Eat Smart, Be Smart! SRVUSD’s Child Nutrition Department
Ilana Israel Samuels |  Feb. 10, 2023 

Part of this effort means that we need more staff! Recently, Chef John joined the team. He was a part of a company called Brigaid, which since 2018 has been partnering chefs with schools to provide culinary training and elevate their school meals programs with a heavy emphasis on scratch cooking. Chef John will be overseeing menu development and culinary operations and we continue to also have our partnership with Brigaid.

In December, SRVUSD received some of the new equipment that will help our school kitchens get to that next level - blast chillers,  electric tilt skillets, combi ovens, and kettles.  Director of Child Nutrition Zetta Reicker told us “these items will enable us to cook meals at a large scale. The electric tilt skillet has some really cool technology and capabilities.” She explained further that almost all SRVUSD high schools and most middle schools will be getting them installed over the coming months. “The blast chiller will primarily be used for our central hub kitchens and enable us to not only prepare meals in a food safe manner, but also maintain nutrition and food quality.”

Our Child Nutrition Department is also partnering with Eat REAL - a certification program - to measure SRVUSD’s full nutrition program against a set of evidence-based standards, and celebrate their successes. “By becoming certified,” said Zetta, “we will support meaningful changes in the interest of our students' health and reduce our environmental impact.” Participating in the process will help our community redefine what school food is and give us a structured way to measure and talk about our values. Learn more about Eat REAL certification, get an overview of the program, and understand more about the standards SRVUSD must meet to become certified.

Want to join the team and get in on all the fun? We'd love to hire you! Email SRVUSDEats@srvusd.net for more information.