Menu subject to change

LAUREL — It’s good to plan and even better to have backup options especially when preparing meals for 300 people each day.

Never before have the words “menu subject to change” hit home more for Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School as the school has dealt with supply chain disruptions for its school meal program over the past two years.

“We always plan and have a sort of backup emergency series of meals so in some situation where we’d need to go through even a week where we wouldn’t have deliveries, we’d still be able to serve kids,” said Supt. Jeremy Christiansen.

Pre-packaged foods have especially been hard to come by over the past several months but supply chain shortages seem to be easing, he said.

The school district experienced a shortage of the pre-packaged PB&Js that the school used as a substitute option for entrees. In fact, there was a six-week period where the school could not order the quantities needed, he said.

Students were still able to make an entree substitution for a salad or yogurt parfait option when PB&Js were unavailable.

A menu staple item taquitos all of a

sudden were unavailable to order as well. “It’s not that there’s no taquitos in the United States,” Christiansen said with a smile. “We order it and all of a sudden we can’t get it for whatever reason.”

Flexible kitchen staff were able to change to a similar entree of enchiladas.

A shortage of flavored milk also impacted the school district in December due to a Hiland Dairy plant fire. Luckily, the plant was able to clean up and get back into production quickly and students were able to enjoy flavored milk again starting with the new winter semester.

Another example of a shortage experienced recently was for the diced chicken used in a real student-favorite Chicken Alfredo.

The kitchen staff asked the high school students for their preference - menu something different or try the chicken Alfredo dish without the chicken?

“They decided to try it without the chicken and after that was done, a large number of kids said they liked it better without the chicken,” Christiansen said, although the kitchen had to come up with a different protein option that day.

If a particular menu item is unavailable, usually a similar alternative can be found. “Our kids are so attuned to flavors I think,” Christiansen said. “Our vendors have been really good with us about finding an alternate that will work. We were certainly able to still get salsa but the kids absolutely know it’s different.”

Same story for black beans which students will dish up from the salad bar.

“They’re still beans but they don’t taste the same,” he said of the kids’ reaction to eating the same menu item from a different brand.

Along with some unavailability of menu items, workforce shortages have caused problems, too.

“Not only do we have supply chain issues but our vendors don’t have workers . . . so now instead of having a 5:30 (a.m.) delivery, our delivery might not come until 10 or 10:30 (a.m.) and when deliveries come sometimes it’s food for that day,” Christiansen said.

Sometimes a menu change is far enough in advance that families can be notified or an alert is put on the daily announcements that are read to students and also available on the school website. Other times, that’s just not possible.

“The worst is when they get up to the front of the line, and be like, ‘What?’ and completely surprised as to what they’re getting,” Christiansen said which thankfully is a rare occurrence.

The federal meal program has allowed districts to be more flexible with what is offered to students each day due to these shortages and supply chain issues. LCC has local businesses it can rely on to help out.

“One time we didn’t get enough hamburger for whatever we were making that day so we called in our friends at Hometown Market and Ken’s Market and they helped us out,” Christiansen said but sometimes the local stores face the same supply challenges.

Along with supply chain issues, food prices have seen a sharp increase which the school district has had to absorb.

That’s because federal reimbursement rates for school meals remain the same regardless of food costs. While at the same time, the USDA authorized all students to receive free meals because of the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning in the 2020-21 school year.

“School meal programs are not a for-profit operation. In every case that I’ve known of they typically run in the red. School districts themselves have to supplement the nutrition budget using general funds,” Christiansen said.

LCC generally has to supplement the school meal program about $100,000 every year.

He said it’s nice to be at a smaller school district where some homemade items can still be incorporated into the menu and staff can adapt to the changing environment.

“They’re the unsung heroes of the school system,” Christiansen said. “When it’s going well you don’t hear a whole lot about it but when it’s not, it’s the talk of the town and the home.”