TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Chef Ann Foundation, in collaboration with the California School Nutrition Association, recently released a report on staff shortages in California’s K-12 school food services and its impact on students. The study found that the vacancy and turnover rates in California’s school food programs are three times higher than those of public school teachers nationwide. This shortage adversely affects the ability of school food staff to provide nutritious and appealing meals, ultimately impacting students’ health, academic performance, and discipline rates.

Despite increased student participation due to universal school meals, there’s a shortage of staff, worsened by competition from other sectors such as fast food and retail. Wage increases and full-time positions with benefits are identified as necessary to retain experienced staff. The report suggests the Healthy School Food Pathway program as a solution, aiming to professionalize culinary careers in school food through apprenticeships and training.

However, the good news is that Tahoe Truckee Unified School District seems to be one of the exceptions. TTUSD is doing remarkably well in attracting and retaining food staff. The Sun spoke with Kat Soltanmorad, Director of Food and Nutrition Services at TTUSD to find out why. 

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TTUSD’s recruiting and marketing of positions have improved over the years, according to Soltanmorad.Presently, TTUSD’s food staff comprises approximately 30 employees, encompassing the warehouse team as well.

Unlike numerous positions nationwide, the district’s food services department provides full-time positions with benefits. However, Soltanmorad primarily credits TTUSD’s success to the close-knit community of Truckee/Tahoe, which differs significantly from many urban districts. 

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Thanks to the community, TTUSD benefits from both staff and advocates who leverage personal connections to recruit locally. This long standing practice has proven highly effective in filling food services vacancies with skilled and committed individuals.

“The challenge for other school districts is the tremendous growth and trying to keep up with it,” Soltanmorad said.  

The TTUSD food staff derives immense satisfaction from providing students with high-quality meals. They exclusively source ingredients from the Tahoe Food Hub, ensuring access to organic produce. The salad bars are consistently refreshed and well-stocked. And a significant portion, approximately 80-90%, of the menu is freshly prepared daily, with minimal reliance on processed or packaged foods. 

“There’s a lot of pride in the work that we do and a great reward in terms of serving our students something we can feel proud of,” Soltanmorad said. “It gives us an opportunity to serve children every day in our district.” 

This week marks National School Breakfast Week, and students at TTUSD were treated to a delicious meal featuring whole grain breakfast muffins, Hawaiian pork served with Truckee sourdough dinner rolls, and organic roasted sweet potatoes.

Zoe Meyer is a reporter for the Sierra Sun, a sister publication for Tahoe Daily Tribune. She can be reached at zmeyer@sierrasun.com.