K-12 School Food Services
A Fresh Approach to Contracted Food Services for K-12 Schools
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K-12 school districts and seasonal youth programs throughout the northeastern U.S. are steadily discovering the many advantages that Fresh Picks Café affords to them through our customized suite of comprehensive, cost-effective programs for on-site public and non-profit school kitchen and cafeteria management.
Students and staff throughout each district we serve enjoy the advantages of our professional team’s ability to create and present fresh, quality food that supports and appeals to each distinct audience – from elementary students to middle school students to high school students, and the staff-teams who support them.
Culinary Professionals Enhance the Dining Experience
Our teams of on-site chefs, registered nutrition specialists, kitchen managers and professional hospitality servers provide students with exceptional cafeteria experiences that ensure consistent participation in food programs offered throughout the day – including breakfast, lunch, and mid-day or after school meal options. These positive experiences serve to represent your school’s goals and values, and enable students to thrive through healthy, flavorful nutrition that supports them at critical times throughout their school day.
Dining Participation Growth Leads to School Revenue Growth
Steady growth in student and staff dining participation results in solid revenue growth for school districts. The Fresh Pics Café team attracts higher dining participation by consistently innovating practical and cost-effective seasonal programs to connect with students and enable them to explore beneficial food choices. We also provide contemporary tools that students appreciate, such as an on-demand app that allows them to review menus. Our restaurant-style stations for entrees, beverages, and snacks, as well as themed events and customized programs such as “Try a Bite”, draw students’ interest and invite their participation.
Consistent Compliance with Nutritional and Food Safety Guidelines
Fresh Picks Café enables districts and school administrators to focus on their primary responsibility of education, with the confidence of knowing that their students are nutritionally supported; their foodservice budgets are balanced; and they are fully-compliant with nutritional and food safety regulations.
USDA National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Programs
Fresh Picks Café helps school districts to maintain awareness and compliance with national and federally-assisted foodservice programs such as the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
As outlined by the Food and Nutrition Services division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the federally-assisted National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a meal program for K-12 students, established under the National School Lunch Act. The goal of the NSLP program is to provide nutritionally-balanced, reduced-cost or free school-day lunch options to kids in public schools and nonprofit private schools.
The USDA outlines the School Breakfast Program (SBP) as a program that provides reimbursement to states to operate breakfast programs in K-12 public and private nonprofit schools. At the state level, the program is administered by state education agencies, the program is locally-operated by K-12 public and private school authorities.
National School Lunch Income Eligibility Guidelines
The USDA annually publishes Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEGs), which are used to determine a student’s eligibility for free and low-cost meal options. K-12 school district and summer food service programs refer to these annual guidelines to determine eligibility.