Cherry Creek Schools revamping food program despite budgeting challenges

Head Chef Cady Frazier says bringing top quality food to the 35,000 kids in Cherry Creek Schools is a huge undertaking, but an important job.

"We care about our kids and our kids deserve the best," said Frazier. "We are teaching them how to eat good food and also that they know that they deserve that good food."

She came to the district five years ago. When she arrived, she says kids were getting mostly pre-made or prepackaged food. She knew she had to make some changes.

"When you make the food from scratch, we're going to make a better product, and that's what they deserve. But I think also whether we're intentional about it or not, when we feed kids, we are teaching them how to eat for the rest of their lives," said Frazier.

The district now makes all their bread from scratch in their own bakery along with pretty much everything else they serve.

Kim Kilgore is the Director of Nutrition Services for Cherry Creek Schools. She says providing good food for kids is vital for their learning, and she loves what Chef Frazier is doing.

"We know they learn better. They're, healthier if they get those healthy meals," said Kilgore.

But just last year Chef Frazier was thrown a bit of a curveball. A law passed by the Colorado Legislature says that every school that participates in the school breakfast or national school lunch program must provide free meals for all of their students. That means they need to make and distribute a lot more food.

"Typically, we serve about 25,000 lunches a day. This year we're serving 35,000 lunches a day, which is about a 40% increase," said Kilgore.

"It's definitely been a big learning curve," said Frazier.

Thanks to increased staffing, some new tech and lots of staff training Chef Frazier and her staff have been able to keep up with the demand while still looking for ways to improve.

"Think about just small incremental changes. Every year looking at our menu and saying, 'what on here could be better?'" said Frazier.

The school year is almost over, but that doesn't mean the kitchen staff is off the hook. They will be providing meals to students at select locations all summer.