When you think about school meals, what comes to mind? Stereotypical conceptions of school lunches are less than flattering, conjuring images of reheated frozen entrees and sparse vegetables. But with the help of partner organization Brigaid, Lynchburg City Schools (LCS) is turning these perceptions upside down through scratch-made food, fresh and local ingredients, and innovative menus.
“Our partnership with Brigaid is allowing us to raise the bar for school meals across the division. My goal is to move away from processed foods in favor of high-quality, fresh ingredients. We want to serve food that kids are excited about eating,” said LCS Director of School Nutrition Beth Morris.
Founded by world-renowned culinary powerhouse Dan Giusti, who formerly served as the executive chef of 1789 in Washington, D.C. and head chef of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, Brigaid provides professional culinary expertise to help foodservice programs across the nation achieve their goals. Through hands-on training and practical solutions, the organization strives to help make high-quality food accessible to all.
Brigaid program chef Hannah Breig trains nutrition staff in culinary skills.
Revolutionizing School Meals
Brigaid program chef Hannah Breig works full-time with schools across LCS to bring the division’s vision for school nutrition to life. Drawing on her extensive expertise as a professional restaurant chef, she trains staff members, spearheads the rollout of house-made food, sources fresh ingredients, plans menus, and tests new recipes.
“Lynchburg was already doing a great job before partnering with Brigaid, and together, we can provide even better meals for students. We’re focusing on incorporating as much scratch cooking in our kitchen as possible using high-quality ingredients,” Breig said.
Breig has been working with school nutrition teams to gradually roll out new recipes and ingredients across the division. Already, they’ve implemented fresh vegetables and house-made meal components at every school, like pasta salad, barbecue sauce, and cheesy avocado dip. Secondary schools are beginning to cook bacon and ground beef from raw for some dishes. Exciting new menu items like Jamaican-inspired “Rasta pasta,” orange chicken, and sandwiches with freshly-sliced deli meats have delighted students and staff members alike, appealing to diverse cultural tastes and student preferences.
“LCS’ new collaboration with Brigaid has been an exciting experience for the students and staff,” said Bass Elementary School principal Monica Hendricks. “I have thoroughly enjoyed partaking in the meals and have been pleasantly surprised with their freshness, variety, and quality. I appreciate LCS moving in this direction, as our students deserve the best, and it all begins with quality nutrition.”
A student gets ready to eat lunch at Bass Elementary School.
As new menu items are rolled out, Breig works with nutrition staff at each school to gauge reactions from students and tweak recipes and offerings accordingly. Staff are already seeing new faces in the lunch lines and receiving enthusiastic praise for the changes they’ve been implementing.
“The students are responding very well to the new menu items. Word spreads amongst the students. They’ll tell each other, ‘I just tried that. It’s really good. You need to get it,’” said Heritage High school nutrition manager Earl Kennedy.
Eventually, LCS chefs will make even more foods in-house, like pasta sauce, muffins, and bread. Brigaid’s rollout has been intentionally incremental; they started assessing the LCS nutrition program’s needs and identifying opportunities for transformation last fall. The company’s model is highly adaptive, helping schools reach their own goals while taking into account their unique needs and challenges.
Sustainability is the name of the game; nutrition staff are trained gradually until they feel confident in more advanced culinary skills. As the nutrition program builds a reputation for excellence, it will attract more staff members with professional culinary experience.
“In order for the program to be successful, the employees must be successful. We want to empower staff members to cook from scratch as much as we can so that we can sustainably serve meals of the highest quality possible,” Breig said. “I’ve spent a lot of time getting integrated in the school division, gaining trust with staff members, and meeting them where they’re at.”
A Brigaid chef prepares marinara sauce with fresh basil alongside staff members at Linkhorne Middle School.
School Meals from Scratch
This school year, the division’s capacity for scratch-made cooking will rise significantly, thanks to two brand-new production cooks based at E. C. Glass and Heritage high schools. Armed with culinary experience from their backgrounds in the restaurant business, Terri Mawyer and Marco Spencer will produce large batches of house-made foods, like meats from raw, sauces, and baked goods, in the kitchens of their respective high schools. These will be distributed to schools across the division.
“We’re working to ensure that kids in schools without fully-equipped kitchens have the same experience as those who do. We want students across the division to have equitable experiences,” Morris said.
This new system will maximize the available infrastructure at LCS while ensuring each school regularly serves scratch-made items. While the division’s goal is to incorporate as much scratch cooking as possible, both Morris and Breig are setting realistic expectations.
“Not every item can be made in-house, but our goal is to work with the available infrastructure and staff to get as close to scratch cooking as possible,” Breig said. “Sometimes, that looks like speed scratch cooking, or working with ingredients that are partially premade and transforming them into something great. It’s what most home cooks do; for example, baking rolls from refrigerated dough or boiling premade dried pasta for spaghetti.”
Cooking from scratch or speed scratch gives chefs more control over the quality of ingredients they’re using, helping them maximize flavor and nutritional value while continuing to meet strict U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards. For example, LCS chefs could bake muffins sweetened with applesauce instead of granulated sugar to provide a healthier breakfast option without compromising on taste.
A student enjoys a meal featuring barbecue chicken with scratch-made sauce, pasta salad with scratch-made dressing and fresh vegetables, fresh grapes and celery, corn, and strawberry milk.
Serving Student Success
In tandem with an increased use of fresh fruits and vegetables, the shift will supercharge school meals across the division, improving their taste, quality, and nutritional benefits. And since every student at LCS is eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch daily under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the value for families is unbeatable. According to Morris, high-quality school nutrition is vital to student success.
“There is research to support the fact that children who are hungry are inhibited in their ability to concentrate on their lessons,” Morris said. “The nutritional quality of meals is important, particularly for young children who are in critical developmental stages. By providing balanced meals with fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and more, we are contributing to both the physical growth and academic success of these kids.”
As the program continues to evolve, Morris envisions a fully operating production cook workflow distributing scratch-made foods across the division, staff members robustly trained in culinary techniques, an established rotation of innovative and delicious recipes, and more.
Brigaid and LCS are busting myths about school meals and showing the local community what the future of school nutrition could look like—not just in Lynchburg, but everywhere. LCS is one of the first school divisions Brigaid has worked with in Virginia, and it’s quickly emerging as a leader in school nutrition.
Students at Linkhorne Middle School enjoy meatball subs with fresh marinara sauce, scratch-made hoagie rolls, and a side of kale Caesar salad.
Experience the Difference: LCS Community Dinners
This school year, the division will host “LCS Community Dinners: Experience the New Taste of School Meals,” a series of high-quality dinners reflecting the foods students are eating at school. Families, community members, students, and staff members are invited to experience the difference for themselves.
Meals on Oct. 17 will feature locally-grown produce from Lynchburg Grows as well as locally-raised chickens. Plus, guests will receive free produce from a pop-up farmer’s market by the VA Cooperative Extension, watch special performances from LCS students, and enjoy dessert made by LCS culinary arts students.
Both dine-in and take-out options are available for a price of $5. Children ages 2 and younger eat free.
Join us from 5-7 p.m. on:
- Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, at Dunbar Middle School
- Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at Sandusky Middle School
- Thursday, May 15, 2025, at Linkhorne Middle School
