![]() “So if we have a student who does not eat meat for personal or religious reasons, they have a choice available every day.” “We did make sure we have a meatless entree,” Pain said. New choices also include options for students who do not eat meat. “I think the children are happy with the choices and tastes offered.” “I’ve made it a point to eat breakfast and lunch here,” said Whitesville Road Elementary Principal Debra Brock as she sat in the school’s cafeteria Monday. Phipps said the company also is providing more fresh fruit choices to the schools than were previously available. “There are so many items to choose from, hot and cold.” “Choices - that’s one of the concerns we heard from teachers,” Phipps said. ![]() She noted one of the more creative offerings chosen by taste test is wild watermelon apple sauce. “We don’t want to give out pizza and chicken nuggets all day long.” “We are very particular about new items,” said Pain. Menus are planned to rotate on a five-week schedule, utilizing different food items chosen in the taste testings. “We did it that way first to make sure it would be good for parents and students,” she said. School system administrators also participated in taste testing, Pain said. Chartwells already hosted one event last year with small taste tests at each school, but Phipps said the planned gala will be “on a grander scale.” The simple system will make the surveys easy for even the youngest students, he said. “There will be a lot of vendors and the children can taste samples and give them a smiley face, frowny face or neutral.” “Some time between now and Christmas we will host a gala … we want it to be like a field trip at school,” Phipps said of the taste-testing events. The company will periodically host events where children can survey different food options to help determine what will make up the menus. Phipps said the group still strives to find the foods that children will enjoy. The dietitian “makes sure the USDA guidelines and regulations are met.” “In this district, we have a regional dietitian who comes up with a menu … that regulates what we serve the kids,” Phipps said. The company, like its predecessor, must follow USDA guidelines on nutrition requirements that include limits on calories, sugar and sodium. ![]() It also will annually fund scholarships equal to $5,000 for high school students, according to school system documents. The company will be responsible for about $5.72 million of the school system’s $6.65 million food services expenses budgeted for the fiscal year that started July 1.Ĭhartwells’ agreement with the school system includes a $120,000 guarantee for the school system in case of budget overages, and its contract also includes funding $7,140 each year for a backpack program, estimated to purchase at least 51 backpacks for students. It actually added three assistant managers - making a total of six for the system - which she said is for more direct management of nutrition staff at schools.Ĭhartwells officials started training staff over the summer and brought in an instructor from the National Food Service Institute in Mississippi as part of the process, Pain said. The transition didn’t cut any nutrition staff, said Diane Pain, director of school nutrition for Troup County School System. Likewise, Chartwells has now taken over those employees in the Troup County School System. ![]() When the school system in 2010 contracted out to Sodexo from in-house service, the company took over its nutrition department employees. “Our goal is to supply food that is nutritious and delicious.” “Right now we supply for millions of kids - not thousands, millions,” Phipps said Monday as he sat in the cafeteria of Whitesville Road Elementary School with children eating at the surrounding tables. Chartwells took the helm after a bidding process affirmed by the Board of Education in April, beating out former vendor Sodexo, which had been the contracted server since 2010.Ĭhartwells is the largest food service contract company in the United States, said Hayden Phipps, resident distribution manager for the company. On July 1, the Troup County School System switched to a new management company to handle its food service. LaGRANGE - Troup County students may notice a change in food offerings this year. Chartwells, the largest food service contract company in the U.S., according to Resident Distribution Manager Hayden Phipps, officially started as the vendor for Troup County School System’s food July 1. Kindergarten students at Whitesville Road Elementary School eat lunch Monday.
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