Last month, I tackled an important
myth
about local, scratch-cooked food -- that making it costs more money (it doesn’t). Today, I’d like to address another myth — that preparing this kind of food requires more time and more labor.
Again, this just isn’t true.
In reality, nutritious, locally sourced, scratch-cooked food is easier to make than you may think. When you take a hard look at the inefficiencies that are likely already bogging down your kitchen, you will uncover plenty of time that you can instead use to make wholesome, profitable and delicious meals from scratch.
In my experience, clients’ problem areas typically range from seemingly insignificant details to bigger, structural issues.
For example, we can help you regain the hours to make scratch-cooked food by streamlining your current food production methods and eliminating precious time lost from chasing down ingredients haphazardly. With all your prep work completed before cooking even begins, you can recoup significant time savings.
Sometimes the problems are the details — like the minutes misspent unnecessarily placing fruit in cups instead of directly on serving trays, for example.
And let’s not overlook the problems caused by menus with too many options. You may assume such variety is necessary to keep your customers happy — but we at Beyond Green Partners have found that this is usually not the case. What customers really want is delicious food — and no amount of options can change that. Plus, all that needless variety creates extra work and contributes to waste. We advocate for cooking just a few core meals at once that resonate with your customers. When you operate this way, you can get much more value from your ingredients, waste less and save money and time.
These are just a few examples of ways we have helped our customers recover hours lost from existing inefficiencies, which they have turned into the time needed to cook food from scratch. As a result, they have cooked wholesome, nutritious and delicious meals, which led them to skyrocketing sales.
We at Beyond Green Partners wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season, hopefully filled with more scratch cooked meals than usual!
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Using 100% breast meat cut into strips the day before, we set up a three step breading station with seasoned flour (onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper), egg wash and breadcrumbs. Students touring the kitchen at Central School in Lincoln, IL participated in an impromptu math lesson to determine how many strips were needed for all the students in the school. Once they calculated the number of chicken tenders needed, the kids were even more impressed with the cooks!
Building palates for healthy food and serving nutrient dense food sets students up for a lifetime of wins.
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Leadership at Lincoln 27 & Beyond
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How to have happy, productive kitchen staff
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"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
That's exactly what the cooks at Lincoln Elementary School District are doing: blazing the way to scratch cooking local food that kids want to eat under budget. Being a leader takes courage. Making food from its most basic, nutritious state requires brain power, planning, and a sparkle of creativity. But the school cooks in Lincoln and across the country have it in them. They have watched kids throw away approximately 40% of their labor and love every day for way too long. With training and a boost of confidence, cooks are finding joy and purpose through service.
Hear from cooks about what it means to be a leader at Lincoln 27 & Beyond. #lincoln27andbeyond
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Lincoln 27 and Beyond at Green Schools Conference & Expo
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Tackling Waste and Wellness Through
a School and Hospital Partnership
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Beyond Green Partners is teaming up with Lincoln Elementary School District and Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital to present a collaborative process to systemically improving student and community health at the Green Schools Conference & Expo. For the presentation our own Chef Greg Christian will be joined by Angela Stoltzenburg, Director, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Community Health Collaborative and Connie Crawley, Food Service Director, Lincoln Elementary School District. For more information visit the Green Schools Conference & Expo
website today.
Green Schools Conference & Expo
March 2-4, 2020 | Portland, Oregon
Registration is now
OPEN!
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New York Scratch Cooking Pilot a Success
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We're not the only ones with
evidence that scratch cooking is possible and needed in today's world. New York conducted two completely from scratch pilot programs in the Bronx. Chosen for high rates of poverty and disease, the schools served all breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks made from scratch.
School meals offer a significant opportunity to positively influence student health, academic achievement, and sense of community, as well as, rebuild the local food economy. With systems change and strong partnerships, kids can eat well now and into their bright futures.
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Thanks again for the continued support. Drop us a line (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or the old fashioned way), we would love to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Greg Christian and the Beyond Green Partners Team
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