Black teen holding a football

Going the Extra Mile

Reach out to meet the unique needs and expectations of student athletes and other niche customer groups. Please don’t skip this article. I understand that many of you might feel tempted…

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Entice with Spice

The right spice can help you create authentic, flavor-forward, global-influenced menu items students can’t resist. When you contemplate eating out with loved ones, what are your “go-to” foods? In my…

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Focus on Fantastic Food Photography

Practical tips to create drool-worthy images of school meal standouts. For as long as I can remember, I have had a camera in my hand. As a photographer for my…

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Charcuterie board with cheese, fruit and meats

A School Lunch Trend Trifecta

Three trend-worthy menu items being adopted, proliferating and appearing everywhere throughout K-12 school meal programs. For obvious reasons, not a lot of menu innovation went on during the height of the…

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help wanted sign

Help Really, Really Wanted

“A perfect storm” is a popular metaphor to describe the collision of multiple factors that result in a catastrophic event. So, imagine how seriously we need to take America’s current…

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Illustration of people reaching boxes on shelves from step stools

Leveling the Playing Field

The tools needed to achieve success aren’t one-size-fits-all. Fostering equity in the workplace means that people sometimes need diff erent resources in order to reach the same positive outcomes. IMAGINE…

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Jessica Fey jumps beside Annette Fuentes while collecting distributing food in parking lot

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

School nutrition programs focus on both recruitment and retention strategies to address staff vacancies. Three years into a pandemic that has disrupted every aspect of our lives, many school districts…

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Women looking at a long to-do list.

Too. Much. To. Do.

The HACCP model presents an unexpectedly effective way to manage the priorities on your to-do list. Overwhelmed by all the things you need to get done? Or should get done?…

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Girl making a heart with her hands

Creating Change Through Kindness

It’s what the world needs now. Be kind. It’s the sort of dictum that’s easy to say, maybe easy to conceptualize, but very likely hard to carry out. (record scratch)…

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Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Regular medical screenings and exams are vital to health and happiness. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked health and wellness havoc among Americans beyond the 800,000 (and counting) virus death toll,…

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