A Celebration of ‘Good Food, Real Food'

The Legacy High School staff serve meals with a smile.

A balanced diet is an important part of good health, and the Mansfield ISD Student Nutrition Team makes sure students and staff receive that nutritious foundation every day.

National School Lunch Week is a time to recognize school nutrition professionals around the country for their passion for food and education while bringing awareness to the federally-funded National School Lunch Program.

The federal program requires school meals to meet federal nutrition standards like offering fruits and vegetables every day, serving whole grain-rich foods, and limiting fat, calories and sodium.

Mansfield ISD has gone above and beyond those standards by adding a variety of scratch meals and fresh options on the menu. Some of the house-made items are chicken spaghetti, lasagna, taco meat, hot rolls, cinnamon rolls, various breads and sauces.

Rita Denton, director of student nutrition at MISD, said the weeklong celebration of National School Lunch Week is a great way to recognize the impact the kitchen staff has on their campuses.

“It’s a week that we get to celebrate our team and stakeholders. We get to give thanks to our food service professionals,” she explained. “They come in every day preparing fresh, healthy, delicious meals for our students.”

The theme for National School Lunch Week 2018 is “School Lunch: Lots 2 Love.” Some of the special celebrations at MISD included giveaways, highlighting student favorites on the menu, emphasizing locally sourced ingredients and providing free desserts for elementary students.

“For us, it’s just a celebration about ‘good food, real food’ and about our students,” Denton said.

She added that her team members are some of the best and most cheerful in the industry. They play a crucial role in starting the day off right with a breakfast and recharging the students at lunchtime.

MISD’s Student Nutrition Services served more than 5 million meals last year with a projection to serve even more this year.

National School Lunch Week 2018 is Oct. 15 through Oct. 19. The observance was started in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy.

For more information about MISD’s Student Nutrition Services, visit the department’s webpage.

Student-Run Restaurant Reopens Oct. 17

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There’s a reason why Savvy’s Bistro, located inside of Ben Barber Innovation Academy, is called food with educated taste. The restaurant is operated by high school students in the culinary arts program.

Savvy’s Bistro started more than ten years ago as a test kitchen for the aspiring chefs. Under the guidance of Chef Adair Smith, the eatery expanded to a place that is open to the public.

The restaurant will reopen for the 2017-18 school year on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

“My students have been preparing for this for a month-and-a-half, and they’re ready to go,” said the culinary teacher. “From the servers to the back of the house to the executive chefs, everybody’s ready to make sure we’re 100 percent on service and food.”

Savvy's Bistro also caters food for campus and district events.

New this year, patrons will get to enjoy a bigger and newly remodeled dining area. Another added feature is the ability to see students cook the food in an exhibition kitchen.

Students who work at Savvy's Bistro are certified ServSafe food handlers. They said it’s a great opportunity to experience the real world in a safe and nurturing environment.

“He doesn’t baby us. We make our mistakes, and we learn from them,” said Cecilia Harlen, senior at Frontier High School. “Instead of sitting in a classroom and watching videos on how to make something, we actually make it.”

Chef Smith said there are menu staples, but there are also new featured foods every two weeks. The featured foods on opening day will be spicy Cajun dishes.

“If you’re in the mood for some really tasty food, come on down to Savvy’s Bistro,” he added.

Savvy’s Bistro is open every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on school days. To view a menu and calendar, visit the restaurant’s webpage.

Student Nutrition Cooking Up New Foods for Fall

Sturner prepared the chicken spaghetti in the test kitchen.

While students are out for the summer break, Mansfield ISD Student Nutrition Services is heating up their oven making sure everyone comes back to some new tasty, yet nutritious, meals.

Foods like chicken spaghetti, grilled chicken pesto subs, chicken and waffle paninis, hash brown casseroles, Asian chicken and rice bowls, and grilled stuffed burritos will be making their debut for certain grade levels in the fall.

Chef Isabella Sturner is charged with making new recipes for MISD schools. She said the process to get different foods on the menu is a collaborative one.

“I work closely with Denise Hayslip (MISD’s dietician) to make sure each recipe is compliant with USDA regulations,” said the district’s culinary trainer. “We try to keep our meals delicious, fresh and relevant—food that the students will actually eat.”

And MISD students have a say in what foods make the cut. When all the food guidelines are met, students taste them and provide their feedback.

“We recently had a taste testing for students at Summit High School. They really enjoyed the shrimp fajitas and jalapeno cornbread,” Sturner continued.

Sturner said the upcoming year’s meals will have a southern home flare to it, and nothing says homestyle better than making the food from scratch.

Fresher food, like this strawberry salsa, is the goal.

“The lasagna, zucchini bread, taco meat, fried rice, lo mein, ranch, spaghetti sauce—all of that is homemade. We have a good blend of scratch cooking, which is impressive since we have to serve 300 to 500 people within a 10-minute window,” she explained.

The nutrition workers try to accommodate all types of eaters, including vegetarians. That’s why they’re hosting a vegetarian item sample session on July 17 at 11 a.m. Anyone interested can go to the Student Nutrition office on 1151 Mansfield-Webb Road in Arlington.

With an average of more than 20,000 people being served each school day, the department certainly has its hands—and cafeterias—full, but workers said they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My favorite part about food is the amount of enjoyment others get. We’re serving good food that’s real food,” Sturner added.

MISD Student Nutrition Services distributed more than 5 million meals last year. For more information about menus and pricing, visit the department website.