The document discusses the Lunch Lesson Kitchen Sessions held by the Western Culinary Institute and Oregon Department of Agriculture in March 2009, focused on developing school lunch programs through partnerships with culinary schools and local food companies. It covers the importance of curriculum development, sponsorship, and community involvement, while also addressing the costs and challenges of implementing scratch cooking in schools. Feedback from 8th-grade students was collected, highlighting their positive reception of the meals prepared during the sessions.

1. Lunch Lesson Kitchen Sessions Western Culinary Institute Oregon Department of Agriculture March 11th and 12th, 2009 Portland, Oregon

2. What to consider when sponsoring a lunch lesson kitchen session Contact a culinary program in your area. Community College, City College, Pro-Start High School Program or a Cordon Bleu Program. Explore mutual benefits and how farm to school, processed products and scratch cooking can be used in school cafeterias. Is there a culinary instructor that wants to develop curriculum that would include school lunch programs? Does the culinary school want the student body to consider supporting school lunch programs as a working option post graduation? Find sponsors such as local processors, mills, produce companies and broad line distributors that will benefit from exploring options for local foods and scratch cooking programs in schools.

3. Partner with Broad-line Distribution Companies Produce specialist Randy Gehrig and Chef Mark Bernetich from Sysco Food Services discuss local product, seasonal availability, how it can be ordered and cooked

4. Broad-line Distribution Assisting with Tracking Oregon Products These workshops included discussions with Sysco Food Services about tracking Oregon products sold into schools to assist with framing the economic development aspect of farm to school programs in Oregon

5. Partnerships with Local Food Companies Bob’s Red Mill Food Services of America Truitt Brothers Organically Grown Coop Oregon State University Food Innovation Center

6. Which Recipes? Use tested recipes from school kitchens Ann Cooper shared recipes from the Berkeley school lunch program Bobbi Phillips from Springfield, Oregon offered tested recipes from her cafeteria

7. Price Point Equation The workshops included food cost analysis. Local product can be more expensive and scratch cooking takes more time. This could translate to higher labor cost or re-thinking production methods. The actual hard cost of running the sessions not including industry in-kind hours or filming was under $1000.00

8. Cooking Skills are not the Primary Barrier This group of 26 women and 2 men had excellent skills and went right to work. Some produced recipes beyond the written curriculum.

9. Baked Polenta Sticks

10. Mariana Sauce with Zucchini and Minestrone Soup

11. Calzone with Marinara Sauce and Zucchini

12. Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free Bread Sticks Truitt Brothers Vegetarian Chili with Commodity Ground Turkey Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Leeks and Quinoa

13. Finished Product for 8th Grade Student Feedback

14. Student Feedback This portion of the training was added for feedback and press value. The 8th grade students from Laurelhurst School in Portland enjoyed the tour and the food, and they seemed most excited about turkey meatballs with leeks and quinoa prepared by Jim Rowan.

15. Cooking from Scratch

16. Spread The Word DVD’s of the sessions will be distributed to farm to school groups, Cordon Bleu certified culinary schools, state agricultural agencies and departments of education as an example of potential training programs to consider. Available May 2009