Student nutrition gains the wings to grow in CVUSD
Food is essential for fueling students’ bodies and brains, and the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s [CVUSD] nutritional staff is dedicated to delivering healthy and diverse meals for all students on campus, free of cost. From planning the menu to seeing the food appear in each school’s kitchen, Sarah Phillips has taken the reins as the new Director of Child Nutrition.
Phillips is stepping into the position to cater to students’ interests, as well as to strengthen nutritional health for all students. “We have a wonderful opportunity in school meal programs to not only fuel students’ bodies, but their minds and just present to them what a complete, nutritious meal looks like,” Phillips said.
Aiming to collaborate directly with students, Phillips spoke at the Student District Advisory Committee’s [SDAC] meeting on Oct. 27, where she gave a presentation about nutrition standards and goals for the department. She also brought entrees for the students to sample, which included chicken tikka masala, ham and cheese croissants and maple breaded chicken nuggets. The feedback Phillips received from the samples gave her insight into the types of cuisines that students would be excited to see in their cafeterias. “I think right now we do the American classics really well, but we don’t have a very culturally inclusive menu,” Phillips said. “The Tikka Masala, I think, is not something that students would think about being on a school menu, but the response was really positive for most of the SDAC members.”
With the help of a Newbury Park High School [NPHS] student, Philips also conducted a chicken wings taste test at NPHS where students tested three different sauces and voted on their favorite, allowing them to have direct say in a potential new menu item. “We offered over 300 portions of chicken wings. And the response was overwhelmingly very positive, and everyone was very excited,” Phillips said. Phillips is planning to continue to invite similar student participation through tests and surveys, and is hoping to add new items to the menu in the spring.
Jen Giammichele, Child Nutrition Supervisor in CVUSD, has worked in the district for the past three years, with a history of 18 years in food service. Giammichele is responsible for figuring out how many students are going to come through and get food each day, setting her co-workers up for success and providing them with the number of hot and cold meals they need to make daily. During Giammichele’s career, the world of nutrition has greatly developed into an overall more balanced and diverse world of nutrition. “It seems like every year they come out with higher standards, getting away from food dyes. So it’s been pretty fun to watch it happen, and I feel like kids are starting to enjoy different kinds of foods instead of just the really quick, easy stuff,” Giammichele said.
Giammichele wants students to be aware that school meals are free and available for all students. The NPHS nutritional staff stresses the importance of scanning students’ IDs when getting school meals. “[School lunches] are all paid for by the government, but it’s also why we’re so strict. When everybody comes through [the lunch line], we make them take the requirements they need because if they don’t, then it’s not reimbursable by the government, and then these programs won’t be able to continue,” Giammichele said.
Increasing student participation is also fundamental to keep the program going, and Phillips has several goals to improve the menu not just in diversity, but nutritional value as well. This year Phillips reintroduced the weekly Harvest of the Month that appears on Thursdays, inspired by her own background and passion. “I myself am a product of family farming, so I think it’s very important to support local farms. And living in Ventura County, we have so much access to local, organic, sustainably grown produce, and so that’s something I would like to improve upon even more,” Phillips said. She also aims to shift away from heat serve items, which arrive fully prepared and are warmed for service on site, and move toward scratch prepare, which are items that are prepared on site from scratch. “I think that the more that we can kind of scratch prepare, even elements of entrees, that would absolutely improve the quality of the food,” Phillips said.
Providing thousands of free meals a day district-wide, supporting students is at the core of the nutritional department’s mission, and Phillips wants students to understand the care that is put into providing these meals. “All of the middle and high school kitchens have, I would say, 6-15 people working every day, coming in early in the morning to prepare nutritious, delicious meals for all of the students,” Phillips said. “I really want to give a shout-out to the cafeteria staff, because they do an awesome job.”
