Dora Rivas’ next path to promoting child nutrition

Dora Rivas has always enjoyed food preparation. As a child she loved having her mom make school lunches. In high school she took home economics every year she could. And in college, she was drawn at the urging of a professor to nutrition and the science of making meals healthful.

If that interest hadn’t led her to a career in dietetics, the school foodservice industry may not have had her contributions to the segment—nor the dismay of having to say good-bye because of her retirement last month.

Over a 38-year career—or 42 years, depending on how far back you want to go—Rivas took an active approach to promoting healthier menus for students. As executive director of food and child nutrition services in Dallas, Texas, she embraced students’ ideas for items while providing them opportunities to try fruits and vegetables they’d never eaten before.

Peers credit her with changing school foodservice at the local, state and national levels while overseeing two mega-districts packed with challenges. Under her tutelage, Brownsville Independent School District became one of the first districts of its size to champion the Special Assistance Provision Program (1992-1993).

Rivas’ efforts to improve and promote Provision II wore away at the social stigma of receiving free lunches, and she piloted the Breakfast in a Bag Program that numerous districts across the country have since adopted.

At the Dallas district, her work garnered the attention of the First Lady of Healthy Food herself, Michelle Obama, who invited Rivas to a summer harvest from the White House garden in 2014.

Despite retiring after 10 years of feeding the Dallas Independent School District, the Silver Plate Award winner says she still has some “good work” left in her, which is why she is going to work for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, overseeing the child nutrition programs in Europe and Asia.

Before taking the trip across town (the AAFES headquarters are in Dallas), Rivas took a moment to share her thoughts with FoodService Director about her time at DISD, some of the lessons she’s learned there and elsewhere, and what from her long career still makes her proud.

Here’s some of what she had to say:

Why have you remained in the industry after all this time?

It’s amazing! It may sound crazy, but I really feel like I haven’t come to work a day I my life, and I am just as excited now about what school nutrition is and what it represents to children. Now, with moving on to the Army Air Force and providing school meals for children overseas—that’s a whole new arena. So I’m really excited about still continuing to move forward and working in child nutrition, just in a different way.

What is your vision of school foodservice?

When I first started, we were considered more of a support service—feed the children and get them through the line. We’ve now evolved, I think, to an integral part of the total education of the child. For example, I’ve been a big advocate for breakfast in the classroom and have had teachers and principals through the years—whether they have read the research or not— all come back and say the children are more focused because of it. So it’s very evident that nutrition plays a big role in their academic studies.

What are the challenges of foodservice?

There are always challenges to keep your kids enjoying meals because trends change in food, restaurants and fast food. As those trends change, we have to adjust. Unfortunately, the fast food industry and the parents are relying on eating out. Our challenge is balancing good nutrition and healthy foods with what may not always be the healthiest options, but [what] they are accustomed to.

How would you summarize your time as FSD in Dallas?

It's been the time of my life. I'm very honored to have been entrusted with providing nutritious meals to our school children. There’s a great team in Dallas and I know we have a lot of wonderful things in place that we have built upon year after year. I know that the talented staff here will continue to build on that success.

What are some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

The biggest lesson is that you never know everything. There’s always something new to learn, so it’s really important to continue your education and always listen carefully to what other people are telling you. A lot of times I think people believe that, because they have been around for a long time, they have all of the answers, but really the answers are all around you. You have to listen to other people.

In both my jobs at Brownsville and Dallas I learned the importance of strategic planning and listening and involving everyone in it. I think that’s why we’ve been able to accomplish so much—because everyone has a buy-in and understands the needs of the plan. I always feel so guilty whenever I receive an accolade because I know that it would not have been achieved without the whole team.

What are you most proud of?

Being able to have healthy meals accessible to all children, regardless of their ability to pay. I was able to expand school-meal accessibility through community eligibility. I started Provision II in Brownsville in 1992; so being able to accomplish that here in Dallas as well is what I’m most proud of.

As reauthorization approaches, why do you feel it’s important for operators to stay the course?

I think we’re on the right track. It’s going to take awhile for students to learn to eat a lot of different things, but if they don’t get that exposure in school there are foods they’ll never try. We have to look at our cafeteria as a learning lab.

It’s not always easy, but it’s very important that we be creative, network with each other, and share menus and recipes. Also, the legislators have to set adequate funding for the program. If there are schools struggling financially, they need technical assistance in training because all school districts do not have the same financial resources. So legislators have to know this is an investment in our children.

What advice would you give to operators who are struggling to boost participation?

They need to network with other districts, work with their community, partner with different organizations and other educational partners to encourage children to participate, and involve parents and students in the menu planning as well. They also need to share with the parents that they have to be the role models.

But, there’s not one single answer—every school district has to find [its] own solution. So you have to really go out and explore, research, share and network.

The question that’s on everyone’s mind: Why retire?

I’m retiring from the Dallas school district. I wasn’t ready to put what I learned on the shelf, and feel like I still have a lot left to contribute.

Plus, I still have a strong passion for child nutrition. So when the opportunity came up to be able to serve the Department of Defense, seeing how I could support the child nutrition program for children whose families are serving our country overseas, I thought this would be a good transition into retirement. I still have some good work left in me.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

A lot of my friends out there think I’m going to disappear because I’m retiring from Dallas. I want to tell them that I’m not. My hope is to continue to stay involved with the SNA [School Nutrition Association] and the child-nutrition community and bring the needs of those children in the military families to light, helping to make their meals better and healthier. I also want to bring a bit of home to them overseas with the help of those here to support as well.