Thomas Jefferson's lunchroom staff serve a delicious breakfast to a student. photo by Ava Ward
The Denver Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services is committed to feeding every child, every day.
On a daily basis, one of Denver’s most essential establishments serves 40,000 breakfasts and 50,000 lunches, supplying 23,000 pounds of fresh, local produce and preparing over 50% of the meals from scratch. It is not a remarkably proficient restaurant or exceptionally productive supermarket, but rather Denver Public School’s own Food and Nutrition Services department. The system, committed to providing delicious and healthy meals every day for every student, has worked since the dawn of the district to give all of their children a full belly and a nourished mind. Be it giving a harried high schooler a quick breakfast before a big test or routinely providing lunches for youth that would otherwise remain unfed during the school day, DPS cuts no corners in ensuring that their students have the sustenance they need to strive for success.
“I truly believe a hungry child cannot learn…and I believe children should be encouraged and provided the opportunity to be successful,” expressed Helen Van Anne, an employee of DPS Food and Nutrition services. Unfortunately, families across the state do not have the economic stability to guarantee three meals a day. “In Denver, we’ve gotten so big and so popular, yet one in seven children are food insecure,” disclosed Theresa Peña of DPS Nutrition Services’ Outreach and Engagement. Her department works to ensure students can expect two nutritious meals every day they attend school. With the National School Lunch Program, eligible students are allowed to be served a free or reduced lunch depending on their annual household income. Additionally, TJ and several other schools in DPS serve breakfast to every student free of charge. DPS Food and Nutrition Services is determined to eradicate any obstacles that could result in a hungry child. “The consequence of not providing healthy meals is that it compromises the mental and physical health of our kids,” Peña explained. The implications of a day without breakfast or lunch are a major impetus for DPS to keep schools open. They hesitate to call snow days or other school closures because, for many in the district, a day without class is a day without food.
Feeding a city filled with children is no easy task. The Food and Nutrition Services department is tasked with getting the tools to cook delicious and nutritious meals to over 200 schools every week. Once the ingredients are delivered, each school’s kitchen staff has to produce many of the breakfasts and lunches from scratch. “Generally, our team works from six to two in the afternoon, and they’re on their feet the whole time,” Peña commended all of the diligent lunchroom staff. Though producing hundreds of meals in such time-sensitive circumstances can be taxing, the effort pays off when one considers the outcomes of the job. “Every day, our team of over eight hundred employees gets to wake up every day and have a positive interaction with students,” enthused Peña. Many of the employees of DPS have personal ties to their position, be they alumni or relatives of students enrolled in the district. The link precipitates a passion for their vocation that is not found in other careers. “Feeding 90,000 kids is a great thing to think about when you wake up in the morning,” Peña commented on her inspiration for her job.
Though no school lunch system is perfect, DPS is making great strides in improving the quality of their food. The Garden to Cafeteria program, in which TJ participates, allows schools to sell the produce from their campus gardens to their cafeteria. In effect, some of the fruits and vegetables in the salad bar are fresher than what could be found at the grocery store. The department also looks to get input from the students themselves on what they want to see on the menu. They are observing popular restaurants like Chipotle and attempting to model their serving style in order to let kids have the freedom to choose exactly what kind of meal they want rather than being limited to a single option. Kitchen managers have begun to converse with their clientele in order to receive feedback on the appeal of their products. “We are hiring more people and are continuing to diversify our menu to appeal to a wide range of student tastes,” announced Van Anne.
The hard work of DPS Food and Nutrition Services is not lost on its audience. In 2017, Grant Barnhill (a parent of a DPS student) and his company Shift Workspaces donated the final $2,910 needed to repay the lunch debt accumulated by DPS students in the past years. The generous contribution meant that students would not be denied transcripts or other amenities due to having outstanding debt. In his work with the district, Barnhill noticed, “The more we dive into getting to know the people at DPS Food and Nutrition Services, we see that there is a lot of compassion. . .We see a lot of heart being put into what they do.” Shift Workspaces, an office space provider located in Denver, looks to continue contributing to DPS Food and Nutrition Services. “It is just a huge privilege for us to be able to help all of those kids. We feel very fortunate that we have the ability to do that,” reflected Barnhill.
No matter what their position along the chain of command in DPS Food and Nutrition Services, every employee is committed to their responsibility of feeding for a better future. The department’s research has shown that wholesome food cures so much more than a few twinges of hunger. Studies reveal that students who do not have at least three full meals in a day are more susceptible to illness, more likely to be tardy, and are more liable to have shorter attention spans in class. Additionally, as voiced by Barnhill: “Food is a basic right. I think that DPS, and the rest of the community for that matter, has the moral obligation to provide people with something that is so essential.” DPS Food and Nutrition Services will not rest until every student in Denver has access to affordable, nutritious, and delicious meals. Barnhill and his fellow parents can rest assured that their district is building an establishment that will provide their children with the salutary tools they need not merely to survive, but thrive.
