CJT Class 87 Students Intern at the Nutrition Lab

This week five students from DCCK’s 87th Culinary Job Training Class reported to the Nutrition Lab to begin their two week long internship experience. Now that the students are halfway through their fourteen week class, they get the opportunity to gain some hands on experience, working side by side with Nutrition Lab staff. During their time at the Lab the students will help prepare the 750+  catering and contract meals made each day and assist with the bulk production of local produce for DC Public Schools. Here are some photos of the students hard at work on their second day at the Lab:

Wanda (CJT Class 87), Ilya (CJT Class 73) and Robin (CJT Class 85)

Thiend (CJT Class 87)

Terrell (CJT Class 87)

Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction Farmers Work Alongside our DCPS Cooks at the Lab

On Friday we hosted our first ever group of volunteers at the Nutrition Lab; thirteen men and women from the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction in Dayton, Virginia. This was quite a special group to have in, as the auction is our largest source of fresh local produce.

Much of the work that is now based out of the Nutrition Lab, including bulk production and school food service started with and grew out of our relationship with this group of growers. The group of visitors from the auction included growers and their wives, the auction manager, our buyer at the auction and the auctioneer himself.

Working alongside cooks from our DCPS staff who were out for a teacher work day, the farmers helped process 30 bushels of sweet potatoes, before heading over to visit students and staff at Washington Jesuit Academy. Here are a few pictures from the morning:

Carol, a Culinary Job Training Program graduate and cook at DC Public Schools

Tashira, a Culinary Job Training Program graduate and cook at DC Public Schools, works with our visitors

The men from the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction

The women from the Shenadoah Valley Produce Auction

Today at Our Schools: Chef Jamillah’s Banana Bread

This morning at our seven DC Public Schools, students were treated to Chef Jamillah’s Banana Bread along with local apples from Kilmer’s Fruit Orchard in Inwood, West Virginia, low-fat cheese sticks and milk. Our cooks at the Nutrition Lab baked 50 sheet trays of banana bread from scratch to feed our 1700+ students. As you can see in this shot of Tarina and Shawndella caught in action, they had a pretty good time baking and put lots of love into this recipe’s debut at the schools.

Fresh Start Catering Uses Local Produce for Emergency Family Shelter Meals

Did you know that in addition to typical catering events such as breakfasts, luncheons and weddings, the Fresh Start Catering team also prepares 550 meals each day for the city’s emergency family shelters?

In August, shortly after moving into the new production space at the Nutrition Lab, Catering began preparing breakfast and lunch for the men, women and children seeking temporary shelter at the city’s emergency shelters. As with all of our meals, these breakfasts and lunches feature fresh, local produce on a regular basis.

Today’s lunch was a grilled chicken caesar salad with fresh croutons, warm breadsticks, melon salad and iced tea. The lettuce used in the salads (pictured above) came from Molehill Gardens in Dayton, Virginia. We currently order 40 cases of local lettuce each week from Molehill Gardens. Half of this lettuce is used by Catering and the rest is used for school meals.

Nutrition Lab uses fresh local produce for healthy school meals

The plans for our new 6,000 square foot production kitchen, the Nutrition Lab, started over three years ago with the dream of a space that would serve as a regional food hub, bringing in more affordable, fresh local produce from area farms to process and distribute throughout the city. That dream has finally become reality and bulk production of local produce is now in full swing.

Just over the past week, the cooks at the Lab along with some of those based out of the public schools worked their way through 180 bushels of greens and 80 bushels of sweet potatoes from Kirby Farms in Mechanicsville, VA, as well as enough apples to produce 600 gallons of applesauce. Our kitchen staff processed, cooked, vacuum sealed and froze the produce for use throughout the winter months. The local greens, sweet potatoes and applesauce will all be featured on our January menus at our seven DC Public Schools, as well as at Washington Jesuit Academy.