Falling into Foodservice
By Isabella Cova
Going into the internship, I had
a pretty good feeling that
Foodservice was not for me, but
then… I ended up at Parkway!
As a 2012 Parkway North Alum,
returning to the Parkway School
District for a five-week rotation,
sounded absolutely thrilling!
Now having been there for three
of those five weeks, I have
realized that there was a LOT
about the place that I called
home for four years that I did
not know about.
The First Day
On my first day at Parkway, I
visited 28 schools in the North
and South region of the school
district. That made for an
impressive first day, not only
because I had never been to 28
schools in a single day, but
because each school was so
different. I was blown away by
the nurse at Oak Brook
Elementary School, who was
growing column gardens of
lettuce in the school cafeteria.
Each day she would talk to the
children about the lettuce and
harvest it in front of them. Upon harvesting, she would add the lettuce to the school salad bar
and the outcome was incredible! Elementary school students were going up to the salad bar
three times in a single lunch period to fill their plates with more salad. So, to all the doubters out
there who believe that getting a child to eat something green is impossible...look no further than
Parkway. As a Nutrition and Dietetics Intern and Graduate School Student, I have heard time
and time again about the importance of Nutrition Education, but seeing the impacts first-hand
inspired me to new limits.
The same nurse at this Parkway Elementary School who had become a hero for the salad bar at
her school, also became the champion of breakfast sales. After working on a grant to receive
equipment and supplies to make smoothies for breakfast, this nurse increased her breakfast
sales threefold. Anyone who works in Foodservice in a school district knows that increasing
breakfast sales is extremely difficult because as data from surveys show, getting breakfast into
children can be a struggle. However, students at Oak Brook were coming in every morning for
their smoothies and they were loving them! To me, this was evidence that serving students
healthy food does work and when done correctly, the students and school district both win.
Learning the Ropes in Production
Apart from visiting the elementary and middle schools, I have spent the majority of my time
rotating between Parkway’s four high schools: North, South, Central and West. The high schools
are unique in that they serve as the production centers for the entire district. Parkway’s
Foodservice operates off of a satellite school system. As a Nutrition and Dietetics Major, I have
learned about the four types of foodservice production systems (commissary, conventional,
cook-chill and assembly serve), but now I got to see the commissary production style in action.
This means, that not only do the high schools prepare food for all of their students, they also
prepare lunch and breakfast for the schools in their region. The high schools are responsible for
serving anywhere from ten to four satellite schools.
This type of production system leads to busy mornings and busy afternoons. From a high school
student’s perspective all looks calm, cool and collected from the front of the kitchen. However,
behind the scenes, inside the kitchen, food is being rushed to the carriers for the middle and
elementary schools, lists are being checked item by item, staff members are running around
getting last minute items and the cardio workout for the morning has begun. In the afternoon,
after all the schools have finished their lunch, the remaining food and all the dirty pans and
utensils get delivered back to the high school and clean up begins.
Time for a Parkway Surprise
Not only is it amazing to think about how many students the Parkway District feeds each day,
but with such a large foodservice production also comes an incredible amount of food waste.
Parkway repurposes their food waste by composting. Composting is an environmental friendly
and sustainable way of recycling food back into nutrients that can fertilize the soil to grow new
crops and plant life. After lunch, food that cannot be reused from the elementary and middle
schools gets returned to the high school and all the food waste gets dumped into the yellow
composting bins that gets taken to Blue Sky’s Recycling where the food waste is used within the
community to grow new foods.
Forecasting each days’ needs becomes essential in
trying to minimize food waste and food cost. In
attempts to control food waste, before composting
is considered, the production manager assesses the
returned food to evaluate whether or not the food
can be repurposed into another meal. If the quality
of the food would be compromised or the food does
not meet: appearance, taste or temperature
standards, food is then recycled into compost.
Besides food waste, Parkway has moved to using
compostable trays rather than the traditional
Styrofoam ones. Signage all throughout the
cafeterias at the schools aims to educate the
students about which bin their trash can be thrown
into to help Parkway in its sustainability efforts.
The schools offer landfill options along with
recycling and composting options.
Eye Opener…Foodservice is More Than
Numbers
For anyone exploring a passion in Dietetics, let me
tell you, Foodservice is more than numbers and
foodservice math. When I was applying for
internships, I was open minded, but pretty sure
foodservice was not for me. I enjoyed wearing my
white lab coat and being perceived by the general
public as a physician. I loved talking to patients and
feeling important with all the medical terminology.
I thought working in foodservice would be a bunch
of number crunching to calculate edible portions,
cost per serving, figuring budgets and percent
variance, but it was NOT. Foodservice is a lot of
marketing and advertising to get students excited
about the food being served. It is a lot of meetings
with vendors, bidders, production staff, foodservice
directors from other school districts, parents and
students. It is a lot of communicating through
meetings, emails, handouts, phone calls and
interactions with students and administration. It is
a lot of planning ahead to make sure menus make
sense both logically and nutritionally and that floor
plans for new kitchen areas and serving spaces flow
properly. It is a lot of papers from inventory sheets,
to production sheets to budget reports and financial
reports from each facility. It is a LOT of work, but it
is also a lot of FUN, especially, if you are someone
who has a passion for education, people, the future,
nutrition and food.
Last Thoughts
I could go on and on about my experience at Parkway. I could brag about all the wonderful
people I have met or all that I have learned about managing and working in the Food and
Nutrition Services Department. This opportunity to work in the district that helped me to be
where I am today, was humbling and nothing short of a sweet blessing. During my time here at
Parkway, I have learned that Foodservice in schools is where preventative medicine occurs.
Health is fostered by the school environment through teachers, nurses, foodservice staff,
parents, administration, students, local organizations offering grants, local sustainability
companies and ultimately everyone who recognizes the importance and power of food and
nutrition. The cafeteria is the heart of the school because it brings students together, it nurtures
students in more ways than one. Food is more than the nutrients it provides. As a girl with an
endless passion for Education and Nutrition, I have learned that this is where it all begins and to
a certain extent, this is where it all began for me five years ago.
