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South Carolina district gets helping hand from local food service vendor

The School District Five of Lexington & Richland Counties teamed up with Smart Mouth Pizza to continue serving student-favorite meal from food truck.

Becky Schilling, Group Content Director/Editor-in-chief

April 2, 2020

School nutrition programs have always relied on strong partnerships with local vendors. But when coronavirus hit, one South Carolina district got an added helping hand when a manufacturer showed up with a menu item that is always a winner on school lunch menus: pizza.

The School District Five of Lexington & Richland Counties in Irmo, S.C., has had a build-your-own pizza program, serving up fresh pizza every day in the middle and high schools. But Director of Student Nutrition Todd Bedenbaugh wanted to bring that choice to students, even during COVID-19.

“We wanted to give students some hot food at least once a week,” he says. So he called up the president of Smart Mouth Pizza, a company out of Atlanta that helps the district with its pizza program, and the company brought its food truck to two high schools to serve hot, fresh pizza to families.

Last week, the district served more than 44,000 meals to area families. After starting with daily meal pickups, Bedenbaugh’s team switched to a Monday weekly pickup, giving anyone 18 or under five breakfasts and five lunches. “We went to one-day-a-week pickups to try to keep our people safe and to not expose them as much,” he says.

Watch the video to learn more about the partnership.

Do you have a story to share about how your team is weathering the coronavirus storm? Food Management wants to hear. You can email me at [email protected].

About the Author

Becky Schilling

Becky Schilling

Group Content Director/Editor-in-chief

Becky Schilling is Food Management’s editor-in-chief, and the group content director for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, managing editorial for digital, print and events for Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality, Food Management and Supermarket News media brands. Becky holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas A&M University and a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Before joining Food Management in 2014, Becky was with FoodService Director magazine for seven years, the last two as editor-in-chief. Becky is a history nerd and a sports fanatic, especially college football—Gig'em Ags—and tennis. A born and raised Texan, Becky currently resides in New York City.

Becky Schilling’s areas of expertise include the onsite foodservice industry (K-12 schools, colleges and universities, healthcare and B&I), foodservice menus, operational best practices and innovation.

Becky Schilling is a frequent speaker at industry events including The Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF), The National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) and The Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management (SHFM).

Becky Schilling’s experience:

Group Content Director, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (Feb. 2020-present)

Editor-in-chief Food Management (Nov. 2014-present)

Director of Content Strategy & Optimization, Informa Restaurant & Food Group (March 2019-Feb. 2020)

Editor-in-chief, Supermarket News (April 2019-March 2019)

Executive Editor, Supermarket News (July 2016-April 2017)

Editor-in-chief, FoodService Director magazine (March 2013-Oct. 2014)

Managing Editor (FoodService Director magazine (March 2012-March 2013)

Associate Editor (FoodService Director magazine (Nov. 2007-March 2012)

Contact Becky Schilling at:

[email protected]

@bschilling_FM

https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-schilling-39194ba/

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