Continue to Site >>>
Biography

Benita Gingerella

Senior Editor

 Contact Benita

Benita is a senior editor for FoodService Director and covers K-12 foodservice. She has been with the publication since 2016. In her spare time, Benita is an avid restaurant-goer and loves to travel extensively.

Articles by
Benita Gingerella

Page 1
Operations

Eating school meals associated with better diet quality among students

A study looked at the dietary intake of 13,041 students before and after the implementation of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kid’s Act.

Operations

Tennessee whole milk bill gets the okay from governor

Also in this week’s K-12 legislative update: Iowa announces summer meals site grant program, a Colorado bill looks to give students longer lunch periods and a bill that would expand free school meal access in New Hampshire has been killed.

Operations

Universal free school meals linked with reduced childhood obesity

A study measured changes in childhood obesity prevalence from 2013 to 2019 at low-income schools in California who were eligible to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision.

Operations

Consumer Reports calls on USDA to remove Lunchables products from school meals after finding heavy metals in store-bought versions

The watchdog group also found that Lunchables products served under the National School Lunch Program had higher levels of sodium than their grocery store counterparts.

Operations

Prevalence of food insecurity higher among American Indian and Alaska Native households, report reveals

A new USDA report analyzed food insecurity among nine different racial and ethnic groups from 2016 to 2021.

Operations

Virginia farm-to-school task force bill signed into law

Also in this week’s K-12 legislative update: Maryland lawmakers pass bill that would analyze the cost of setting up a universal free school meals program and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says yes to extra funding to continue universal free school meals.

People

How Executive Chef Trina Nelson is bringing culinary excellence to Dallas ISD

Nelson is responsible for leading the district’s first ever Chef Team, which aims to develop recipes that will get students excited about school meals.

Operations

School breakfast and lunch participation drops following loss of universal free meals

A new report by the Food Research and Action Center shows a decrease in school meal participation when comparing the 2022-23 school year to the 2021-22 school year.

Operations

WFF brings growth opportunities and more to women foodservice professionals

The 35th annual Women’s Foodservice Forum’s (WFF) Leadership Conference gave women from all parts of the foodservice industry an opportunity to connect and grow their career paths.

Operations

Federal bill would set up grant program for scratch-made meals in schools

Also in this week’s K-12 legislation update: Lawmakers pen a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture asking that potatoes remain a vegetable in the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and a pair of bills in Virginia that would set up a farm-to-school task force head to the governor for signature.

Menu

Campus-harvested honey sweetens the menu at Michigan State

Locally Sourced: MSU Culinary Services has begun incorporating honey harvested on campus in its menus, including in the vinaigrette for its Spring Vegetable Grain Bowl.

Workforce

It takes a village: How Madison Metropolitan Schools was able to successfully pilot scratch-made meals

Staff training and partnering with school leaders was essential to making the program’s launch go smoothly.

  • Page 1