SCHOOL FOOD
FEEDING OUR FUTURE By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune
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hicken coalesces in Anne Leavens’ kitchen as “strips,” “nuggets” or “popcorn” — depending on what the national supply chain can muster. Adapting daily to the availability of food, Leavens still must serve about 3,000 demanding customers. “Just because they’re kids doesn’t mean they’re not our customers,” says Leavens. As nutrition services supervisor for Central Point School District 6, Leavens managed to reconfigure cafeteria fare as takeout throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But even as students returned in the fall for standard school days, Leavens still hasn’t seen a return to normalcy where food is concerned.
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Salad bar for students at Jewett Elementary School in Central Point.
“Normally, we like to have the same (items) all year,” she says, explaining that one week’s pizza may be round, the next week’s square because the
district can’t rely on orders being filled as requested, particularly where the U.S. Department of Agriculture plays a role. Operating on a $3.5 million annual budget, says Leavens, the district relies heavily on USDA commodities, despite their vagaries. “So far, the kids have handled that really well.” And District 6’s food service staff has handled unprecedented challenges with creative solutions. In response to 2019’s distance learning, they delivered an entire week’s worth of takeout breakfasts and lunches to district drop sites. By comparison, furnishing a single day’s allotment of food — taken to go — when on-campus learning resumed in 2020 was a cinch. “They were adaptable; they didn’t fight change; they were happy to be at work,” says Leavens of her staff, which number 30 to 35.
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