State of K-12 foodservice: Forging community ties

When Dawn McGinn, foodservice director of White Plains City School District in White Plains, N.Y., was looking to empower her teams and upgrade the menu, the White Plains Youth Bureau steered her toward a great resource.

“The Bureau had a summer program for high school students, and their project was geared to improving school lunch,” she said. “They researched options and their solution was to reach out to Brigaid, a company that hires out professional chefs.” McGinn took that suggestion and put a chef in place at the high school for over a year, helping to improve kitchen systems and raise the level of meals, and moving McGinn closer to her goals of an all-scratch kitchen and the implementation of a supper program to replace after-school snacks.

The community surrounding most school districts is home to nonprofits, agencies, educational institutions and the like. Those, in turn, may lead to connections with county and state organizations that can lend support to foodservice programs, local sourcing initiatives and college extension services.

McGinn partners with several community agencies, including the White Plains Youth Bureau, to distribute meals during the summer. To create convenient distribution centers for grab-and-go meals, she arranged with the White Plains Library, YWCA and other local organizations to be pick-up spots.

But at the start of the 2024-25 school year, White Plains schools have two Brigaid chefs on staff, thanks to revenue from USDA and New York State reimbursements. “We applied to participate in the Community Eligibility Program for New York State to get some funding,” said McGinn. “The two chefs are assisting with culinary training and getting our CACFP supper program off the ground.”

The school district already serves breakfast and lunch, but this “third meal period,” which is being piloted this year, would be offered at the high school at the end of the day, when students are still on campus for athletics and educational enrichment and need something more than a snack. “It’s an opportunity to give kids another meal if they miss lunch—and it keeps them away from the vending machines,” said McGinn. The Brigaid chefs are helping craft the menu, repurposing some of the school lunch items to reduce food waste. Homemade lasagna using New York State ground beef and pasta dishes with fresh vegetables are in the works.

In addition to using local beef, McGinn sources from several farmers and vendors in the state, especially those in the lush Hudson Valley nearby. Cornell University Cooperative Extension helped connect her with these producers, as well a network of Hudson Valley school foodservice directors.

Maine is another state with a bounty of local food sources and Mary Emerson, school nutrition director for Westbrook School District in Westbrook, is taking full advantage of it. She applied and was accepted to the Farm & Sea to School Institute in nearby Saco, Maine, and is working with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to promote more local fish consumption in the schools.

“It is a competitive process to attend the institute,” said Emerson. “Each team needs to complete an application process that requires us to rate our district on where we are at in the cafeteria, classroom and community in purchasing and serving local foods, educating our students on sustainability and integrating food system education at all levels, as well as involving community members in supporting our transformational process of increasing our student's connection with local foods.”   

The intensive three-day program provided tools and motivation for Emerson to move closer to her goals. Her department is constructing a greenhouse on the middle school grounds and is planting a 20-tree orchard and 12 raised beds. She is also planning an aquaponics program. “A goal for our cafeterias is to increase our purchasing from local farms as well as from our on-grounds greenhouses,” she said.

The Westbrook foodservice team is also working with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to educate students about the importance of eating local fish and supporting the fishing industry in Maine. “We serve a Gulf of Maine Fish Stick in our elementary schools and in the middle and high schools, we use local fish sourced from the Fishermen Feeding Mainers program,” said Emerson. “This program provides free fish if the district picks it up at the dock at certain times. We have made a number of baked fish dishes, including a delicious Coconut Lime Baked Fish and a Poor Boy Fish Sandwich.” There is also a Monkfish Stew that is made in Maine and qualifies for local food funding.

For Emerson, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute helps promote the community-classroom-cafeteria connection, as its educational materials are integrated into the curriculum.

In addition to the students, McGinn is forging community connections with teachers and other district employees. In August, she organized a “Welcome Back” event for staff, featuring locally sourced apples and peaches from nearby farms. “If I spend 30% of my budget on local products, New York State will provide additional funding for school meals,” she said.