How one school district increased its meal counts

Sodexo took over nutrition operations at Montrose County School District in Montrose, Colo., during the 2019-2020 school year, and within one month, the nutrition team was able to increase meal counts through a combination of employee training, expanded access and new menu additions.

Here’s a look at how they did it.

Getting employees on board 

Montrose County’s goal to boost participation began with the foodservice team itself. 

“Our first thing, first and foremost, is to get the employees on board and to make sure that they feel equipped with the right equipment, empowered to make decisions and really make them part of the program that we are that we are running,” says Kendal Turpen, senior marketing manager for Sodexo, adding that the training also places emphasis on ‘the why’.

“Our training is really not just the who, what, where and when training—it's also why we do what we do,” she says.

In addition, Sodexo chefs from other districts came in to help train employees. 

Expanded offerings, better access

The team at Montrose County brought on more a la carte options, such as bottled drinks and Smart Snack-compliant packaged items, and looked for new serving methods to entice students to purchase them. “We had a lot of students that were leaving campus,” says Turpen. “So, we tried to put a [food] cart right in the middle of their walkway.”

Related:4 takeaways from the Food Research and Action Center’s latest report on student meal participation during COVID-19

They also converted part of the high school’s service line that was in the process of being turned into a c-store before the pandemic into an extra serving line for a la carte.  

Another change was making breakfast more accessible to students. “Access was the No. 1, so whether that means second-chance breakfast, or some sites we implemented Breakfast in the Classroom, but access was our main goal to get breakfast numbers up,” says Turpen. 

This worked, and Montrose County’s breakfast numbers went from about 13,000 to 14,000 in the first month. 

The team also set out to increase after-school snack access by educating administration on how after-school snacks work and how easy it is to offer them. 

 “A lot of people are kind of overwhelmed by feeding afternoons and just showing how simple it is, you know, [telling site administration], ‘We have to have an educational component and then we can get your students ready to go home,’” says Turpen.

Looking toward the future 

While the pandemic put the c-store at the high school on hold, the nutrition team is looking forward to finally completing the project as things start to get back to normal, says Turpen. They also hope to continue expanding menu options for high-schoolers and will also be rolling out Sodexo’s new middle school brand, FoodiE Cafe. 

Related:10 districts succeeding with low-income breakfast participation

The biggest advice Turpen has for schools looking to increase their meal counts is by reaching out to students and faculty. 

“Talk to your stakeholders, talk to your parents, talk to your students, and create an environment that is open and able to share freely,” she says. “A lot of the times, it's hard to sit in those conversations when they're telling you that they don't like this, or they don't like that, but it's the only way that you can adapt and change.”

Once you implement those changes, it’s also important to follow up and make sure students and others know about them. “Show them the change,” says Turpen. “Show them what you did, and ask them if they can share that with their friends as well.”