Food & Nutrition
Dear Parents, Students and Staff,
The Student Nutrition Department continues to strive for excellence in our school meal program each year. One of the highlights of our nationally recognized program is our continued commitment to offering local and farm fresh products in our school lunch program.
Here are a few of the many reasons why students and families can feel confident when choosing to eat in our program:
Farmers as Partners
Every year we partner with local farmers to include fresh and local produce in our school meals. Some of the items provided by local producers include cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, kale, potatoes, spinach, carrots, cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, pears, apples, pinto beans and other seasonal options. Local purchasing enables us to provide the tastiest and freshest options to our students while supporting our local food system.
Salad Bars
Salad bars provide opportunities for students and staff to make healthy choices, so we offer them every day, at every school. Look for the local vegetables here.
Local Meats
Purchasing local provides students with an opportunity to enjoy premium, quality ground beef in their spaghetti and taco meals. Purchasing local beef is another investment we make in our local farmers and local agriculture.
Other Local Partners
We are fortunate to have other local partners who contribute to our program such as Boars Head, Rez Meets Urban Salsa, and Sunnyside Beef. These are products we choose to offer in the meal program to promote local partners and provide students with quality choices.
Students as Partners
Students from Escalante Middle School agriculture program provide us with hydroponically grown lettuce. This project is a perfect partnership because the lettuce is fresh from the students to the salad bar with minimal travel and provides an incredible local food education for our students.
We know that local and fresh is not only good for our farmers and local economy, the product is superior in taste and quality and provides the healthiest and freshest option for students each day. Our commitment to local and fresh is one that offers the healthiest choices we can to our students.
We will see you for breakfast and lunch to celebrate the health of our students!
Matt Poling
Director Student Nutrition
