A Roadmap For Our Dream

03 Mar A Roadmap For Our Dream

We are working diligently on a book to be released in 2017 about our dream and a roadmap to achieve it. We are excited to share a bit of it so far….

“If you consider the current reality, students themselves have extremely limited opportunities for engagement with their food systems.  More than likely, they show up, receive their meal, eat some of it, discard most of it and move on with their day.  No one has ever taken the time to ask them what they like or what they would be interested in trying.  This needs to change.

When we bring students into the decision-making process early on, they get to see the process from the ground up.  They develop curiosity that they can then express in the kitchen.  Student involvement can be educational as well as beneficial. The process of building a healthy meal presents a number of opportunities for students to help out, including gardening activities, menu selection and food preparation.

People often believe that assessing the current situation in their institutional kitchen is about uncovering a singular issue and that fixing it will lead to immediate success.  They often times assume their current systems are just broken in some way, like a tractor, and they simply do not have the mechanical resources to fix tractors.  They are not incorrect about the assessment uncovering situations that will impede success toward the desired new model. However, they mainly need to reconsider the way they think about fixing it.  They need to identify the barriers that exist in moving from the current situation to the desired new model.

The bottom line is this: the students are the main priority.  The focus is not about budgets and what is or isn’t possible.  It is about providing our students with nutritious meals that fuel their educations and put them on a path for success.”