What’s on the school menu

School food service directors across the region must contend with increasing supply costs and funding cuts. Despite the challenges, the people who feed thousands of children across the tri-state area are finding ways to meet the demands of students and families.

For several years, Warwick’s middle and high school students were accustomed to freshly made pizza and other treats not often found on public school lunch menus. This author’s son, now an incoming freshman at Warwick Valley High School, was convinced the middle school was getting their pies from a local pizzeria.

In reality, the middle and high schools were making their own pizzas, from scratch. This is because the Warwick Valley School District removed the high school from the national lunch program in 2015, enabling the school to offer more options, Director of Food Services Julie Helmrich said. The middle school followed in 2016.

“Within the first year, the kids were loving it,” Helmrich said of the change, noting the district had a lot of success not being in the national lunch program.

Then New York State amended its education law to require all schools participating in the federal school lunch and/or breakfast program to provide school meals at no cost to students beginning with the 2025-26 school year.

When this came into effect, Warwick decided to put the middle and high school back on the national lunch program. (Both of the district’s elementary schools have always been a part of the national lunch program, despite misconceptions, Helmrich noted).

While the Universal Free School Meals program has made lunch more equitable for students, Helmrich said many are unhappy with the change in menu, which has to meet strict requirements set by the state.

In other Orange County districts, the change to the Universal Free Meal program was less of a shock to students. The Monroe-Woodbury School District was already offering no-cost breakfast and lunch meals to every in-district student in November 2023 through the federal Community Eligibility Provision, even before New York’s statewide mandate took effect in 2025–26, said Marilyn Prestia, M-W’s food services director.

Still, with hundreds more meals being served, thanks to more students taking advantage of breakfast and lunch programs, the school had to make adjustments in staffing and logistics to meet demands.

Less funding, higher costs

Across the region, food service directors are being squeezed by increasing costs. Helmrich, said that this year was the first time she had to pay fuel surcharges. Certain products also doubled in price because of tariffs, she added.

Growing expenses has also affected operations at the Delaware Valley School District in Pike County, Pa.

“The cost of food and supplies has increased across nearly every category, from grocery and produce to paper goods and cleaning products,” Food Service Supervisor Justin Roselli said. “In some cases, products we’ve relied on for years became unavailable, forcing us to identify alternatives while still meeting nutritional requirements and student expectations.”

In New Jersey, addressing economic challenges often means tailoring responses to meet the needs of individual districts.

“Our team works very closely together to come to a solution that works for all of our districts,” said Katie Filosa, director of field supervision, for Maschio’s Food Services, Inc., a food service management company overseeing multiple schools in the state.

Along with the increasing cost of goods, food service directors must navigate public funding cuts. The federal government is looking to the states to take on more of the burden of SNAP funding, creating uncertainty about local schools’ ability to keep up their meal programs.

“Without adequate funding, districts may struggle to maintain meal quality, staffing, and key initiatives such as Farm-to-School programs,” said Prestia, the M-W food services director. “Overall, the main concern is that funding instability could undermine progress in expanding access to healthy meals and supporting student well-being.”

Working to improve offerings

The food service providers all spoke of the importance of student feedback in trying to provide meals that are both nutritional and tasty.

“When we weren’t in the national lunch program it was so much fun to bring in different foods,” said Helmrich. “We are still trying that within the guidelines. We are always trying to find new things that fit the program.”

One way schools are working toward improving their food offerings is by partnering with local vendors.

“Partnering with local farms and food producers offers several benefits, including fresher products and support for the local economy,” Roselli said.

In Orange County, Warwick Valley and other districts are part of a cooperative bid with Orange/Ulster BOCES that helps them procure local produce, Helmrich said.

Working with local farms and other vendors helps support the regional agricultural economy along with increasing student access to seasonal foods and better their appreciation for agriculture and nutrition, Prestia said.

Partnering with local farms and businesses enables Maschio’s Food Services to better meet the needs of the New Jersey districts they serve.

“Some school districts, maybe their family has a farm, so that farm provides produce to that school district, or maybe there’s a pizzeria involved that the families really love, so, we’ll partner with the local pizzeria to provide pizza on Fridays,” said Maschio’s Food Services Director of Operations Patty Fragioudakis.

Improving transparency

While plenty of shows and movies poke fun at school cafeterias for being secretive about their food, in reality, food service leaders seek to be as transparent as possible with families.

Prestia says families are encouraged to visit the district website to learn more about their menus, nutrition guidelines, farm partnerships and get answers to frequently asked questions.

“The district’s food services team works hard to keep families informed and provide transparency about meal offerings and program updates,” she said.

Maschio’s Food Services hosts food advisory meetings where students have the opportunity to share feedback and even create a menu.

“When we put the menu that they created on for that day, you just see the buy-in and the excitement from the students because they shared it with their friends that they created that,” said Fragioudakis.

Communications with administrators and parents is also important, Fragioudakis said. She highlighted back to school nights as an opportunity to connect with families to talk about food services and address specific dietary needs.

More than just providing meals

A commonality among food service directors is a desire for students and families to understand the scope of what they do.

Roselli explained that food service is more than just preparing and serving meals.

“We are also great listeners. Some children look forward to telling our staff what’s going on in their life as much as a meal.”

Fragioudakis said beyond managing schools’ lunch and breakfast programs, Maschio’s Food Service partners with districts to support catering needs, community engagement and program compliance.

“We work with the district to put their vision in action, whatever that might be.”

For Helmrich grasping the amount of work food service workers do is hard for many to comprehend.

“People don’t understand this isn’t just school lunch. I don’t think anybody would truly believe what it takes to put a menu together.”