What does it take to change the face of school food?

Hello, world! My name is Joyce and I’m one of the Cal Poly SLO DI interns this year. I can’t believe I’m already at my third rotation site; it feels like I just moved to California. I started off with two 4-week community rotations, San Luis Coastal Unified School District and Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County, and recently began my 8-week foodservice management rotation at Marian Regional Medical Center. It has been an amazing journey thus far. I’ve been exposed to various populations and all of my preceptors have been incredibly inspiring.

During my rotation at San Luis Coastal Unified School District, I had the privilege of working with Erin Primer, their foodservice director. She oversees all things food in the 15 schools in the K-12 school district. There are around 7500 students total in the district and about 2500 are served at lunch every day. It’s a daunting task! From the very first week, I was exposed to various organizations and people involved in our local food systems. I quickly learned that this was unlike any school food that I had previously been exposed to.

Erin (right) and I posed for this photo in her office and then laughed about how awkward we look.

For Erin, farm to school is the name of the game. Her favorite part of her job is working with the kids and our local farm community. I’ve learned a lot about farms in the area and how we can come together to make change happen in school food and beyond. Erin made sure to include me in important meetings and discussions and I loved getting to know different organizations in the area, like One Cool Earth and SLO public health. Walking into a meeting and seeing familiar faces is always a nice feeling, and then getting the opportunity to observe my preceptor interact with different organization leaders was really cool. I was in awe of her ability to navigate so many different situations. For instance, SLO public health met with Erin to learn more about how she highlights local foods and engages the community. They wanted to hear her input on how to work towards bringing similar changes to other school districts in the area. I thought it was fascinating how Erin was so articulate and knowledgeable about the topic that they specifically sought her out.

First week of a planted tower garden (left) and four weeks of a planted tower garden (right)

Erin’s passion for local food and sustainability is contagious. She recently received a grant that allowed her to purchase a tower garden for the school. It uses water and nutrients instead of soil, can grow plants year-round, and takes up minimal space. The indoor grow lights mean that plants grow much faster compared to traditional methods. When I saw this magnificent white tower speckled with beautiful green leaves in the kitchen for the first time, I was speechless. I was lucky enough to help set another one up with the district chef, test the pH, and even harvest lettuce and basil for a cooking class.

Testing the tower garden pH with guidance from Chef Tim!

I got to know my preceptor really well over the four weeks that I was interning at the school district. I admire her as a professional and like her as a human. Erin has been all over the foodservice world – her very first job was at Marie Callender’s. After college, she went from Sodexo to Stanford Hospital, where she got her CDM certification, to the San Francisco Zoo and more… but she at last found her calling in school food. Changing the face of school food and making school food better and more sustainable is what drives Erin. She’s aware of the perception that school food is institutionalized and is often low quality, but she knows that it doesn’t have to be that way. I notice how hard she works day in and day out to work towards those changes and it inspires me to do the same.

Sample cups of a school lunch recipe that I developed and prepared with the goal of fueling kids for physical activity.

I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish in my four weeks at the school district. I presented about nutrition and exercise to a class of eighth-graders, led cooking classes for elementary students, created marketing materials for the schools, and more. I couldn’t have done it without Erin’s support and encouragement. She provided me with valuable feedback as I was working on my projects that helped me improve, especially my marketing skills. I created a series of Harvest of the Month flyers for the school district and would regularly ask for her feedback to improve the design. It was nice having a second set of eyes to catch issues with formatting and readability, like when text is difficult to read.

Fellow intern Kacee (left) and I participating in SLCUSD's collective action day

I’m also grateful for all the conversations Erin and I have had in her office or during car rides to meetings and site visits. I got the chance to know her as a person and it was really nice that she made the effort to get to know me too. On our last day together, she left me with valuable advice: find the areas that you love and make those your priority. Whether it’s people, sustainability, or food, if it excites you and lights your passion, working hard won’t feel like a burden, and everything will fall into place. I learned so much from Erin and her passion for local school food. I am passionate about so many different areas of dietetics, especially community, and keep finding new passions with each rotation. Sustainability is a huge priority for me, as is working with underserved populations, and I hope to make a positive impact in my community. I’m excited to keep learning from all the different people who I get to interact with on my journey to becoming a registered dietitian.