The cafeteria at EHHS is known for serving the students with convenient, quality, and flavorful food and friendly service. The cafeteria has gone through many changes over the years that it has been serving students and was not always serving the multitude of food options we have today. At one point in time, according to EHHS Principal, Mr. Vincent DeNuzzo, lunch offered very limited options: “As a former East Haven High School student back in the ‘90s you’d walk into the cafe and they would have a ham and cheese sandwich wrapped in cellophane. You just grab it, and that’s what you eat.” But that’s all anyone sees: the food waiting for you, already pre-made, and all you need to do is grab it.
What about behind the kitchen? Who delivers the food? Where does the food come from? Who is in charge of deciding what to serve? These are things that many people probably don’t even think of, but the answers are important because without the work that takes place to prepare lunches for students, school lunches all over America would either be nonexistent or not nearly as reliable as they are today.
Lunches at EHHS are supervised and run by the general manager, Eva Pelliconi, and the operations manager, Brittany Uryase. They both work for Sodexo, an international food services and facilities management company based out of France, who Mr. DeNuzzo says “runs our cafeteria” and was hired by Superintendent Mrs. Erica Forti to run the food service program. Sodexo is responsible for acquiring not only the food, but also the utensils and various plates and trays that are used during the lunch waves. Brittany and Eva are the ones who order these things, working closely with the servers who inventory and track the items, making sure the high school cafeteria is stocked. This must make it seem like what is served for lunch at EHHS is decided by two people, but not exactly. Sodexo has criteria for its vendors, which most importantly ensures the food is safe. They work closely with a dietitian to follow nutritional guidelines combined with what the kids at EHHS like to have as options during lunch. Using top-of-the-line software to prepare nutritious menus, the team can select food items deemed most popular by the cafeteria patrons. They have state, federal, and Sodexo guidelines that must be followed along with allergen warnings, a nutritional breakdown, an ingredients list, food recalls, and alternative plans when an ingredient is recalled. Some of the vendors are Sysco for big food items, two produce vendors, Rochs and Freshpoint, Wade’s Dairy for milk, and Rockland Bakery for baked goods like rolls and bread. There is a lot of collaboration that goes into preparing cost-effective, quality food. Eva best describes the work that goes into finding these items as “a big, big puzzle, lots of pieces.”
The produce is delivered fresh, depending on seasonal availability, with an emphasis on using local companies as much as possible, following guidelines from the government. Deliveries for fresh items are more frequent, around once or twice a week. Since EHHS is so large, the produce deliveries for two of the smaller elementary schools also get delivered here, and a driver brings these supplies to the smaller schools. The other schools in the district have direct delivery.
Vendor deliveries are scheduled contracts with the vendors so Eva, Brittany, and the team know which items to expect when. “We go from delivery to delivery […] typically we don’t have any more than a week’s worth of food on hand,” says Brittany. Eva and Brittany use a calendar to align the food items on the lunch menu with the delivery schedules to make sure there is enough to serve the various lunch waves. The cafeteria staff also help Brittany and Eva prepare the food items prior to placing the orders by reporting out what items are still in stock to not over order and potentially waste products. Eva highlights the importance of communication with the cafeteria/kitchen front-line staff: “They know the inventory of their kitchens and freezers” and also track the staple items such as salt, pepper, and other condiments.
The kitchen staff come in ready to prepare the menu items, following the recipes stored in the computer and binders in the kitchen, and begin setting up for the day. The kitchen staff have an organized process to prepare for the lunch waves, a process Brittany and Eva call “a well-oiled machine.”
Next time you’re in the cafeteria, be sure to give a nod to the food service team and have appreciation for being offered more than Mr. DeNuzzo’s cellophane-wrapped ham & cheese.
