Lodi USD Purchases Property for New Central Kitchen

The Lodi (Calif.) USD has purchased a property with a 16,000 square foot building that it plans to convert into the headquarters of its foodservice department, including a new central kitchen, reports the Lodi News. Currently, meal prep is done at 10 school sites that have sufficient facilities, but another dozen do not and have get food satellited from nearby kitchens.

The purchased property, which is adjacent to the district main office and warehouse, was bought for $975,000 that will be paid out of a fund collected over the past 10 years from school meal revenues specifically for this purpose. The district says it hopes to have the facility operational by next school year at a cost of around $1.7 million in renovations.