Former Pinellas FSD Dunham Joins Reimbursable Vended Meals Firm

Art Dunham, formerly director of foodservice for Pinellas County (Fla.) Schools, has joined reimbursable school meal vending firm Star Food Healthy Express.

“There is no more qualified or passionate person about feeding more kids than Art Dunham,” says Bob Gottlieb, director of educational services for the company. “Art is well known nationally and recognized for his progressive approaches to managing the trifecta of compliance, foodservice operations and people management. And that includes understanding what kids want too.”

Dunham joins Star Food following his retirement from Pinellas County, where he was responsible for a $50 million department budget and feeding more than 104,000 students daily. He recently received the 2015 FAME (Foodservice Achievement Management Excellence) Silver Spirit Award, sponsored by the School Nutrition Association (SNA).

At Pinellas, Dunham brought innovations such as reimbursable vended meals, food trucks, biometric POS (to be discontinued due to a state law change) and a cutting edge smoothie program utilizing fresh fruits and vegetables that earned a 2014 FM Best Concept Award.

Holding a PhD in Food Service from Purdue University, Dunham is also the author of several  books and served as president of the Florida School Food Service Association from 2003-2004 and as secretary/treasurer of SNA from 2007-2009.