Cafeterias Unknown: Dummerston Elementary School

February 8, 2019 - Dummerston Elementary School

Pizza day, oh blessed pizza day! A few weeks back, I got to spend my Friday afternoon lunchtime with a gaggle of first-graders at Dummerston School. What began as a table of 2 quickly turned into a table of 12—those kids sure were eager to tell me stories about their day (and their whole lives)! The majority of my table had school lunch, with a few bringing lunches from home.

From the lunch line, I went with a big slice of pepperoni pizza, a maple-balsamic spinach salad with strawberries, sliced cukes, baby carrots, canned pears, and a carton of 2% milk. Oh! And one scrumptious local apple from Green Mountain Orchards in Putney.

In Dummerston, the kitchen is run by a staff of two—Tracey & Lori of Cafe Services. They cook for about 80 students each day. This year, they are working to decrease waste by switching from plastic to reusable lunch containers. Additionally, they are hoping to eliminate a variety of unhealthy ingredients, increase local purchasing and provide lower sugar content foods whenever possible.

Lunch was super fun. We talked about what it would be like to milk a cow. We talked about what a baked brie and jam birthday cake would taste like. And we took some photos with our eyes closed (just to see what it would look like). Overall, a Friday afternoon well spent.

Eating lunch (or any meal!) with others is always a pleasure—I encourage you to share a meal with friends or colleagues this week!

School Meals: A Priority in the Dummerston Community

The newly formed School Food & Wellness Committee at Dummerston School, a partnership of parents, community members, and school staff, is excited to roll out some changes in the cafeteria this year. Inspired by the Farm to School movement in Vermont and eager to offer the most nutritious meals to their students, this committee came together to set some food-related goals for the coming year. These include:

1. Improving food quality

2. Using more locally sourced ingredients

3. Reducing waste & packaging

4. Linking food and nutrition with improved learning and curriculum

The group is excited to work with Food Connects and new Kitchen Manager, Tracey Provencher of Cafe Services, to begin moving the needle on these four initiatives. Big picture goals include raising the funds necessary to eliminate all processed meats, high-fructose corn syrup, trans-fats, hydrogenated oils, and a number of other unhealthy ingredients. The team also hopes to support Tracey in reducing the sugar content in foods served in the cafeteria.

As for local sourcing, Tracey is committed to incorporating products such as yogurt, apples, potatoes, and other seasonal vegetables from local farms throughout the school year. Sourcing in this manner is likely to reduce packaging.

Initial successes have included:

• Developing new systems for communicating food choices to students

• Piloting a reusable lunch box container

• Purchasing of new equipment for the cafeteria—including a potato wedger and warming oven

• Installation of a new recycling container in the cafeteria with clear signage for recycling and compost

What’s next?

• Installation of a “share cooler,” so that students may share unwanted lunch items with peers

• Continued work on the elimination of a variety of unhealthy ingredients in cafeteria foods

By eliminating a number of unhealthy ingredients and sourcing high-quality, local produce, the committee is confident that overall meal quality will improve this school year.