One of the most striking things about the people who work at the Minneapolis Public Schools Food Service Department is how upbeat they seem. Just look at their picture above. From left to right, they are:
- Larry Jones (Operations Manager - School Sites)
- Ricardo Abbott (Operations Manager - Nutrition Center)
- Joe Hollenback (Culinary Supervisor)
- Nicole Barron (Accounting & Business Systems Manager)
- Irfan Chaudhry (Assistant Director)
Do you notice something strange? They're all smiling.
"There are a lot of people in every business who are happy with the status quo," Nicole tells me, "you're not going to find it here."
"Summers used to be so easy," Irfan says, "but we don't take any vacation anymore. We want to make sure we give our kids the best food we possibly can."
"If you have well-trained, knowledgable employees, the innovation and caring will be there," Ricardo says, "We have a great team that is passionate about what we do. We provide food to help children learn."
Day after day, the terrific team shown above beats the odds and makes improvements to the food our kids get in school. Somehow they take a budget of less than $1.00 per lunch (food cost), and they make it work. In the past six years, they've replaced strawberry milk with unflavored milk, chicken nuggets with chicken breasts, and desserts with fruits. They've taken corn dogs, Tutti Fruities, and cookies off the menu. They've found ways to save money on labor and spend more on food. Ladies and gentlemen, if anyone deserves our thanks and respect, it's the five smiling people in the picture above and the 150 school lunch workers on their extended team.
And yet, there's a lot of work to be done, for sure. If it seems like change takes too long, that's because it does.
"It can take years from the time we have an idea to the time we can implement a solution," Irfan says.
"Ricardo tried for years -- years -- to move from Styrofoam to compostables," Nicole adds. "We need brokers, manufacturers, and other school districts to want change before we can make it happen."
Nicole explains that telling a major provider that the schools want something new or different is just the first step of a long process. Providers only make changes when changes make good business sense -- when the market demand is so great for a new or different product that the company will undeniably make more money doing things the new way.
Maybe that's why the walls of the enormous food storage area are lined with things like chicken patties and nuggets, even though they've been taken off the menu in our schools. For a district with so little money to spend, it's got to be painful to see so much food -- or "food," as the case may be -- go to waste. Nicole shrugs it off. "We may end up donating it to someone who needs it," she says, "but it's okay. We'd rather store the nuggets here than give them to our kids."
As they show me around the facility, it's clear that these employees are proud of their work. They're eager to show me the giant gravy machines, the brown rice conveyor belt, the stacks of salads and yogurt, and the grilled Buffalo chicken wrap sandwiches that will be sent to schools the following day. They highlight some of the signs in the facility ("The Nutrition Center does not serve pork products"), and show off packaging innovations like the ones meant to turn star-shaped fish "sticks" crispy when they're heated up.
Somehow, this team of over-worked, under-paid, under-appreciated people are laughing, telling stories, proudly showing me around, and inviting me back for more. What gives?
Ricardo sums up the group's feelings perfectly. "We're teaching kids best practices," he says, "healthy food is no different than reading and math. We're trying to do something different, something good. You know, I kind of like what we're doing. It makes me feel good."
Us too, Ricardo. Thank you all for what you do. We appreciate it.
Please read these related articles:
- Getting to Know the Minneapolis Public Schools Food Service Department, Part One: the Overwhelming Need for Good Food
- Getting to Know the Minneapolis Public Schools Food Service Department, Part Two: Small Changes, Big Improvements
Lee Zukor is the founder of Simple, Good, and Tasty. E-mail him at lee@simplegoodandtasty.com or follow him on Twitter.
