Test kitchens insure quality school lunches - Celebrating 40 Years of School Lunch

Test Kitchens Insure Quality School Lunches

Over the years, school lunch directors have become increasingly sensitive to the likes and dislikes of their student customers. Just as food manufacturers and distributors put time and effort into testing new items before putting them on the market, many school food service people are testing foods before introducing them in their lunch programs.

Two test kitchens in the Southeast --a county-operated kitchen in Louisville, Kentucky, and a state-run kitchen in Raleigh, North Carolina-- are good examples of innovative approaches to food testing and food service training.

Louisville kitchen is a recent addition

The test kitchen and learning center in Louisville is part of the Jefferson County school system. It was the idea of food service director Jay Caton, who saw a need for better quality control in school meals.

"We needed a place to test and compare food samples for consistency and acceptability,' he explains. "With 135 school locations, it's difficult to have standard quality throughout our system, especially since we have a relatively small field staff of consultants for the schools. We also needed a place for hands-on experience and training on food preparation, sanitation, and safety.'

Completed in 1985, the test kitchen is part of a large classroom that can be divided into three sections. Up to 100 people can attend classroom training while 25 are in the test kitchen.

Before the test kitchen existed, food service staff tested food samples at each school. Now food samples are picked up at a number of schools, brought into the test kitchen, and analyzed for quality.

"Introducing new products is one of the most important functions of our test kitchen,' says Cherly Sturgeon, coordinator of food service operations for the Jefferson County schools.

During what's called "happy food service hour,' a monthly event at the test kitchen, food brokers and manufacturers show off their products to local school food managers. "In the past,' says Sturgeon, "our managers had no place to see or test new products. Now they can come to happy food service hour and be updated on the latest food trends.'

Test equipments as well as products

Product testing goes on throughout the year. "In March,' says Sturgeon, "we may decide to test all french-fry products that are approved for the schools.' Evaluation panels include school and state food service personnel, parents, and of course, students.

"We have to be sure that the students themselves have a part in determining food quality for their meals,' Sturgeon says.

Private industry has been generous in donating food service equipment and in providing representatives for equipment maintenance seminars. A donated video camera is used to tape sessions for employees unable to come in for training.

"Not only do we stay up to date on the latest food trends, but we also test the latest in kitchen equipment,' says Sturgeon. "For example, we have a tilting braising pan, which we have ordered for some of our larger kitchens, that eliminates the need for large ranges.'

School food managers are required to take training each year at the test kitchen. Along with courses on food and equipment, there is instruction on stress reduction, time management, and building a positive self-image. Local chefs conduct sessions on merchandising and using garnishes. As an incentive to participate, managers can earn bonus pay for completing optional training.

The kitchen is also used to test new recipes or modify traditional ones. The goal is to insure consistent meal quality and to minimize costs while making meals more acceptable to students.

Adding variety is also a goal

"We need to reach out to our customers without jeopardizing nutrition,' says Jay Caton. "One of the challenges today is to maintain high quality with the best tasting product and provide it at a reasonable cost to the paying child.'

Caton feels the offer versus serve option, which allows students to choose three or more of the five available food items, is one of the best ideas to come into school food service.

"Another good idea,' he says, "is the use of USDA commodities for preparing a la carte items. For example, we process figs, honey, and flour into individually wrapped fig bars that the kids really like. We need to recognize that not every child will want a full meal every day, and we must insure that nutritious choices are available.'

Students benefit from the test kitchen because of the variety of products that are put on the menu after the testing process. "Managers have more items for their own individual choice menus as a result of what we show them in the test kitchen,' says Brenda Richardson, coordinator of food procurement.

"This is important since we have found that students in one part of the county may have completely different tastes from the rest of the area.'

While schools are competing with fast food restaurants and have to follow fast food trends, Richardson says, many students are also placing more emphasis on "light' foods. "For instance,' she says, "we have healthy a la carte items such as all-natural yogurt to go along with our salad bars.

"We also have less salt and fat in our cooking, serve multi-grain products, and have cut back on desserts. Using tilting braising pans reduces the amount of deep-fat frying while keeping in more nutrients.'

Richardson has helped implement a Fitness and Nutrition (F.A.N.) Club in Jefferson County middle schools. Students assess their physical fitness levels and develop individual plans to meet their nutritional needs.

The schools have incorporated nutrition education activities into a number of subject areas. In some activities, for example, students keep diaries of what they eat, count calories, and make charts of physical fitness levels. They also learn about the foods of other cultures, make cookbooks and plan menus, and learn about the nutrient content of various foods.

Raleigh kitchen is also thriving

North Carolina's state kitchen, like Jefferson County's, helps local food service directors meet the demands of sophisticated consumer taste preferences. "The students are our customers, and they keep us in business,' says North Carolina state child nutrition director John Murphy. "We want to meet their needs, and our test kitchen helps us do that.'

Murphy admits that commercial food service is aggressive in vying for school-aged customers. He depends on the training lab to keep staff competitive in serving quality meals in North Carolina schools.

Located at the state child nutrition office in Raleigh, the test kitchen was set up in 1980 to test and develop standardized recipes for school cafeterias, and to train school food service staff in food preparation and equipment use and care.

Workshops are held once a month on topics such as merchandising, efficient quantity food production, and special service arrangements, such as salad bars. The lab is designed to accommodate 8 to 11 persons at one time. Usually 21 people attend the workshops, and hands-on lab experiences are rotated among two groups.

Training coordinator Paula Tillman conducts the 2- to 3-day sessions. "We operate under the train-the-trainer concept--that is, participants go back and teach others about what they learned. We use the lab as a training station to put innovations into practice. We will test an idea here before it is tried in a school,' Tillman says.

The North Carolina test kitchen was used to test recipes for the innovative "School Recipe Portfolio,' developed by eight Southeastern states. This full-color merchandising manual of standardized school recipes shows how food should look and be displayed on the serving line. All recipes chosen for the book were tested in the lab and adjusted for proper yield, quality, and taste.

Training builds skills and morale

Both Murphy and Caton stress that managing and caring about people are very important factors in having an effective child nutrition program. They believe there has to be a sense of participation for those who work in food service. Workers must feel that they are professionals with specific skills who are performing a major service in education.

"We must manage our resources so that people are rewarded for their work,' says Caton. "We want our test kitchen to supplement an expanded professional growth program for employees because the opportunity to improve one's skills is basic.

"Workers' ideas and commitment mean more in the long run than any leadership I could give. If it doesn't happen in the schools, it's not going to happen at all.'

For more information, contact: Jay Caton, Director Jefferson County School Food Service 3001 Crittenden Drive Louisville, Kentucky 40209 Telephone: (502) 456-3190

John Murphy, Director Division of Child Nutrition State Department of Public Instruction Education Building Raleigh, North Carolina 27611 Telephone: (919) 733-7162

Photo: This poster from Louisville reflects the goal of the food service staff: to serve meals that are both good for and popular with the students.

Photo: Product testing and staff training are easier with the test kitchens. Here, a team works in the Raleigh kitchen.

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