The history of school lunch programs in America is anything but brief.  The Children's Aid Society began feeding hungry, needy school children in New York City as far back as 1853.  But it wasn't until the late 19th century that some major US cities, including Philadelphia and Boston, started their own school lunch programs.  Over the next century, authors, war, and politics continued to shape the school lunch program into what we know it as today.

Bringing your school fundraiser online makes your cause convenient to donate to and easy to manage. But even with all the benefits of online fundraisers, there are still things you and your team can do to truly amplify the success of your event.

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: