“We added breakfast service to our summer meals program,” said Tammy White, SJUSD’s Nutrition Services Director. “We also increased the number of meal service locations this summer to five, and served 23,164 breakfast and lunch meals in June and July, which is an increase of 40% in meal participation than we’ve previously done,” she continued.
During the regular school year, San Jacinto Unified serves daily lunch to approximately 6,000 students with 5,600 of those students receiving free or reduced fees. All students at the district are served a free breakfast, a constant at all schools since the 2011-2012 school year.
Like many other districts, San Jacinto Unified wants to offer food that students want to eat. This past fall, the Board selected Angela Phalen to fill a new position, Chef Coordinator. Angela comes to the district with a wide range of experience in nutrition, most recently from Hemet Unified School District. She has owned her own restaurant business, served as an Executive Chef and has done research and product development in the nutritional field. In this latter role, she fully developed and brought nine new products to market.
“We know that nutrition is an important part of a child's life as that student strives to be successful academically, emotionally and physically,” shared Phalen. “I enjoy promoting health and education by utilizing my training, experience and skills in Child Nutrition."
Planning for next summer’s meal program is already underway. “This summer we would like to incorporate more locally sourced fresh fruits and vegetables, along with other ingredients to offer the freshest products available,” shared White. “And with the help from our Chef Angela, we will be able to create innovative fresh, healthy and delicious menu items,” she explained.
Visit the SJUSD Nutrition Services’ website for more information about their program at http://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1908090032069219.