How School Nutrition Solutions Support Everyone in Your Lunchroom
Today’s lunchroom involves many more people than just the school lunch lady and students. Administrators, supervisors, dietitians, managers, frontline foodservice staff, teachers, parents, and, of course, children, all play crucial roles. Every single one of these people, regardless of position, is a stakeholder in school meal programs that consist of healthy and nutritional choices.
Here are some ways that school nutrition solutions can support and assist each person with vested interests, and all those who play an active role in school lunch programs.
Administrators – Administrators are ultimately accountable to the school boards, taxpayers, and the rest of the stakeholders focused on providing school lunches. Also, this role makes sure that the school lunch program is adhering to all local, state, and federal policies on sanitation, nutrition, and finances. Performing their executive management functions can be augmented by school nutrition solutions, especially through real-time tracking, reporting, and at-a-glance dashboards of all viable information. Relevant and real-time data can assist in making decisions and getting the right data that supports those decisions.
Supervisors – Supervisors are often responsible for overseeing the lunch program and are directly involved with the administration. Comprehensive school nutritional solutions help the supervisor manage and communicate the entire lunchroom process, including menu planning, purchases, recipes development, finances, education and wellness programs, operations, preparations, training, and so much more.
Dietitians – School dietitians and nutritionists are directly responsible for providing healthy food choices and adhering to national nutritional guidelines, as well as making sure students are getting the right dietary elements in each meal. School nutrition software can help dietitians and nutritionists develop, prepare, and communicate school meal menus with accurate nutritional information so that students and parents can make and understand healthy choices. With these solutions, dietitians can also proactively avoid potential allergens in the food and provide allergy-free alternatives.
Managers – All levels of management are responsible for the daily operations of school meal programs. They are responsible for establishing high standards of safety, sanitation, ingredient quality, food preparation and procurement, and inventory control, all while overseeing their direct reports. For management, school nutrition software solutions are an absolute must-have. Accuracy, tracking, and reporting begins with the managers. They are responsible for communication with their superiors, along with the dissemination of information to other stakeholders. Based on the data, they must make day-to-day decisions and recommendations to senior staff, all while empowering their team and making sure all standards are continuously met.
Foodservice Employees – Frontline foodservice staff are responsible for the day-to-day preparation and serving of all meals and food items. Their effectiveness directly corresponds to the efficiency of the cafeteria. Through school nutrition solutions, staff members can be trained to be more productive, and current processes can be streamlined for efficiency. With the appropriate school nutrition solutions, healthy standards for food, better lunch environments, faster lunch lines, and tremendous cost savings are all possible.
Teachers – Teachers and other educational staff benefit astronomically when school nutritional solutions are implemented. Research shows that when children receive healthy, consistent meals, they perform better, earn better grades, and there are fewer behavioral issues for teachers and staff to deal with throughout the school and in the classroom, as well as in the lunchroom. Teachers are devoted to the benefits and outcomes of nutritional solutions for children, and the right solutions can help students achieve their full potential.
Parents – Nutritional solutions keep parents regularly informed of their child’s dietary choices, nutrition intake, and what they are being served. They can pay for lunches through convenient, secure, and safe-to-use online methods, and they can access this information anytime, anywhere, with Internet access.
Students – Students are the ultimate stakeholder when schools are providing healthy, well-balanced meals. Through nutritional solutions, they can make healthy choices and decisions that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. They don’t have to worry about keeping their lunch money safe. They can be involved in the process by providing feedback to staff. Through nutritional software solutions, students can develop a sense of engagement in the lunch program.
All stakeholders receive maximum benefits when schools and districts implement nutritional software solutions. That’s why schools need to partner with the right providers of cafeteria technology and school nutrition solutions. At Harris School Nutrition Solutions, we create the positive outcomes of healthy, nutritious meals for children and help stakeholders achieve the highest possible outcomes through extensive training, proactive support, and ongoing partnership.
Ready to learn more? Contact Harris School Nutrition Solutions today for a demonstration and to start realizing the benefits for everyone in your lunchroom.