From all of us at Heartland School Solutions, we'd like to wish you a happy and safe holiday season!

Take a look at how our office stopped and celebrated this year with
our very own #MannequinChallenge:

Did you know that over 82% of internet users ages 18-29 and 79% of internet users ages 30-49 are on Facebook?  Even more important than this stat is the fact that many of these users are likely your district's parents.  Creating a business page on Facebook to promote your school nutrition program provides a whole new way to engage with parents in a fun and rewarding way.  Use it to showcase the nutritious food your staff is preparing each day, build trust with your parents, solicit valuable feedback, and more.

A few days back, a friend of mine asked me what I do for a living.  I explained that I was a National Sales Manager for Heartland School Solutions.   We hadn’t seen each other in a few years, and as the father of twins beginning kindergarten this year, he was very interested to hear all about it.  We chatted about our careers, and I began to think about the complexity of our K-12 food service industry.

With over 30 million students participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) everyday, you might not be surprised to hear that those same students generate over $600 million in food waste each year.  Making an effort to reduce food waste can save your operation money, increase meal consumption in the lunchroom, and help minimize your school's impact on the environment.

Here are some simple solutions to reduce food waste before it happens, recover foods that are on their way to the trash, and recycle food waste that might otherwise end up in a landfill:

School nutrition program directors, managers, and staff are required to complete a minimum amount of annual training hours to meet the USDA Professional Standards provision outlined in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA).  These hours of training also translate into Continuing Education Units (CEUs), which can be used towards maintaining your Certificate in School Nutrition or SNS Credentials through SNA.

With Verification just around the corner, there's a number of things you and your staff can do in your Free & Reduced software to make this process even smoother this school year.  In working with our in-house Free & Reduced experts, we've come up with 5 things every district should do now to prepare for the start of Verification:

October is National Farm to School Month, which celebrates the connection schools and their communities have with fresh, healthy food grown by local producers.

Coming up with new, healthy recipes for school cafeterias can be challenging to say the least.  Fortunately, many states and organizations across the country have developed cookbooks full of nutritious recipes school kids will love.

Here are 13 of our favorite school cookbooks that feature plenty of locally sourced ingredients and flavors from around the globe:

Good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle begin at home. As a school administrator or school nutrition professional, you have a unique opportunity to share helpful tips with both students and their families.

A message from Terry Roberts, President of Heartland School Solutions. 

It’s hard to believe, but the 2016-2017 school year is already upon us! We hope you have enjoyed your summer and are as excited and eager as we are for the start of a new school year. Here at Heartland, we’ve been busy this summer training new staff, making enhancements to our software platforms, meeting with customers, and doing all that we can to ensure you and your district receive only the very best service and support from us.