Tools for the Food Service Program
Menu Development
- Fish to Schools a guide to serving local fish in school cafeterias.
- “Fresh from the Farm”: The Massachusetts Farm to School Cookbook a resource for school cafeterias including several engaging educational activities for linking the cafeteria to the classroom.
- I Veg Out: Vegan Quantity Recipes for School Lunch Programs includes 13 vegan recipes scaled for 50 and 100 portions, compiled by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
- Let’s Cook Healthy School Meals Cookbook is a tool developed by Project Bread in partnership with Chef Didi Emmons and the Chefs in Schools Program. They solicited recipes from school food professionals across Massachusetts, then tested and refined them to compile this valuable resource designed to help school administrators and kitchen staff plan and prepare healthy meals for students that they will want to eat. It meets the 2012 USDA school meal requirements, and offers 100 recipes that have been kid-tested in cafeteria kitchens.
- The Lunch Box is an online collection of hundreds of recipes developed for the Boulder Valley School District. Menu cycles for lunch and breakfast are offered as well, along with USDA verification worksheets and nutritional analysis.
- New School Cuisine: Nutritious and Seasonal Recipes for School Cooks by School Cooks is a cookbook full of recipes from food service staff across Vermont, compiled by Vermont FEED organizations, 2013.
- Recipes for School Food Service, is a USDA webpage with links to many recipe collections, cookbooks, and menu development tools specifically for school meals.
- School Meals Featuring California Food: 50 and 100 Servings, 21 recipes for school meals scaled for 50 and 100 servings, by Center for Ecoliteracy, 2013.
- Washington State Schools “Scratch Cooking” Recipe Book, includes recipes used by food service programs across Washington state with meal pattern contribution and nutrition information. An appendix has resources for developing your own standardized recipes and calculating meal pattern contribution information, by OSPI, 2013.
Food Safety
Food Handler Training and Certifications
- The Washington Restaurant Association offers ServSafe Food Handler and Manager Certifications. Their training programs deliver consistent food safety training to employees in five key areas: Basic Food Safety; Personal Hygiene; Cross-contamination & Allergens; Time & Temperature; Cleaning & Sanitation. A manager-level certification not only provides advanced food safety knowledge, it also helps food service establishments comply with the Demonstration of Knowledge and Person in Charge (PIC) requirements of the Washington State Food Code, and includes some allergen training. The Advanced Food Safety Certificate is valid for five years.
- Washington State Health Department offers the convenience of online food worker training and testing at www.foodworkercard.wa.gov for all staff and volunteers who handle food. Allow about one hour to complete the process. The training and test are offered in English, Cambodian, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, and Closed Caption.
Handling Fresh Produce in Schools
- Best Practices: Handling Fresh Produce in Schools, University of Mississippi. This fact sheet includes best practices for handling all types of produce with specific practices for leafy greens, tomatoes, melons and sprouts.
- Handling Fresh Produce in Classrooms, University of Mississippi. Gives guidance for school district staff working in classrooms and serving fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Handling Fresh Produce on Salad Bars, University of Mississippi. Recommendations for precautions to take when serving fresh produce on salad bars and self-serve lines.
- SAFE Salad Bars in Schools: A Guide for School Food Service, WSDA, WDOH, OSPI, & WSU. The guide clarifies food safety standards for salad bars in Washington State schools, including use of local and school garden produce.
Food Service Staff Training
- Cook for America, LLC, offers 5-day “Culinary Boot Camps” which aim to raise the skills and self-respect of school food service personnel with a comprehensive culinary training program.
- Creative Culinary Solutions for School Food Service – Kent Getzin, chef and former Food Service Director for Wenatchee School District, now consults with school food service programs working to improve the quality of school meals, with a focus on fresh, local ingredients.
- Garrett Berdan is a chef and registered dietician nutritionist who offers training to school food professionals with a focus on flavor, health, plate presentation, and marketing.
- Healthy Food Choices in Schools Webinar Series Courses – Free online courses for food service professionals with a focus on encouraging students to eat healthy foods. School Nutrition Association members can receive 1 CEU per course upon satisfactory completion.
- Lunch Lessons, LLC, leads school food service programs through the steps of transforming meal programs to scratch cooking with fresh, sustainably grown, locally sourced ingredients beginning with a detailed assessment and strategic planning for accomplishing districts’ goals.
- School Food Institute offers online courses presented by Chef Ann Cooper for school food service staff to develop operational skills and strategies to prepare scratch-cooked school meals.
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