Just what does it take to get high school students to eat school lunches?
It is a question asked around the country. With the regulations on nutrition and menus by the USDA for school systems to qualify for federal funds to support free and reduced meals at schools, it is highly difficult. But if someone were to look at Elmore County Schools and its lunchrooms, a new mobile kitchen is changing the opinions of students and staff.
On the menu at ‘The Hot Spot,’ the Elmore County Child Nutrition Program’s new mobile kitchen were Conecuh dogs, brisket tacos and spare ribs. And it's a hit.
PHOTOS: The Hotspot gets students to turn out for school lunch
“If they sold this for $2.50 everyday for school, I would get it,” Wetumpka High School senior Tim Hopkins said. “I would rather eat this than the normal lunches they serve.”
Elmore County Schools Child Nutrition Program Director Cacyce Davis said the idea of a mobile kitchen came about from wanting to increase participation in school lunches especially among high school students where there is the lowest participation in the school lunches.
Now the trailer has found its way to Elmore County High School, Holtville High School, Wetumpka High School where it has been a huge success.
“I wish it wouldn’t have happened during the last few weeks of my senior year.” Hopkins said. “I feel like it will make students eat more school lunches.”
Alabama State Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs Director Angelice Lowe said there is no other public school district in the state using a food truck or mobile kitchen to prepare meals for students.
“Some districts in Alabama have retrofitted school buses to advertise the Child Nutrition Program and transport meals to sites within their communities during the summer months,” Lowe said. “Elmore County is commended for thinking outside the box and going over and beyond to reach the student population that does not eat meals at school on a regular basis.”
Lowe said this year the average number of students eating lunch across the state has decreased from 458,270 last school year to 453,345 this school year.
Davis said the mobile kitchen has already increased participation in school lunches.
“In Eclectic and Holtville we had 20 to 25 percent increases in participation which is significant,” Davis said. “The first day in Wetumpka was 10 to 15 percent and the first day is the lowest because students are learning it.”
The first day at Wetumpka High School, Conecuh Dogs were on the menu.
“We had not done that menu yet, but it was popular with the kids,” Davis said. “Today is brisket tacos. That has turned into being one our most popular at the other schools. Tomorrow we will do ribs. We expect craziness with that. They are good.”
Davis found the idea on social media in a South Carolina school system but they were using more of a BBQ pit on a trailer. But there was an issue. The South Carolina system wasn’t using it as part of its federal reimbursement feeding program and had to charge $10 per plate.
To help make the mobile kitchen attractive, Davis took some of her cooks to Georgia to learn BBQ techniques to use in the smoker of the mobile kitchen.
Davis also had to figure out how to adjust the menu to meet the nutritional requirements of the federal programs that reimburse Elmore County and other school districts under the free and reduced lunch programs. Now everyone is taking notice.
“I would say this week I have had three emails from other directors wanting our plans and everything that we did,” Davis said.
Davis said she and other staff of the Elmore County Child Nutrition Program are still learning about the best ways to use the mobile kitchen in hopes of putting it to use for a full school year this fall.
The first lesson staff figured out with the mobile kitchen was it needed to be at one school for the week. The original plan had it rotating daily but Davis said constant moving wasn’t very feasible.
Now it serves food Tuesday through Thursday with setup and cleaning happening on Mondays and Fridays. At schools the size of Elmore County High School and Holtville High School, the entire school population can be served from the trailer while optional menu items are on the regular lunch line.
At the larger schools like Wetumpka and Stanhope Elmore, not all students can be served from the trailer. Items are still prepared in the mobile kitchen and served in a second line in the cafeteria while some students are issued tickets to be served from the mobile kitchen.
Mondays and Fridays are also opportunities for the mobile kitchen to visit Elmore County’s elementary and middle schools. Davis said it could be used to make hamburgers and hotdogs for events such as awards or honors days or introduce elementary students to roasted corn on the cob while presenting an educational program.
Elmore County Schools Superintendent Richard Dennis said he has tried the brisket tacos and is looking forward to the ribs to be served. Dennis said he has also taken note of remarks from students about the school lunches since the mobile trailer has been in use — something he hasn’t gotten before. But it is indicative of the mobile kitchen’s success already.
Dennis said, “I got an email and she was like ‘I don’t know who is reading this but you need to know this stuff is really good.’”
