GILLETT – A well-stocked salad bar is on Gillett School District’s foodservice menu for middle and high school students, while younger students are served fresh-cut fruit as a healthy snack.
Teachers encourage students to try new things, said Kristie Feffer, food service director at Gillett School District.
“At the end of the day, we can provide the healthiest options available, but if they don’t eat it then we haven’t done our job right,” she said.
Thanks to a $17,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the school district offers fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the academic year to elementary students.
“We have been able to expose our elementary kids to so many items that we may not have been able to offer in our breakfast or lunch programs: mango, papaya, starfruit, plums, nectarines, cherries, berries, jicama, gooseberries, etc.,” Feffer said.
Trying new food items comes with a lesson about them. “We also include educational information with the item so kids can learn how eating these things will help them grow and be healthy,” she added.
The program has created some excitement for students and teachers about fresh fruit and healthy eating, she said.
“We have had a lot of positive feedback from teachers, some occasional silly stories from the children, especially when they tried lemons, and some great pictures of the kids trying new things to share with the community,” Feffer said.
By participating in the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant, the district’s received online educational information and a training course, Feffer said.
“These fruits and veggies are served in the classroom by the teacher, so it’s really up to them to encourage the students to try it,” she said.
Besides preparing and serving meals, the school district’s foodservice staff follows up with students to learn what the kids thought of the meals through surveys and activities like creating a student-led foodservice calendar. Staffers also stop and ask students what they liked or didn’t like, Feffer said.
With two full-time employees and three part-timers on the food service staff, Gillett served between 350 and 400 lunches and 150 to 200 breakfasts daily last school year, Feffer said.
Gillett’s salad bar is offered to all grade levels, though students in middle and high school are presented with more options.
“The high school kids are the most likely to take the time to assemble a small salad on their tray and the middle school is the most challenging to get to the salad bar for their required half-cup of fruit or veggies at meal times,” she said.
Veggie options include carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and celery, Feffer said, though not all items are offered every day. “Occasionally we offer croutons, shredded cheese, diced eggs, etc., depending on how it fits into the nutritional/meal pattern requirements for that week,” she explained.
“We find all kids are more likely to take fresh fruit over canned, as there are not a lot of canned fruit options so it can get pretty repetitive. We also find that if we cut up the fresh fruit, slice the apples, kiwi, oranges, etc., they are more likely to eat it,” Feffer said.
The school district has increased the price of its meals for the first time in over five years. For the 2025-26 academic year, the school district plans to charge $2.85 per lunch for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, $2.95 for middle school and high school students and $4.65 for adults. Breakfast prices are $2.10 for students and $2.66 for adults.
While over 60% of students qualify for free and reduced school meals. Gillett doesn’t provide free school meals to all students because it hasn’t opted to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision program, said School District Administrator Nathan Hanson.
“The goal is to break even long term, any time a food service program (Fund 50) runs in the red it has to come out of the funds we use for school programing (Fund 10 for curriculum, teacher pay, etc.). From a historical perspective, it has been my experience that the reimbursement rate doesn’t come close to covering the cost of meals even when you take into account commodities,” Hanson said in an email.
“It can be hard for districts to offer fresh food because fresh foods are more expensive,” he added.
Parents also play a role in encouraging healthy eating because they’ve supported the school district’s efforts to emphasize healthy foods, Feffer said.
While more processed foods are offered today, she said, the school district continues to make an extra effort to provide healthy fruits and vegetables.
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