Beginning A New Food Program In The Village School Kitchen

Beginning A New Food Program In The Village School Kitchen

Wed 18 Jan 2012

Story by Toña Aguilar
 

When the 4J School District in Eugene, Oregon, decided to cut food service to public charter schools, one local school decided to start their own program. The Village School, serving grades K - 8 opened a scratch-based kitchen this year. Within the first month, the school doubled the number of meals served.

The Village School Kitchen



What Has Made This Program So Successful? The school is committed to cooking all its meals on-site, using mostly organic foods from as many local farmers, ranchers and distributors as possible. 



Running the program are two dedicated women, Toña Aguilar and Stacey Black. Aguilar and Black met through the The Eugene Coalition for Better School Food, a local organization working towards improving the quality of school food on a district wide basis. They are also both mothers of young children at the school. When they heard that the school was looking for a food service program, they sat down together and wrote up a proposal for a new meal plan.



The challenges to their ambitious changes were immediately apparent. "We had less than a month to come up with everything from pots and pans, to forks, cups and lunch trays" recalls Black. After years of reheating packaged, frozen foods the kitchen was mostly devoid of any cooking utensils. What was once there had been packed up by the district at the end of the previous school year to use in other school kitchens. Establishing a new food service program with the Oregon Department of Education required research and paperwork. Menus needed to be created and approved. Accounts needed to be established with local businesses, and the kitchen needed a make-over.



Each challenge was met with amazing support and enthusiasm. Eugene area restaurants and businesses donated equipment and start up funds. Farmers, ranchers and distributors promised discounts allowing the school to purchase top quality ingredients to feed hundreds of students every day. Grandparents chipped in for lunch trays and parents showed up at the school ready to scrub, mop and paint so the cafeteria would be ready for service on the first day of classes. Now the cafeteria is one of the hearts of the school (yes there is more than one), where the children feel welcome and nourished.

Most Importantly, The Children Love The Food!



Over 50% of the student population at The Village School qualify for free and reduced priced meals through the federally run National School Lunch Program. The families who do not qualify, happily pay $.75 more than the district average cost of $2.50 per lunch. Parents have expressed how thrilled they are to not pack a lunch every morning, and they feel good about the quality of food their children eat at school. What is most important is that the children love the food. The salad bar, made up of organic and local produce, is a bottleneck in the lunch room traffic. Students notice and appreciate the fresh good taste of produce that is grown locally and carefully prepared each morning.

With the help of many community members, The Village School Kitchen is a resounding success. After three months as "healthy lunch ladies,” Aguilar and Black have streamlined their program greatly. They hope to share what they have learned with other schools and districts with the goal of improving childhood nutrition, supporting the local economy and decreasing environmental impacts.

About the author: An early childhood educator for 8 years before exploring an interest in nutrition and cooking by becoming a "healthy lunch lady" at The Village School, Toña Aguilar is on the steering committee for The Eugene Coalition for Better School food as well.