After hearing about student preferences the day before, the chefs got into the kitchen with students and created some new menu ideas. Here, Cheatham helps a student cook with chickpeas.

Tila gets the thoughts of a student on the healthy meal they helped create to see which menu ideas were winners and could be added to the menu. Sandra Kemp, child nutrition director for Albuquerque Public Schools, said she needed help with menu items that incorporated leafy green vegetables to meet federal nutrition guidelines.

Cheatham and Craig Claude, corporate chef with Schwans, inspect the line at the Albuquerque central kitchen.

Kemp shows off the test kitchen and staff dining area of the central production facility, which opened three years ago. Before, the schools operated as satellite facilities. The central kitchen creates the 30,000 breakfasts and 45,000 lunches the district serves each day. Albuquerque has a free and reduced percentage of 72, and an enrollment of 80,000.

Kemp says she’s looking for more recipes to utilize equipment such as kettles in the production facility.

The facility doesn’t take in any raw meat for food safety reasons right now, but all the bread is baked fresh there every day.

The production center has a 40,000-square-foot dry storage area. The district makes sure to keep enough food and goods on reserve in case of an emergency or natural disaster.

Kemp worked with a manufacturer to produce this plate especially for the district. It’s compostable and has compartments for each meal component, including the milk in the center.