MEADOW BRIDGE, WV (WOAY) – Fayette County Schools wants to provide the best meals it can for its students, and provide them with options.
The USDA and Chef Ann Foundation PLANTS grant has allowed the district to have a chef and support healthier school food.
Maggie Short is working on innovative new recipes and multiple entree offerings.
Director of Child Nutrition Andrew Pense says they can provide high-quality fruits and vegetables, but kids aren’t going to eat them if they aren’t prepared well. So the school district is working hard to come up with creative new ways to prepare good, healthy food.
“We’ve got a hot entree option, mac and cheese, cornbread and pinto beans. And then we’ve also got some cold options,” said Pense. “We’ve got wraps, Italian wraps, chicken, bacon and ranch wraps, as well as salad options; a chef’s salad, a caesar salad.”
It’s a full-circle moment for Chef Short. The Fayette County native is currently upgrading the school lunches at Meadow Bridge Regional, where she was once a student.
“I’m excited that they’re excited to have my food, so their bellies are full and they’re not hungry at the end of the day,” Short said. “It’s been great.”
According to Pense, they’re pushing the sourcing envelope by purchasing from local farmers and creating exciting and interesting meals. What do the kids want? What do they like?
“How do we provide professional development to the chef so she can learn this environment? How do we provide professional development to the cooks so they can take some of those ideas and find out how to provide a better meal to the kids? Right now, everybody’s working together, we’re a team,” said the nutrition director.
Short loves to make people happy, and she has a storied background in the food industry.
“Worked at the Greenbrier (Sporting Club), West Virginia Osteopathic School of Medicine, and then down here,” the chef said, adding that she believes strongly in helping make nutritious meals for West Virginia school systems.
“The taste test we’ve done so far with the kids has far exceeded what I thought we were going to do,” said Short. “They’ve enjoyed it.”
