Sponsored By

K-12 On Demand: Roy Pistone on winning the 2022 FAME Golden Director Award

The school nutrition program at Florida’s Citrus County Schools earns a major industry honor as its director wins the top award in the recently announced FAME competition.

Mike Buzalka, Executive Features Editor

December 1, 2021

FM On Demand and K-12 On Demand are video interviews with onsite dining professionals who talk about creative and interesting initiatives they have developed or undertaken.

Citrus County may not be one of Florida’s most prominent, lacking a major metropolitan center within its borders, but the school nutrition program for its public schools certainly earned some recognition recently with the naming of Roy Pistone, who heads the program, as the winner of the Golden Foodservice Director Award in the 2022 FAME (Foodservice Achievement Management Excellence) Awards competition. The FAME Awards annually recognize excellence in the school nutrition community, with the Golden Foodservice Director accolade being the top honor. The 2022 winners will be highlighted at the School Nutrition Conference, which will be held virtually on Jan. 26 next year.

In this FM On Demand interview, Pistone talks about what the award means for him and his program as well as about initiatives they have undertaken to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic and more recent its aftereffects, such as labor and product shortages.

About the Author

Mike Buzalka

Mike Buzalka

Executive Features Editor, Food Management

Mike Buzalka is executive features editor for Food Management and contributing editor to Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News. On Food Management, Mike has lead responsibility for compiling the annual Top 50 Contract Management Companies as well as the K-12, College, Hospital and Senior Dining Power Players listings. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature from John Carroll University. Before joining Food Management in 1998, he served as for eight years as assistant editor and then editor of Foodservice Distributor magazine. Mike’s personal interests range from local sports such as the Cleveland Indians and Browns to classic and modern literature, history and politics.

Mike Buzalka’s areas of expertise include operations, innovation and technology topics in onsite foodservice industry markets like K-12 Schools, Higher Education, Healthcare and Business & Industry.

Mike Buzalka’s experience:

Executive Features Editor, Food Management magazine (2010-present)

Contributing Editor, Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News (2016-present)

Associate Editor, Food Management magazine (1998-2010)

Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1997-1998)

Assistant Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1989-1997)

See more from Mike Buzalka