Innovative Practices in Schools: How to Navigate Rising Food Costs

With rising food costs, saving money without compromising the nutritional quality of the meals served can be a challenge. To address this, schools have developed innovative ways to offer nutritious and varied breakfasts to students while reducing grocery bills. These strategies, collected through last year’s midyear survey, reflect the creativity and dedication of school teams and volunteers. We sincerely thank every school for sharing their valuable insights and hope these tips can inspire some of you!

Reducing food waste

There are several tips for reducing food waste and maximizing its use. These include:

• Cooking leftovers. For example, why not freeze unused cut fruit and reuse it later in a smoothie, compote, or even muffins or pancakes?
• Freeze leftovers. Some cooked foods are ideal for freezing, such as cookies, muffins, pancakes, and waffles. You’ll have them on hand for mornings when you have less time to cook!

Cook more

Cooking and preparing meals in advance are among the strategies most often reported by schools as a way to reduce food costs. Here are a few winning tips:

• Buy inexpensive basic ingredients. Schools with cooking facilities can save money by buying more basic ingredients. Eggs, milk, whole wheat flour, and oats are examples of very versatile basic ingredients that can be used to prepare a variety of breakfasts!  For more inspiration, take a look at the Recipes section of the School’s corner.
• Reduce purchases of processed foods. Highly processed and individually packaged foods are often more expensive.
• Involve students. By involving students in certain steps of preparing their own breakfast, you can reduce the workload for staff while promoting simpler foods. Depending on their age, young people can participate by toasting their own bread, serving their own bowls of cereal, seasoning their oatmeal, etc. This is a great way to encourage their independence and develop their food skills! Want to know more on different ways to involve students? Watch the recording of last year’s webinar on Student Engagement.

Tips for grocery shopping

Although cooking is encouraged and promoted as part of breakfast programs, it is not always realistic to cook everything from scratch. That is why some schools have developed other strategies, such as:

• Using frozen fruits and vegetables. These are always great alternatives and can often save time in the kitchen. They can also be used in recipes, such as smoothies or omelets.
• Choose store brands. Most of the time, store brands are less expensive and just as tasty. Don’t hesitate to compare products to make an informed choice!
• Buy in bulk or large quantities to take advantage of discounts. Some products are more economical in large quantities or when purchased in bulk, such as cheese and sliced bread. If you have the storage space, why not? Freeze individual portions for mornings when you have fewer staff available or when you need a more ready-to-eat option (e.g., school field trip days).
• Check out the flyers. Many communities have been able to save money by visiting different stores to find the best prices. However, it’s not always realistic to make multiple stops when shopping. Look at the flyers ahead of time and choose the place that seems most economical, depending on your needs that week.

Developing innovative partnerships

Together, we can often achieve more. Several programs have recognized this by partnering with local organizations or businesses to offer quality food while saving money.

• Using ugly fruits and vegetables. Through donations or at low cost, several grocery stores are willing to contribute to breakfast programs in their area.
• Growing vegetables at school. With school gardens and community greenhouses, some schools have turned to this type of collective project to incorporate fresh vegetables into their programs, in addition to exploiting the full educational potential of these farm-to-table projects.
• Food processing by nearby organizations. School infrastructure can be a challenge, sometimes making it impossible to cook more elaborate meals as part of the breakfast program. Some schools have opted to share facilities with nearby organizations or collaborate with them to make the breakfast program a community project!

Are you interested in discussing this subject with our Nutrition committee and exchanging with other schools? Register below for our upcoming open house on How to Optimize Your Menu and Budget Without Compromising Nutritional Quality!

EN Open Session #1 Nov 4th 3pm EST

EN Open Session #2 Nov 6th 12pm EST