The Culinary Skills for School Meals program is a 5-day, hands-on, intensive training for school nutrition professionals. Training focuses on the foundations of food service, including knife skills, cooking techniques and kitchen efficiencies.
Culinary Skills for School Meals program goals
- Improve the culinary skills of school nutrition professionals
- Increase the quality and appeal of meals served to students
- Increase consumption of vegetables, fruits, dairy, whole grains, plant proteins and lean meats by students
More about the Culinary Skills for School Meals program
Each training hosts 16 to 24 participants with up to three people from each school district. Please view our for more details.
- Cooks & kitchen managers
- Directors or menu developers
- Any staff representing K-12 students participating in the National School Lunch Program
- 28 training hours
- Increased confidence with knife skills, meal preparation and cooking techniques
- Opportunity for hands-on experience, learning tips & tricks to share with colleagues, time dedicated to troubleshoot problems, cook and taste 24 recipes each day that can be standardized to fit your kitchen and equipment
- Learn from others in a team environment
- The daily schedule is
- Monday- Knife skills
- Tuesday- Vegetable cookery
- Wednesday- Great grains
- Thursday- Sandwiches
- Friday- Salads
- Each day will include:
- Chef Demo
- Culinary hands-on lab
- Nutrition lesson
- Participants will attend all 5 days:
- 8 am - 3 pm Monday-Thursday, 8 am - 1 pm on Friday
- Participants will complete a pre-survey, daily evaluation, and 6-month post-survey
- Directors will complete the Let's Go! School Nutrition Self-Assessment
- It is free to attend the Culinary Skills for School Meals training thanks to funding from and AOA体育平台 Let鈥檚 Go!
- There is limited financial aid for mileage, staff stipends and accommodations.
Training space and equipment requirements
- 6-8 stainless steel worktables with room for at least 3 people to work
- 3-4 ovens
- 1 Combi or Steamer
- 1 education space near kitchen with room to set up AV equipment and tables & chairs for 16-25 people (a school cafeteria works well)
If you are interested in hosting a training and have access to a space that meets these requirements, please .
Maine school districts from Aroostook to York County have successfully participated
The Culinary Skills for School Meals program was piloted in Maine in August 2023 with 26 participants from 10 school districts from across the state.
The Culinary Skills for School Meals program was held three weeks in August 2024 with 71 participants from 22 school districts from across the state.
This training is adaptable for different size districts. It has been used in small rural districts and large urban districts in various locations across the country including California, Indiana (small and rural districts) and New York City (large, urban district).