5 things: Church steps in after fire closes school district’s kitchen

In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

 1.    Church kitchen fills in for school district’s fire-damaged cafeteria

An early morning fire on Dec. 4 heavily damaged the front section of La Plata Elementary in Missouri where several offices were located and the elementary building is now out of commission for an unknown length of time, including the school cafeteria that feeds students in grades kindergarten through 12th. Since the kitchen will be unavailable for some time, the kitchen staff will make meals at La Plata Baptist Church, with different groups of students eating in different places ranging from the high school and preschool to the church, according to Rick Roberts, La Plata Schools Interim Superintendent.

Read more: La Plata Baptist Church to provide kitchen for K-12 school lunches

 2.    College’s student government looks to minimize dining hall calorie displays

The Barnard College Student Government Association (SGA) in New York City is working alongside Barnard Dining Services to minimize the visibility of caloric information in dining hall displays in response to concerns from students, especially those with disordered eating behaviors. Barnard dining halls are required to display the calorie count of food on their menus, according to New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene law, so the SGA is looking to possibility of petitioning to have the regulation modified to excuse colleges and universities from the law or allow them to choose whether or not to have caloric markers and how they will display these numbers, according to Alejandra Garcia, SGA’s food and dining services representative.

Related:5 things: Nutrition staff returns to work after walkout in North Carolina school district

Read more: SGA proposes to decrease calorie count visibility in Barnard dining halls

 3.    District’s new Child Nutrition Center will serve as “state-of-the-art training facility”

The Ogden School District in Utah recently cut the ribbon on the district’s new Child Nutrition Center on the campus of the district offices. “It’s a state-of-the art training facility, as you can see, for our kitchen staff," said Ogden School District Superintendent Luke Rasmussen. "They’re going to be able to train new cooks and continue to train our staff in the best possible ways going forward.”

Read more: Child Nutrition Center to serve many roles for Ogden students, staff alike

 4.    Full-service restaurant adds to award-winning UMass dining program

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While the campus dining program at UMass Amherst has been ranked No. 1 for seven years running by the Princeton Review, many may be surprised to learn than within its newest dining hall lies a full service restaurant serving up food matching or exceeding the school’s already stellar food credentials. Located on the third floor of the reconstructed Worcester Dining Commons, The Commonwealth Restaurant offers an “elevated” dining experience in a more intimate and refined space, just one story up from flocks of hungry students traversing the main dining hall below.

Read more: The Commonwealth Restaurant at UMass brings even more ‘elevated’ taste to No. 1 college dining

5.    Lambeau Field service workers vote to unionize

Service workers employed by Delaware North, the food service provider at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., have voted overwhelmingly to form a union, but they still have to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. While many Green Bay Packers game-day positions at Lambeau are staffed by volunteers, Delaware North employs around 70 vendors who sell beverages in the concourses.

Read more: Service workers at Lambeau Field overwhelmingly vote in favor of unionizing

Bonus: A quiet space to dine and relax

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]