RDNs Can Be School Food Visionaries!
As you might have already realized, the career path options for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are almost limitless. A lot of DPD programs may focus on the Clinical Nutrition route, but being a Cal Poly SLO dietetic intern has shown me so many more possibilities.
Have you ever wondered what goes into the creation of school food menus and whether a nutrition and dietetics professional has a hand in choosing what foods our youth has access to while in school? This is the perfect opportunity to learn more.
I had the opportunity to spend 4 weeks at the Goleta Union School District (GUSD) for one of my community rotations, learning from my preceptor Kim Leung RDN, the Food Services Director. She has the amazing job of changing the vision of school food for all the schools in the GUSD. Talk about making a huge impact!
A lunch outing on the last day of my rotation with Kim Leung, RDN
Kim didn’t know that she would end up in her current position, but her experiences created the perfect foundation for what she does today. She gained food service experience early on by helping with a family restaurant working as the Assistant Manager and then pursued her B.S. in Nutrition Sciences at Pepperdine University.
After completing her dietetic internship at Oregon Health and Science University, she relocated to the Central Coast in California. This is where an unexpected opportunity at the Lompoc Unified School District started her journey to becoming the nutrition specialist for GUSD.
What does a school district Food Services Director do?
In most schools and school districts, the Food Service or Nutrition Directors oversee not only the food service operations of all the schools/sites (and in this case, also a central kitchen where all the food gets made), but also manage a team of food service staff members and cooks. On top of that, they have to make sure the school meals meet state and federal policies and regulations. This isn’t an easy task, especially if the menu items are made from scratch.
As a future RDN, why should I consider going into school food?
Are you looking for an opportunity to dabble in many different aspects of nutrition while making a big impact in health and wellness? Imagine coming up with recipes and designing a menu that meets special dietary needs while also meeting school food regulations.
You can go from recipe testing one morning and handling the procurement of healthy and sustainable ingredients to teaching nutrition lessons in classrooms full of elementary school kids. The next day you might be training your staff members on what counts as a serving of vegetables and then presenting all your great ideas to board members.
As a Food Services Director in school food, you play a big role in nourishing children and introducing different healthy foods to impressionable minds. Additionally, school breakfasts and lunches tend to represent a large part of the nutrition that a low-income child will get in a day. In fact, for some children, school food may be the only meals they get. These are only some of the ways you can make a huge difference as an RDN in the field of school nutrition!
GUSD Food Services’ lunch production planning for over 2000 meals each day
Now that you have some background information about the role, I thought I would share a glimpse of what this rotation looked like for me.
This is what a day with Kim might look like (though every day is different, which keeps things exciting):
7:00am – 7:30am
You say hello to Kim and her wonderful team in the Central Kitchen (who are already deep in their work for the day) before settling in. Within minutes, you’re setting up tables and preparing food samples for a health fair right outside the Food Services Department.
8:00am
Prepare the board room for where you’ll end a Central Kitchen tour for a Kindergarten class by setting up tables, chairs, and their morning healthy snack (whole wheat blueberry muffins anyone?)
During this time, Kim might be preparing for a presentation that she’ll be presenting at the end of the week.
9:00am
Lead a tour of the Central Kitchen for the Kindergarten class! This was a whole new experience for me as I navigated through the working kitchen while keeping the attention of 16 kiddos. I learned so much from Kim and teachers on how to manage a group of young children and making sure they have opportunities to get their “wiggles” out so that we could walk through the kitchen safely.
10:00am
Prepare for nutrition lessons that you’ll be teaching in an hour and set up the Health Fair before driving to one of the elementary schools.
11:00am
The Health Fair starts as buses full of 5th graders start pulling up into the parking lot. Kim is ready to promote their veggie-filled mac and cheese and pulled pork with homemade BBQ sauce.
Kim Leung, RDN, Food Services Director at GUSD, dishing out veggie-filled mac and cheese
At the same time, you’re teaching nutrition lessons for 2 separate classrooms at one of the schools. Kindergarten through 5th grade students learn about phytonutrients and what it means to “eat the rainbow.”
Mystery box and worksheets for nutrition lessons.
12:00pm
You get to observe lunch service at the school site before heading back to the school district office. This is a great opportunity to see what fruits and vegetables the kids pick from the salad bar and what they have to say about the sesame kale salad that Kim and her team created.
1:00pm – 4:00pm
After enjoying the school lunch food yourself, you start analyzing new recipes for the amount of grains, vegetables, and protein that each serving provides. This is an important part of ensuring the school meals are in accordance with local, state, and federal policies. It’s a lot more complicated than most people realize. You might end the day by preparing more nutrition lessons that you will teach for the next day.
A mystery box activity to get Kindergarten students excited about phytonutrients.
Throughout this time, Kim often discusses her visionary ideas on school food and how she continues to improve the existing menu rotation. She values every intern’s input and is truly transparent about the triumphs and hurdles encountered in this role.
As a Registered Dietitian and mother to 2 young children, Kim is truly passionate about childhood nutrition and the opportunity to help children develop lifelong healthy eating habits.
I hope that this post gives you an intriguing introduction to the opportunities in school food. A Food Services Director position just might be the perfect fit for you too!
Where can I learn more about school food?
Here are some resources for learning more:
I also recommend these books if this post has sparked an interest:
Free for All – Fixing School Food in America by Janet Poppendieck
The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools by Jennifer E. Gaddis
Want to learn more about school food politics? Check out Marion Nestle’s blog Food Politics.
Lastly, if you’re interested in reading about other career options in the dietetics field, read some of the related posts by other Cal Poly SLO interns and alums:
From Poly to Preceptor by Avery Cobb (featuring a clinical dietitian)
Just Say Yes! by Lauren Thomas (featuring a dietitian and food administrator for the California Men’s Colony, Correctional Treatment Center
Why it Pays to Be a Busy Bee in the Field of Nutrition by Brian Tran (featuring an RD and Nutrition Coordinator for Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.)
What It’s Like Working At a Cancer Center & Advice for Future RDNs by Jessica Flaherty (featuring a RDN that is a Board Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition)