5 things: Former NYC Schools official found guilty in scheme that led to tainted meat being served to students

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.    Former NYC Schools official found guilty in scheme that led to tainted meat being served to students

Eric Goldstein, once the head of the New York City Education Department’s Office of School Support Services, has been convicted of conspiracy, extortion, wire fraud, and taking bribes in a scheme that saw him turn a blind eye as public school students were served up chicken tenders tainted with bits of metal, plastic and bone. Prosecutors alleged that Goldstein brokered a corrupt business relationship with a Texas-based food provider called Somma Food Group, whose three owners were co-defendends in the case and were also found guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery.

Read more: School Official Looked the Other Way as Students Ate Tainted Chicken

 2.    Sodexo North America posts 12.4% revenue gain in third quarter

Sodexo reported third quarter revenues for its North American operations rose 12.4% (12.1% organic) from the third quarter of fiscal 2022, outpacing the company as a whole, which grew revenues 9.1% (10.5% organic). The results follow a 16.4% organic increase in the 2023 fiscal year's first half [https://www.food-management.com/k-12-schools/sodexo-north-america-reports-164-organic-growth-first-half-fy2023]

Related:5 tech things: Steak 'n Shake to test biometric payment

Read more: Sodexo Q3 Fiscal 2023: solid organic revenue growth at 10.5%

 3.    Sticker shock greets Goldman Sachs staff at company’s cafeteria

Goldman Sachs economists may recognize that inflation is easing nationally, but you wouldn’t know it from the prices at the bank’s cafeteria. The Wall Street giant’s rank and file grumble that, as they schlep into headquarters at 200 West St. in lower Manhattan five days a week, they’re greeted with stratospherically priced breakfast options that include a $7 cup of yogurt. That’s up from $5 before the bank’s return-to-office mandate last year, according to one sticker-shocked banker. Breakfast sandwiches likewise have jumped to $7 versus $4.50 previously.

Read more: Goldman Sachs workers grumble over $7 yogurt as cafeteria prices surge despite easing inflation

 4.    Madison Schools pilots student-grown food program

Lunches in Madison school meals could include food grown by students themselves with the help of Rooted in collaboration with Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and a grant from Willy St. Co-op. The co-op gave Rooted a $2,500 grant as part of their Community Reinvestment Fund, and the money went to support efforts to grow lettuce and herbs as part of a pilot program at the Goodman Youth Farm.

Related:5 things: Study finds healthier school meals may have curbed child obesity

Read more: In new pilot lunch program, MMSD students plant and eat peer-grown food

 5.    The buffet returns in a post-pandemic world   

The buffet got creamed during the pandemic. Even when diners crept back into restaurants covered in hand sanitizer, a model of eating based on shared serving spoons and food seasoned with the breath of strangers seemed like a goner. But the all-you-can-eat buffet, that symbol of America’s love of choice and penchant for excess, will not be denied. From piles of crab legs at swank Las Vegas casinos to pans of fried chicken in small-town Southern restaurants, the buffet is back, baby.

Read more: The Buffet Is Back, Stretching Dollars and Slinging Crab Legs

Bonus: School meal participation drops after large school districts lose free meals for all

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]