improve. Pick a new trendy protein to promote! A quick Google search or social media scrollfest will inspire recipes that utilize cottage cheese for protein power but also used to make dishes made healthier. Cot - tage cheese is shining in recipes like cottage cheese egg bites . We were inspired by this video recipe , show- casing how effortlessly delicious they are. Made with simple ingredients and packed with nutrition, they’re a must-try! Top: Trendy bar concepts like this ramen noodle bar inspire our students to build their flavors utilizing minimally processed food. Photo Courtesy: Woodridge High School. Second from top: Focus on fresh whole fruits and vegetables! You won’t have to struggle to ensure the students eat their ½ cup requirement in these lines filled with colorful fresh options to select from well-planned produce bars with a rainbow of possibilities. Photo Courtesy: Troy Intermediate School, Avon Lake Second from bottom: Salad bar at James Garfield Middle/High School utilizing hydroponic lettuce grown onsite and reusable salad containers as part of a greener initiative.
LEARN
Start them young! Foundation- al nutrition education supports not only public health in our youngest customers but also builds the struc- ture for empowering wellness by making the cafeteria an extension of the classroom. Learning about whole foods and how they can be combined with other ingredients for a delicious dish helps open palates to the taste of less processed foods. Teachers created this video to introduce chil- dren to barley which was featured in a new recipe with this Veggie Barley Salad with Orange Vinaigrette . Use fun theme days to optimize your best “teachable wellness mo- ments”
INNOVATE
What’s new in food trends for 2025? We’ve been doing our research and thanks to the steady focus on foods from the NY Times we have these ideas to “schoolify” some of the in- dustry’s best! Let’s get saucy! Sauce varieties stand to help connect your custom- ers to the cafeteria in new and pop- ular ways like Chipotle’s viral vinai- grette and Raising Cane’s peppery mayo-ketchup blend.
Bottom: Veggie Barley Salad with Orange Honey Vinaigrette
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.
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