NVUSD Accomplishing Scratch Cooking in Unprecedented Times
How one district continues to progress healthy school food, despite many challenges along the way
February 10, 2021 | By Allison Ildefonso
Mike Pearson had the rare experience of being a site principal for 13 years before overseeing food services at Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) in California. Pearson was hired as NVUSD's Assistant Superintendent of Operational Services in July 2018, but has been part of the district for over 24 years. One of the first things he noticed in his new role? School food is more complex than he ever realized.
"There's a lot that goes into food service," Pearson said. "I had no idea. From menu planning to ordering to labor to relationships and communities. [The staff] knows they're providing an extraordinary service to the community."
School food can be complex for any district, but NVUSD was no stranger to big hurdles. The district had been under food service management company Sodexo before community parents began speaking up several years ago with concerns about the quality of the district's food.
Napa Valley School District - by the numbers
Average Daily Participation
Free/Reduced
Building Capacity for Change
In 2016, the $269 million Measure H bond was passed, which funds were partially allocated to the district's food services department to build a new central kitchen (a main production site for the district) and remodel most of the elementary schools into "finishing kitchens." At the time, several kitchens lacked heating elements, ovens, steam wells, sinks, and more. The district had been operating under unwieldy workarounds, such as food service workers transferring dirty dishes to the central kitchen location for cleaning. Each day, the only way to send food to schools was to cook the food early in the morning and put it into a hot box, where the food would sit for hours—a setup that risked both food quality and safety.
In 2017, Brandy Dreibelbis became NVUSD's first Director of Food Services (FSD) and was tasked with transitioning the district to a self-operated scratch cook program. Prior to Dreibelbis' direction, NVUSD was primarily serving the aforementioned pre-packaged and highly processed heat-and-serve food.
In 2018, NVUSD joined the Chef Ann Foundation's (CAF) Get School Cooking grant program, an intensive 3-year assessment and strategic planning program that provides schools with the operational knowledge to transition from a heat & serve to scratch cook operational model. Finally, in July 2018—just as Pearson took on food services—Dreibelbis achieved the district's goal and branded its new food program NOSH: Napa's Operative for School food Health. The Measure H bond allowed Dreibelbis and Pearson to charge forward with the long-awaited brand new central kitchen build, which launched in 2019 along with the new NOSH program.
Everything aligned - the central kitchen, NOSH, and Get Schools Cooking all focused on increasing scratch cooking in NVUSD. Through standardizing recipes, incorporating salad bars, and extensive staff training—introducing raw proteins, teaching staff how to store raw meats, as well as how to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables—Dreibelbis and Pearson saw major improvements and success in NVUSD's food services.
COVID hits
But of course, no one would anticipate the long-term effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"During COVID, it's been really challenging to make sure we're trying our best to provide meals for students and families out there on a regular basis," Pearson said. "The other challenge is trying to fit the food service model into the model of in-person instruction that we have. It's apples and oranges."
Before the pandemic hit, Pearson says NVUSD was making a headstrong transition to scratch cooking, with better quality food making its way through the district's schools. "You could see the difference in the food being served," Pearson said. "We're able to really fulfill the goal of the scratch cook model."
After the initial craze of getting meals to students in need, NVUSD transitioned to providing food to the community two days a week and partnering with the transportation department to serve the district's outlying and rural communities. Eventually, they modified the program to what it is now: a model that includes delivery to approximately 400 families with 7 days worth of meals, curbside pickup at two locations on Mondays (also with 7 days worth of meals), and offering food to students even through extended breaks.
Staying focused on Scratch Cooking
After working with CAF for several years as part of the Get Schools Cooking program, Dreibelbis transitioned to her current role as Director of School Food Operations for CAF in the fall of 2020. Subsequently, Pearson was tasked with finding a new FSD to lead NVUSD's school food program. In December 2020, through CAF CEO Mara Fleishman's cooperation and guidance, Kristen Tekell became the new director of NOSH and the first classically trained chef and registered dietician to head the program.
Despite hiring, administrative, and global pandemic challenges, Pearson is proud of the food NVUSD continues to serve, even through these unprecedented times. Although the serving model and distribution is different because of COVID, Pearson says there's still a strong element of scratch cooking to the food NOSH is serving to its students and communities—and he largely has his employees to thank.
"You have to have an amazing staff to do the day in and day out," Pearson said. "NVUSD is fortunate to have an amazing food service staff. By and large, the employees have just been stupendous."
After all the trials and tribulations of getting the district's first self-operated scratch cook program up and running, Pearson knows one thing is for sure:
"We've been successful because we've had a strong Food Service Director, support of the district and community, great partnerships with other food organizations, and a huge investment from a school bond—but we've worked hard to back it up,"
Mike Pearson
His advice for districts is simply put in a question: What is your district all about? To Pearson, "serving high quality food is a no brainer investment if you're about student achievement." But, he says, there is a price. Fortunately for NVUSD, there was a desire for investment—through parent and community support, as well as administrative buy-in.
"The bottom line is that kids deserve the best, and food plays a huge part in any school district," Pearson attested. "If kids are fed and not worried about food, they can concentrate on their academics. I spent 21 years as a school principal, and I took that for granted."
See why scratch cooking in schools is important and learn more about the Get Schools Cooking program here.