Nourishing Cultures

What does it look like to nourish cultures, as reflected in our tagline, "Nourishing bodies, minds and cultures"?

It means honoring the ethnic diversity of those we serve by offering meals they know and love - when we can execute them effectively, according to the nutritional guidelines to which we must adhere. Not every meal can be made with whole-grain-rich pasta, rice or breads, or within the limitations of sodium, fat or calories imposed by the USDA nutritional guidelines for the National School Lunch Program. We know those we serve have their favorite traditional meals at home regularly. We try hard to replicate the taste of those meals but if we're too far off, our attempts could decrease, not increase, meal participation.

In the case of the recent addition of chicken tamales to our menus, one school serving largely students of Hispanic descent thinks we succeeded!

The students shared comments like, "This reminds me of my country," "This is the best day EVER!" One middle school student even said, "I thought the sign was a joke, but this is real - this is a real tamale on my lunch tray - at my school!"

The Food Service Director said, "Your attention to the culture and ethnicities in the communities you serve is one of the reasons CKC is my most favorite team to work alongside. You hit it out of the park for our students, connecting a school lunch meal to some important memories."

We know that not every meal we serve will be received equally by everyone. That's why we continually evaluate our menus and incorporate a variety of meals and cultural influences through the 6-week menu rotation. You might say the diversity of our menus and exposing students to a wide range of ethnic meals is a DEI initiative for us. Importantly, the menu variety and freshness are key to keeping meal participation high throughout a school year.