DCPS chef creating new recipes, meals | Health

Members of the Daviess County Public Schools district’s food services/school nutrition team are developing menus, recipes and techniques designed to make  school lunches and breakfasts  more delicious and nutritious when the 2012-13 school year begins.

Margaret Powers, who serves as food service manager at Sorgho Elementary School and is also a certified chef, is working with DCPS Food Services Director Lisa Sims from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day this week .

During the recent school year, Powers – who has a culinary degree from L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Md. – tested various techniques and recipes in the Sorgho kitchen in preparation for this work. She and Sims are examining recipes and comparing them to nutrition guidelines, such as those regarding portion size and limiting of fat and sodium.

The work is part of the district’s focus on meeting regulations outlined in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, but it is also part of what the district says is a “continued commitment to providing meals that kids want to eat, and that are good for them”.

Sims praised Powers’ dedication and expertise. “By working with a trained chef, we are able to identify best practices, and then implement these consistently in all our schools,” she said.