Their insights and suggestions for improving your relationship with the local health department are no joke.

“Inspecting a school kitchen was the highlight. If we wanted to end the day or the week on a good note, we visited your school cafeterias.” Before Dan Ellnor, Shonia Hall and Jessica Shelly worked in school nutrition operations, they had career stints as sanitarians with a local health department (see the box on page 34). They visited fine-dining restaurants, mom-and-pop diners, fast-casual eateries, food trucks—and, in some cases, daycare centers and private residences on behalf of child or adult protective services. They saw it all: rats, roaches, flies, mold, failing septic systems, poor personal hygiene. So you can believe them when they declare that school foodservice operations are the best in the business when it comes to clean and safe kitchens and cafeterias.

This testament is no cause to relax completely, however. School nutrition teams need to be alert and ready for those surprise visits. But the affirmation offers great context for the baseline advice these leading operators want to share with their school nutrition colleagues: The local health department is there to partner with you in your shared goal to serve safe (and nutritious) meals to your customers...