Thanks to Seamless Summer flexibilities from the USDA, school districts were able to do more for summer feeding with less paperwork and restrictions. At Bowling Green Independent School District in Kentucky, a cool new purple bus provided not only meals, but an air-conditioned hangout space for kids on summer break. A similar program at El Dorado Schools in Arkansas used a roving food trailer to feed about 800 kids each day during the summer.

When push came to shove in the form of a shrinking paper product inventory, Dallas schools’ responded with a finger food menu for several days a week, with no cutlery required. To keep students and families in the loop on any menu adjustments, the Dallas team uses social media and signage.

Because of nonfood and paper shortages finding basic items was tough, let alone compostable, recyclable or reusable items. But things could be looking up in terms of helping the planet, with lots of school food pros committed to sustainability.  

South Carolina’s Spartanburg School District 6 Chef Andrew Evans and high school students at Olympia School District in Washington State spent half of each school day at a district-owned 15-acre farm, growing veggies for school nutrition and earning credits at the same time.

In addition to the practicality of a good training program for school kitchens, focusing on training can mean finding leaders within and maintaining a healthy growth environment, too. We saw it in action at Clayton County schools in Georgia, where Chef/trainer James Jabbarr has used training to control labor cost and food cost, and to unify the crew.

In what can only be called an eternal struggle for K-12 foodservice, healthy vegetables can still be a hard sell for kids. Aramark Executive Chef Franny Bland of Good Creek schools in Texas shared a few of her cool hacks for solving the puzzle. Spoiler alert: This includes dips!

Immigrant families, especially the Middle East and Africa, were the focus for Chef/consultant Samantha Cowens-Gasbarro, who worked with the Westbrook School District in Maine to promote cultural diversity in the food served, something we are seeing more and more of, from coast to coast.

Many school meal evangelists have been preaching for universal free meals for some time, and a bill was introduced in Congress in 2021 and was immediately endorsed by the SNA (School Nutrition Association).

This year, school chefs took home 10 Best Sandwich awards, proving that adversity doesn’t have to hamper creativity.