Space-farmed edible flowers in Alaska, little sibs make pizza at Northwestern State U, luau for seniors and more

Check out what’s happening in this week’s edition of Heart of Foodservice, FSD’s regular roundup of inspiration, fun, good deeds, stealable ideas and things that made us smile.

KidConnection is part of Northwestern State University (NSU)’s orientation program, including a pizza-making lesson from NSU Sodexo Executive Chef Jimier Anderson. “It warms my heart to see how passionate and creative they are with their food,” Anderson says. “Seeing the pride on their faces moments before they devour their pizza is the sweetest reward. It’s the spark of excitement in their eyes that fuels my fire.”

The pre-service meeting starts out fairly standard—reviewing menus for the day, safety protocols, reminders and company updates—but then, it’s like you’ve stepped into a musical, when music starts pumping and everyone breaks into dance. The Eurest team at one of its Centers for Excellence outside of Chicago has started to Zumba after pre-service, and it’s been leaving them energized, jazzed up and ready to meet customers for the day.

Patients are healing with bright pops of color on the plate at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), as a special delivery of edible flowers came from the Space Farming Institute in Anchorage. Space Farming? It’s just what it sounds like: This is a place where people can learn how astronauts are growing food in space, testing different methods and then sharing the fresh produce with the community. Cosmic!

At The Templeton of Cary, a senior living community in North Carolina, the Morrison Living team put on a classic Hawaiian luau with a pig roast, tropical décor and this giant pineapple upside down cake.

After sitting on the sidelines for so long and being perceived as a dull diet food, cottage cheese is finally having its moment in the sun, thanks in part to TikTok trending recipes like cottage cheese toast, cottage cheese with mustard and more. Let us know what you’ve concocted with cottage cheese!