Midwest schools train foodservice staff how to cook healthier

DAYTON, Ohio — When you think of chef-inspired meals made from scratch you’re not likely to envision school lunches in America, but a few regional districts are trying to change that perception.

Dayton Independent, three Cincinnati-based Catholic Inner City Education Schools and Franklin County, Indiana, schools’ food-services staff are learning how to make healthier meals for their students. Their guide is Cook for America, a company with a mission to provide students with healthy food options and eating properly.

“Our ultimate goal is to reverse childhood obesity among school children, using fresh, whole ingredients – local where possible,” said Kate Adamick, co-founder of Cook for America.

Interact for Health provided $150,000 in grant funding for the Cook for America program in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky this year. It’s the second year the agency has done so for local schools. Erlanger-Elsmere, Milford and Norwood schools participated in the year-long program in 2014.

The local schools’ food-service directors are touring their cafeterias this week with Cook for America representatives to assess their current fare. This summer, directors and their staffs will attend a culinary boot camp and learn from Cook for America chefs the dos, don’ts and how-tos of providing fresh meals to large groups on a budget.

On Tuesday, food staff from the schools involved in this year’s program were at Dayton High School checking out what the district provides now – which already includes fresh vegetables and fruit and some made-from-scratch choices for kids.

“We do some scratch cooking every week,” said Jan Crone, food service director for Dayton schools. “With this, we’ll be doing more of it.”

She welcomed the lessons from Cook for America staff and said she believes that the students, if provided with new foods gradually, will, too.

“The kids aren’t used to this. Some have never had this before,” Crone said.