Category: K12

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Why You Should Transform Your School Cafeteria

Creating an inviting atmosphere in your K-12 school cafeteria can have dramatic impacts on student participation levels.

Mealtimes should be positive, and lunchrooms should be inviting places. Lunch should be an enjoyable part of the school day for students, whether they’re in kindergarten or high school, and the cafeteria should be a break from the rigors of the school day.

School nutrition programs that embrace this mentality, that transform school cafeterias into places where students can relax, socialize, and become nourished, will enjoy the benefits of higher participation levels and higher performing students, but the question becomes how?

CREATE INVITING ENTRANCES

For starters, consider how the lunchroom experience starts. Even a simple welcome sign can go a long way to establishing ownership and a sense of pride, which will inevitably increase student participation. Welcoming décor isn’t that difficult to pull off, either. A quick run to the local hobby store can transform an entryway.

PROVIDE DIRECTION

One of the things students struggle with the most is time. Lunch periods are getting shorter and shorter, and students don’t have time to waste on trying to figure out where things are located within the cafeteria. If there’s a grill area, identify it. If the line starts here, let students know. Get creative with signs and identifications, too. It’s an opportunity to turn a school cafeteria into a space that feels more like a restaurant or food court.

ENHANCE DISPLAYS

How you display foods is almost as important as what foods are displayed. Attracting and enticing students — and ultimately getting those students to buy meals — requires products to be merchandised in ways that showcase their freshness and abundance. Clean and tidy displays are preferred over clutter and disorder. Lighting and even tray colors like dark reds and blues can make menu items more appealing. The goal is to make foods as enticing as possible because, first, we eat with our eyes.

What are the benefits of a school cafeteria transformation?

Studies show a school cafeteria environment can have an impact on the general performance of the student body. When the eating environment is pleasant and appealing, students eat more of their lunch, do better in the classroom, and have fewer behavioral problems. This is why proper nourishment is so important.

In terms of participation, though, what can be the true impact? How much does ambiance effect student meal participation? With just some simple transformations including displays, graphics, décor, and design, a high school can experience increases of more than 20 percent on participation levels, resulting in totals of nearly $120,000 in annual revenue.

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Webinar: Top 10 Foodservice Trends of 2021

Webinar: Top 10 Foodservice Trends of 2021

Your world has been dominated by shifts and progressions, forcing the evolution of your operations. So how can you keep up?

After months of surveys, conversations, trainings, and research, we’ve identified 10 foodservice trends to help you rise into the new year.

You’ll learn:

  • The top 10 foodservice trends in 2021
  • How other businesses and industries are adapting
  • How to implement these strategies for yourself
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The COVID Resource Roundup

If there was one word to describe 2020, “uncertainty” has to be at the top of the list.

The world has completely changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ability to adapt and adjust to this new world we live in, especially in foodservice, has never been more critical. Here at Lakeside, our first instinct is to help our customers, whether it’s through in-room meal solutions in healthcare, sanitization in restaurants, or meal delivery and accessibility in K-12 and colleges and universities. Continue reading The COVID Resource Roundup

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2 Drainage Options All Foodservice Consultants Should Know About

Made To Drain created two unique products designed to make drainage easy, effective, and convenient.

What sets Made To Drain (MTD) apart is the engineered floor troughs developed to assist and enhance the draining process. The Leak Eliminator and Clog-Free™ are two of MTD’s products that are making a big difference in kitchens everywhere. Anyone who works in the foodservice industry will want to know about these amazing drain options.

Made To Drain’s Leak Eliminator

Nobody wants to deal with having a leak no matter how big or small the damage is. The Leak Eliminator was designed by MTD is help avoid unnecessary leaks when it comes to floor trough installations. All of MTD’s products are created with the intention of containing and redirecting excessive water and debris. The seepage flange mates support the flooring of the trough while also clenching down to create a “watertight seal”. The weep holes placed on the flange permit any excess liquid to smoothly flow into the building drain line. Investing in the Leak Eliminator is a good way to be proactive and, hopefully, avoid leaks all together! The Leak Eliminator, and all of MTD’s products, were carefully constructed to guarantee the highest levels of quality and safety for their consumers and customers. Buying the Leak Eliminator is not just an everyday purchase but an investment. Read more the specifics of the Leak Eliminator by visiting MTD’s site.

Made To Drain’s Clog-Free™

MTD’s Clog-Free™ has given drainage a whole new image and reputation. Clogs are a problem of the past when consumers invest in Clog-Free™. With Clog-Free™ consumers are able to completely eliminate free-standing water. This particular product provides the ultimate protection for any tile and grout used to ground a floor trough by virtually cutting back on all clogs and leaks. As a result, another added benefit of Clog-Free™ is a noteworthy difference in minimizing the number of slips and falls taking place in the kitchen area. Clog-Free™ takes safety to a new level.

However, it is the high capacity strainer trays that make Clog-Free™ stand out. Watch this video to see how beautifully the tray works in action. Grease traps will indirectly greatly benefit from investing in Clog-Free™ by reducing the amount of sediment throughout the process. Not to mention, the additional perk of never having to make another maintenance-related phone call is enough to make anyone in the foodservice industry consider investing in Clog-Free™.

How to make the best drainage choice

Food consultants are one-way interested individuals are able to learn about drainage options when it comes to the foodservice industry. Made To Design’s website provides potential customers with the essential information needed to make the best decision. For each product

Made To Design shares the spec sheet, Revit, and installation guide of each and every product. Navigating the architecture of MTD’s products can seem overwhelming, but it is actually a very easy process. Made To Drain provides all of their contact information for any questions or concerns and is happy to help you with this process. Use this tool provided by Made To Drain to find a rep nearby to begin exploring all of the products and opportunities today.

In the past, drainage may have not been considered innovative or impressive, but Made To Drain has changed the drainage game. The foodservice industry is changing for the better with products like Leak Eliminator and  Clog-Free™. It can be overwhelming to begin thinking about these changes and purchases, but Made To Drain is here to help. Check out MTD’s engineered floor troughs and remarkable draining options and it will be obvious why consumers will want to invest in these products.

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The Celebrity Appeal Behind Food Waste Reduction

Food waste reduction is popular for a variety of reasons. It fights hunger. It’s good for the environment. It’s appealing to younger consumers. And it’s profitable.

But there’s another type of popularity to consider when it comes to food waste reduction, and it involves celebrities and household names.

James Beard is arguably the most recognized name we associate with restaurants. The James Beard Foundation Awards are essentially the “Oscars of Food,” as every year, restaurants, chefs, journalists, writers, TV producers, bartenders, and sommeliers are given our country’s top honors. Now, they’re also educating us on how to make the most of our food.

With the release of Waste Not: How to Get the Most From Your Food, the James Beard Foundation provides some answers from several “scrap-savvy” chefs. Some of their tips?

  • Utilize roots as part of the dish. They can add a beautiful element, and depending on the type of vegetable, add a great bitter element.
  • Roast wilting vegetables like celery and carrots to bring them back to life.
  • Don’t peel vegetables. Instead of shedding the outer layer of a carrot or cucumber, wash it well, and use the brilliant colors. Citrus peels? Send them to the bar for use in cocktails.
  • Purée wilting herbs with olive oil before they turn black. Then freeze them for later use.
  • Freeze berries on a tray rather than together so they don’s stick to one another.
  • Use vegetable scraps, roots, tops, and greens to create vegetable stock.

These are just a few examples contained in James Beard’s book on food waste, but the Beard name isn’t the only one popping up in food waste reduction efforts. All across the country, famous chefs and culinary experts are joining the fray, as we look to reduce the amount of food we waste.

Lakeside’s Bussing Carts are the perfect solution to help clean up your new reduced waste meals. Learn more about Bussing Carts here.

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste

A film from the late executive producer Anthony Bourdain, Wasted! The Story of Food Waste aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. As seen through the eyes of some of the most famous chefs in the world, this documentary shows viewers how to make the most of our foods, transforming what most consider as scraps into incredible dishes.

Celebrity Chefs Across the Pond

In an article in Reuters, Chef Douglas McMaster described working in a previous job as a young cook, watching as hundreds of gem lettuces were thrown away as only the root was served… as a garnish. McMaster was the 2009 BBC Young Chef of the Year and now owns Britain’s first zero-waste restaurant.

“We like to think of zero waste as not having a bin,” McMaster said. “Every natural thing has a purpose, you just got to find out what that purpose is.”

Food Waste Pop-Ups

Chef Dan Barber was featured in the first season of Netflix’s critically-acclaimed series, Chef’s Table. Barber has been called a “philosopher chef,” and owns the prestigious Blue Hill restaurant in Westchester County, New York. He also owned a restaurant in Greenwich Village called Blue Hill, but changed it to a food waste pop-up called WastED, serving dishes from ingredients that would normally be headed for the trash.

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Your Guide to Mobile Handwashing Stations

Handwashing on the go has become pivotal, We’ve created a guide for the best use cases and set-up for your operations.

We’re living in an era of increased importance when it comes to sanitation. According to the Center for Disease Control, we know the coronavirus and the subsequent COVID-19 disease it causes is spread mainly through people-to-people contact. This means people who are within six feet of one another are at risk of transmitting the virus. Because it’s transferred through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, it’s also critical that we wash our hands. Continue reading Your Guide to Mobile Handwashing Stations

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Is Your Stainless Steel “COVID Clean”? – Disinfect The Right Way

Traditionally, stainless steel has been one of the most widely-used materials in commercial kitchens. And there’s a reason for that. Continue reading Is Your Stainless Steel “COVID Clean”? – Disinfect The Right Way

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The Biggest Foodservice Trend of the COVID-19 Pandemic

We’ve detailed many of the changes in foodservice through a variety of our posts in 2020. From the great debate between sanitizer and soap and water to senior care foodservice compliance, there have been many adjustments across the entire landscape of where and how we eat. Continue reading The Biggest Foodservice Trend of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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3 Equipment Needs All K-12 Cafeterias Should Consider Post-COVID

As a result of the planning that’s happening across the country, many school nutrition programs are considering solutions that might help provide some versatility and safety for serving students in the COVID era.

Parents across the country are terrified. While there’s a lot of uncertainty out there today in a hyper-charged world, the thing that most impacts parents are the closures of schools. And even today, months after our initial stay-at-home orders went into effect, many school districts still don’t know what things will look like in 2020-21.

Guess what? Neither do school nutrition directors who are in charge of feeding our kids.

Continue reading 3 Equipment Needs All K-12 Cafeterias Should Consider Post-COVID

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What You Need to Know About Supper in Schools

Offering students a meal before they head home at the end of the day can mean the difference between nourishment and hunger.

Whether you call it supper, dinner, or something completely different, an end-of-day meal is an important step to make sure students aren’t going to be hungry, and more and more school districts across the nation are embracing this idea.

From California to Connecticut, more and more districts are working to help free or reduced lunch students enjoy the benefits of three square meals a day, and programs are having an impact.

“There is a need,” said Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Elk Grove, CA, Michelle Drake, in a 2012 article. “There are hungry families and hungry children. Just because they get breakfast and lunch doesn’t mean they get dinner [at home]. This program helps the child get a nutritious meal rather than Top Ramen or something.”

Afterschool supper programs came into existence mainly after the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which led to a myriad of supper programs just a few short years later. In October of 2016, nearly 1.1 million children received an afterschool supper, and average daily participation grew from about 200,000 just five years earlier.

According to the “2018 Afterschool Nutrition Report” from the Food Research & Action Center, many schools and districts are missing out on opportunities, though. Thousands of afterschool programs located in low-income communities provide food during after school hours, yet many that are eligible to serve supper are only serving snack.

What can be done to involve more districts?

For starters, districts in areas with more than 50 percent of students who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals should absolutely consider serving school suppers, as well. Providing meals and snacks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) are available in these areas.

Citing the report, state agencies and advocates should conduct outreach to eligible schools, identify barriers to participation, and assist schools in overcoming them. The free and reduced lunch ratio is certainly one of the obstacles, but even schools not meeting the 50 percent requirement can still find funding.

There are other barriers to serving school suppers, and some of them include issues with foodservice equipment and supplies.

Lakeside is happy to offer a free school nutrition assessment to districts looking to provide school supper programs for students. We have some ideas that have worked in the past and may be able to help your district in the future.

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