OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — The Oceanside Unified School District is revolutionizing school meals with a farm-to-table nutrition program that's bringing restaurant-quality food to students across the district.
The district's cafeterias now serve fresh, locally sourced produce and minimally processed foods that are delivered straight from nearby farms to school kitchens.
"We do everything in-house, so we were like every other school district looking for better options," said Francis McInnis, who runs the food nutrition program for the district.
McInnis has established partnerships with local producers, including Dickinson Family Farms in Fallbrook, California, which delivers pre-washed, ready-to-eat produce to the schools.
"If you go to a store and you buy an apple, or those apples were picked months ago, they were held in nitro storage," McInnis said. "So you're not getting... you think you're getting fresh, but you're not really quite getting fresh. When we go to a local farm, it was picked the week it was ready."
The partnership with Dickinson Family Farms and their network of farmers has introduced students to foods they might not typically encounter in a school setting.
"Some things they wouldn't normally see on a food salad bar at school, kumquats," McInnis said. "We started slicing them, pairing them with cucumbers and tahini and lemon. Kids loved them."
The district is also working to change students' overall eating habits through hands-on education.
"So we partnered with our own farm at one of our schools where they produce it, we buy it, serve it to our own kids, grown by our students, eaten by our students," McInnis said. "They're making healthier choices."
Students like Kimberly approve of the new menu options, describing the food as "yummy."
Like all school districts, Oceanside Unified must follow USDA regulations regarding nutritional requirements for student meals.
"They need carbohydrates. They need sugars. They need fats," McInnis explained. "They need those in relative amounts to help their brains and bodies develop. Give them the energy to play, to learn."
The district operates on a $3 million food budget and is set to serve 2.5 million meals free of charge across 21 school sites. Despite the perception that healthier food costs more, McInnis says their approach is financially sustainable.
"Because we produce at every school site, we cut down on transportation costs. We cut down on production costs, things like that," McInnis said. "Because we're partnered with a local farm, we're getting a lot of product for a very good price."
With the new school year beginning, the district is introducing new menu items, including a chicken parmesan recipe and house-made bean, rice and cheese burritos.
