It is hard to believe that it has been 7 months since Live Healthy Nevada County hosted the Food in Schools Summit!
We have exciting news to share about our progress in making steps towards our goal of cooking and serving “From Scratch” food in Nevada County Schools!
On May 2nd and 3rd, LHNC with be touring several schools sites with school lunch consultants Jamie Smith, Manager of Santa Cruz City Schools Food Services, and Michelle Malm, Director of Food Services in a small district in Lake County. Jamie and Michelle have had success over the past several years making the transition away from processed food to “from scratch” cooking in their school districts.
Jamie and Michelle, along with committee members of LHNC, will be visiting key facilities to offer advice and next steps towards providing “from scratch” school lunches with local sourcing when possible, to all students in Nevada County.
For some of you, this may be the first you have heard about the Food in School Initiative since the October 8th Food Summit, however, between then and now, we have reached some very important goals!
* We received funding from a local donor who wishes to remain anonymous. This funding will allow us to begin our facilities assessment and planning as well as fund the Farm to School educational programs that LHNC and The Food Love Program have developed and implemented.
*LHNC received a letter signed by ALL of the school superintendents, led by Holly Hermansen, Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, supporting our goals surrounding school food. Here are some excerpts from that letter:
- “From Scratch” cooking is an ambitious, worthy goal for Nevada County, but is only possible if a new, appropriately equipped central kitchen can be created and resources can be secured to provide culinary training for all staff.
- While it may make sense to begin pilot programs in a small number of schools or districts, these need to be part of a careful plan to include all willing schools and districts in the county.
We agree that a comprehensive assessment is necessary and will assist in this process however we can.
Thank you for your interest and commitment to healthy food choices for our students in Nevada County! We will keep you updated with our findings and progress as this journey to “from scratch” cooking continues!