The lunchroom landscape is changing in Middletown Public Schools. The district has launched a series of initiatives to bring more nutrition and education options to students, expanding menus and minds.
Plant-based food is a trend sweeping fast food chains, grocery stores and now, school cafeterias. Middletown Public Schools is serving up more plant-based plates.
“Most of the students actually said if it wasn't labeled as the ‘Impossible Burger,’ they wouldn't have known that it was meatless!” Randall Mel, Middletown Public Schools food services manager, said. “Most of them said they would be willing to eat it multiple times per week.”
Students at Middletown High School did a taste test of the Impossible Burger Wednesday, and 75% that tasted the burger gave favorable feedback.
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“We're hoping to introduce that to all of our schools within the next couple of months,” Mel said.
As food services manager, Mel is behind the massive operation that feeds 4,800 students each day.
“We have 10 schools across the district. So it's kind of like running like 10 little restaurants here every single day,” he said. “We serve about 1,500 breakfasts to the students and about 3,200 lunches, as well as about 400 to 500 after school snacks.”
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The shift toward plant-based aims to accommodate student requests.
“Due to a lot of religious beliefs as well, there's a lot more students who are looking for vegetarian options, or even just for personal dietary beliefs,” Mel said.
A “Meatless Monday” initiative teaches kids about the environmental impact they can have based on what they choose to eat.
“Going meatless, even if it's just one day a week, you're saving lots of water,” Mel said. “We're also promoting the health and the humanitarian efforts of animals, and also reducing our greenhouse gases."
It’s all part of the school district’s broader take on nutrition.
“Some of the things that we've really been focused on as a district is focusing on the whole student,” Mel said.
Other culinary ventures include serving dishes from various cultures, nutrition classes and school gardens. The district has also formed partnerships with local farms, committing $20,000 to locally grown produce this year.
The initiatives are funded through USDA Child Nutrition Programs.
While other school districts are transitioning back to paid meal programs, Middletown Public Schools has secured universal free meals for the next five school years.
“It's helping the families tremendously, because with the free meals, each family is saving about $1,000 per child per school year,” Mel said.
Soon they will be serving up even more - introducing a dinner program across schools this spring and next school year.
“We'll be able to offer three meals a day to our students, absolutely free of charge for all of them,” Mel said.
Filling plates and stomachs, and proving you don’t need a silver fork to dig into good food.
