How many students do you serve a day and district size?
Approximately 3,600 meals served daily across one high school, two middle schools, and five elementary schools.
What is your most successful menu item?
Popular items vary by school and age group, but cheese pizza and breakfast-for-lunch consistently rank as favorites.
What is your number one strategy you use to increase participation in your district?
This year we launched a social media presence, @Meals4Dragons, to showcase meal photos, promote special offerings, and share food facts and tips. Serving great food is important, but if students and families don’t know about it, participation will lag—social channels help bridge that gap.
What is one thing about your program that you are most proud of?
I’m proud of our #NEThursday program. We feature tacos made with locally sourced Wagyu/Angus beef and fresh toppings grown by a nearby farm. Partnering with local farmers connects students to the food they eat and highlights the value of local ingredients.
Favorite kitchen hack
There are so many useful hacks, and having been at Gretna for just a year I’m still collecting favorites. One simple trick we demonstrated to staff was removing the outer bag from Thanksgiving turkey roasts with one hand. Instead of wrestling with the packaging, this method removes it cleanly in about five seconds—so we recorded a short video to share the technique.
Check out Chef Sharon’s delicious, student-favorite recipe: Pumpkin Pie Parfait!
