Becky Schilling

Provo City School District, in Utah, has implemented a yearly theme program with days devoted to nutrition and physical activity, which builds excitement among students and staff and gets kids engaged in a positive way with foodservice.

New breakfast regulations are easier to meet and are causing fewer negative student reactions than last year's lunch ones. That's borne out by statistics that show participation for the morning meal holding steady in the past two years. This year's K-12 Census Report also looks at the cost per meal, participation levels and the new competitive foods rules.

“I don’t know how you got this job,” my mother remarked to me last week when I got back from a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

You may have mastered millennials and possibly even Gen Z, but if you want to really ensure your business success, start hanging out in preschools.

For this month’s cover story we talked with operators to find out how they are meeting the customer service demands of each of the five generations served by the non-commercial industry (Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, baby boomers and the Silent Generation).

With a very low percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced priced meals, 18%, Schuster, the district’s dining services director, knew he needed to make some changes to get students to remain on campus and participate in the district’s foodservice program.