Board Member Linda Cohen Experiences Lunch

School board member Linda Cohen visited Greenwood on January 2. It was a cold, windy day but she took the time to watch the full recess, and then met up with a 5th grader and her mother for lunch.

As the students entered the lunch room, none of the students were seen using the available hand sanitizer. 5th grade lunch begins at 1:05, and Linda and her lunchmates were at the last table to get in line at 1:10. At Greenwood, students leave their snowpants on and sit on their coats, hats, and mittens. Linda sat on her coat as well.

Linda and her lunchmates sat down to eat at 1:15. Lunch that day was chicken fingers, smiley fries, a whole grain dinner roll, and either apple slices or peas, which were cold and hard.

The students at the table talked about fruit and veggie requirements. They said they have to take either a fruit or a veggie, even if they don't want it or don't plan to eat it. If they don't eat it, they throw it away, but salvageable items can be donated: unopened milk, unopened applesauce containers, etc. Linda was very concerned about the food waste aspect.

At 1:20 the lights were turned off, giving the students a 5 minute warning. They could still talk, but the dimmed lights meant they needed to finish up. Teachers started arriving just before 1:25 and students were dismissed to compost and line up right at 1:25. The table Linda was at ended up with less than 10 minutes to eat. Lunch paras cleaned the tables. None of the students at the table had empty lunch trays, and Linda did not finish her meal either.

Linda shared with the attending parent that the experience was very informative and eye opening, and that the two issues that stood out to her most were the time to eat and the food waste. She said she would bring it up again at the next board meeting and would like to figure out how to add even 5 more minutes of lunch time into the schedule.

Superintendent Anderson Experiences Lunch

Superintendent Chace Anderson visited Sunset Hill Elementary on December 20. He came before lunch to observe recess, and then sat down for lunch with a group of 4th grade girls.

As the students entered the lunch room, none of the students were offered hand sanitizer nor was it available. Dr. Anderson hung his coat up outside the cafeteria area and then came back in to sit down. 4th grade lunch begins at 11:25. Dr. Anderson was one of the last to get lunch and sat down at 11:35.

Lunch that day was homemade turkey gravy, fresh carrot sticks, fresh fruit choices, and an apple pie cup.

Dr. Anderson engaged with the girls and asked them about their favorite and least favorite meals. One of the girls said that the lunch being served was one of their favorites. He asked them what they would change if they could change anything about their lunch experience. One girl mentioned she would like to see a salad bar. They also all agreed that eating in their snow gear was not ideal. Many said they need more time.

4th grade lunch ends at 11:45. None of the students at the table had empty lunch trays. A child sitting alone by himself to his right was eating the entire time, and as the notice was given for lunch to be over, he shoved food into his pockets and was eating his sandwich as he walked to the garbage to throw the food he couldn’t bring with him away.

Mr. Anderson did not finish his lunch and he remained in the lunch room for an additional 8 minutes, as the next round of children came in from recess to begin eating.

After he was done eating, Dr. Anderson asked if the 20 minutes the children have starts at the time they enter the room. This was confirmed (this fact is also in our report we submitted to the board last September). It was mentioned to him that Eden Prairie recently passed a referendum that increased the amount of ‘sit’ time, meaning that the children get 20 minutes to eat beginning by the time the kids sit down to get up and he was encouraged to consider this for Wayzata.

What Happens to Leftover Cafeteria Food?

This was a question posed by one of our Facebook group members.  We went to Michelle Sagedahl, Culinary Express Director for the answer:

"To start this is an area that I would like to take a deeper dive into with our district and make sure we are streamlined across all kitchens, but have not had the opportunity to take that deep dive yet.

For food that we serve from our kitchens we save everything we are able to. Many items can be cooled, frozen, and reheated. Fruits and vegetables we reuse what we are able to. There are some items that just do not freeze and reheat well, like pizza. In this scenario, we work with kitchens to batch cook and keep an eye on numbers as they go along.

Unfortunately, at this time the entree food items that go to the satellites (Sunset Hill, Birchview, Greenwood) is not saved. They save anything they can as far as Bento Boxes, fruits and vegetables go. This is another area on the list to take a closer look at as it is possible to save some entree items and does involve updating our current HACCP plan.

All cafeterias have some sort of share table/station concept. However, this is an area I would like to streamline and improve. At this time, we are looking into purchasing carts like these for cafeterias. Some cafeteria utilize their composting area for the share table and would like to provide a separate area for this.

Any food that we might have that won't hold over a long break, we do try and donate to a food bank. Recently, IOCP does not take produce/perishable items so the next closest food bank would the The Food Group in New Hope. I am also looking into utilizing an app called Meal Connect. You enter any food into this app and then Second Harvest Heartland comes and picks it up for you."

Do you have a question?  Please submit it and we'll work to get an answer for you!

January and February Menu Highlights

A few highlights from the January and February Elementary menus:

- Several items previously containing concerning ingredients have been improved: Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Tenders, and Lo Mein
- The Chicken Noodle Soup has been updated with the new organic soup base
- A new Spanish Rice recipe with the new organic soup base
- Last year's Chili is back on the menu
- A new "Meatless Monday" designation
- The Black Bean Burger patty will be supplied by a new supplier, providing a cleaner ingredient list.  (The item is still marked red on the menu due to the bun)

The number of entrees with concerning ingredients fell quite a bit in January but rebounded a bit in February.  Still better than a year ago.

Elementary Menus Improving Incrementally

This is what the old Turkey Gravy ingredient list looked like. It now includes Minnesota-grown Ferndale Farms turkey, a new soup base and soon, the bleached flour will be gone!

And here is the comparison between the old Chicken Noodle Soup and the new soup's ingredient list:

And the old Black Bean Burger patty along with the new version.

A big thank you to the new Culinary Express Director, Michelle Sagedahl for making these improvements!

Wayzata High School Vending Machines

These vending machines are in the high school cafeteria and are on all day, including during lunch.

Kids Invite Wayzata School Board to Lunch

So incredibly proud of this group's kids for presenting at the December 9 school board meeting! They spoke about what they'd like changed in school lunch and invited the school board members to have lunch with them to experience what the kids experience each day.