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Date: 5/23/2023
CHICOPEE — Food Services Director Melanie Wilk shared an overview of department happenings during the May 17 Chicopee School Committee meeting.
The mission of the ChicopeeFRESH program is to “provide every student in the district with access to locally sourced and nutritious meals along with experiential learning opportunities in the classroom and school garden,” Wilk said.
Through this program, they aim to achieve food security in the classroom, support the New England food economy and empower students to develop healthy and positive relationships with their food, she shared.
ChicopeeFRESH serves breakfast, lunch, power snack and after school snacks to all students in Chicopee under the Community Eligibility Provision. They serve about 3,500 breakfasts and 5,000 lunches daily across 15 schools.
Wilk said that each school has its own kitchen and prepares its own food. The staff of approximately 100 people consists of two clerks, a storekeeper and a storekeeper assistant.
The food services’ fiscal year 2023 budget was $5.9 million — $2.9 million of which was for food and $2.5 million was for salaries. The estimated budget for FY24 is $6.2 million — $3.1 million for food and $2.75 million for salaries.
Wilk explained that the current federal reimbursement rates for school meals is $2.67 for breakfast, $4.48 for lunch, $1.08 for after school snack and $4.33 for power snack — dinner.
She went on to say that they also have “alternate means of revenue” as they have a separate budget from the district budget. This includes offering catering, a la carte sales and adult meal sales.
Regarding staffing, Wilk said they began this school year 22 employees short of being fully staffed. “As of yesterday, we have seven open positions,” she shared.
She continued, “The staff at [Chicopee Comprehensive High School] currently includes three student workers which has been a really cool partnership. They’re culinary school students that come during their co-op period and work in the kitchen at Comp.”
Wilk said their most successful methods of hiring have been through the district hiring events and social media blasts. Some of the staffing challenges are that it can be a few hours and the work is “very challenging,” she shared.
In June 2022, Bri Jackson was hired as the new Farm to School program coordinator. Jackson oversees the school gardens, coordinates activities in the community, conducts school taste tests and more.
With the Farm to School program, Wilk said, “Our goal is to purchase 15% of our food locally and currently we source local fruits and vegetables, meats, seafood, milk, cheese, yogurt, granola and more.”
Some of the local vendors sourced from include Czajkowski Farms, Little Leaf Lettuce, Maine Family Farms and Northcoast Seafood, to name a few. Local vendors include anything in Massachusetts or within 250 miles of Chicopee.
Wilk said taste tests are conducted year-round and are focused on the Massachusetts Farm to School Harvest of the Month, or around new developing recipes. This allows for student feedback or to have them try foods they would not normally try.
Wilk noted that they have worked with the Student Advisory Council to bring some “positive changes” to the school menus. “In both high schools there’s a vegan option every day and at Chicopee Academy, they’ve offered about three or four new alternate meals in addition to the regular menu,” she said.
Jackson hosts monthly events at the Chicopee Public Library, along with events at the Chicopee Boys & Girls Club. She also collaborates with the Chicopee High School Garden Club.
This year, Chicopee partnered with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute as part of their sea-to-school program, in which they pledged to menu local seafood at least once a month. “We have found products that the students really like, and we have exceeded that goal,” Wilk said.
Some of the grant-fund initiatives include the curbside cafeteria — “pretty much my dream since I started and it’s actually happening,” Wilk shared. The food truck was purchased with the Food Security Infrastructure Grant for $153,000. The truck distributes free summer meals at Chicopee parks and library, as well as participating in community events such as the Halloween Spooktacular and National Night Out.
In the second round of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant, Chicopee received $480,000 to replace dated and broken equipment in the kitchen. This includes ovens, coolers, serving line steamers and more. The last round of the equipment is scheduled to be installed the last week of June.
Lastly, Wilk discussed the Summer Eats Program which provides free meals throughout the summer to kids ages 18 and under in Chicopee. The program operates at sites including the schools and parks using the curbside cafeteria. It also provides free meals for summer programs such as Camp Opee, Side by Side Preschool, Playful Minds and more.
In summer 2022, Wilk said 47,490 meals were served.