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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| The lunchtime menu at Foothill Country Day School includes vegetables and a salad bar prepared fresh daily. Nutritionally sound foods and balanced meals have become a priority for school chef Joan Shue. |
It’s noontime on a normal school day and students at Foothill Country Day School can be seen skipping and laughing as they may their way to their next destination. The destination is neither to their next class or even the playground.
With the smell of a home-cooked meal permeating the area around the school kitchen, the students head to the lunch line with anticipation of the meal that they will partake.
“That smells good,” says a student as she walks by with her lunch from home.
Joan Shue has worked within the school kitchen since September and was promoted to be the main cook on the campus earlier this month. A parent of two students that currently attend Foothill Country Day School and also one who enjoys cooking, Ms. Shue takes delight in preparing the lunches and the snacks each day.
“I just love it—cooking and baking is my forte,” Ms. Shue said. “It’s such a thrill to be here. It’s a nice job and a wonderful opportunity.”
A normal day for Ms. Shue has the cook beginning at 8 a.m. preparing the lunches. Whatever she cooks that morning will be what will be available for lunch just a few hours later. Using heating tables for the food as well as baskets, bowls and other containers, the lunch setup bears a resemblance to catering layouts at special events.
“I cook a lot for my family and friends,” said Ms. Shue, who also is a registered nurse. “I do parties for my friends and I cater their parties. I’ve had huge parties at my own home that I cater strictly myself.”
Each week, Ms. Shue visits stores to buy items she uses for the lunches over the next several days. The decision to start preparing fresher and healthier lunches started 3 years ago when the school came to the conclusion that a healthy lunch was an important aspect for their students’ overall well being.
“It’s been an evolving process,” said Denise Zondervan, admission director of Foothill Country Day School. “We believe that children should eat very healthy food which is good for their health and for their education. That is why we’ve decided 3 years ago to turn the space we use into a kitchen licensed by the state of California. This is our 3rd year of preparing food and it just keeps getting better and better.”
Items such as chicken nuggets, tater tots and sodas will not be found on the school’s menu. Instead, Ms. Shue creates a daily salad bar to go along with a balanced meal that she freshly prepares while keeping watch of its nutritional value. Thinking of the type of foods that are served within many public schools concerns Ms. Shue, who is passionate about good nutrition.
“I was appalled when I found out what the food was like at other schools, especially public schools,” Ms. Shue pointed out. “I was appalled when I found out that they were getting their foods trucked in from Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. It made my skin cringle. How could they feed these kids this stuff?”
Half of the students who attend Foothill Country Day School participate in the school’s lunch program. To see students rushing to get their place in the lunch line or cracking a smile when approaching the tables is a daily occurrence at noon.
“Most of the days I usually get it,” 7th grader Rachel Zheng said. “It’s very good and Mrs. Shue does a good job. I like that we have the salad bar so if you don’t want to eat the hot food, you can just have salad.”
Abigail Hess, also a 7th grader at the school was still thinking of the chicken alfredo she ate on Wednesday and appreciates the other options that are offered with the lunches.
“It’s great when you have field trips—if you tell them ahead of time, they can give you a packed lunch,” she said. “They also offer a vegetarian lunch as well.”
Joe Karcavich assists Ms. Shue in maintaining the school kitchen part-time and sees the home-style lunch as being a way of making the close-knit campus closer.
“It brings a little more sense of community,” Mr. Karcavich said.
According to Ms. Zondervan, having a healthier lunch menu sets a better example to the students regarding nutrition and the admissions director is even looking into having a sustainable garden on the campus that the students can be part of in the future.
“Part of what we’re doing is helping to educate children and parents,” Ms. Zondervan explained.” If we start teaching children to acquire a taste for healthy things from the beginning then they’ll be better in the long run.”
—Landus Rigsby
