For the past 40 years, FSP (Food Service Professionals), a division of the Archdiocese of Chicago, has been providing the meals that are served to 34 high schools and 300 elementary schools in the district. The district is considering outsourcing production of the meals, as food costs have increased under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The archdiocese has also considered selling its foodservice production facility. FSP provides ready-to-heat meals to the schools, and FSP’s President John Koubeck says a larger company might be able to produce the meals at a lower cost. Bids were due in early May.
Two hundred employees could lose their jobs if the district outsources its meal production, according to an article in DNAinfo.com.