I am not a chef. I cook at home, and my cooking skills might be above average. I believe that the cheapest way to run a school cafeteria is to make food from scratch. It is also a much healthier approach.
For example, instead of serving pre-made and super-unhealthy chicken nuggets, buy those cuts of meat and fish that are deemed "undesirable" in grocery stores, but perfectly fine in term of health and nutrition. They can be used to make stews, or they can be made into ground meat by the kitchens themselves and in turn made into meatballs, bolognese, lasagna fillings, burgers, fish cakes, etc. The same idea can be applied to vegetables and fruits, too. A large amount of perfectly fine vegetables and fruits are thrown away every day just because they don't look nice. They aren't rotten. People won't get food poisoning after eating them. They just don't look good. They are either in odd shapes, too big too small, or have some light bruises, etc. School kitchens can buy them and make perfectly healthy and delicious meals from them.
I do see the issue of this approach. It needs cooks who know how to cook from scratch, especially how to cook those cuts of meats they are not familiar with, or cooks who are willing to learn these techniques. I suppose it is much easier to find these cooks in the countries who have a long and rich cuisine history, like France, Italy, China, Mexico, etc. It could be a challenging task here.
The camp bought food wholesale in bulk at a discount over small restaurants in the next town over. Figure the camp spends 1/3 or 1/4 the amount you do at the supermarket for the same if not higher quality product. We would make a turkey dinner once for every session. Who doesn't love turkey dinner with all the fixings, even in July? Take the every day snack, for example, there doesn't need much choice. I'd make homemade chocolate chip cookies and zucchini bread. But, we would also buy a box of Italian ices or a box of peanut butter in single serve cups and serve them with celery sticks.
Children don't have immune systems that are as developed as adults so bacteria contamination is much more serious. It is important that children are served the most 'desirable' food. I don't understand why it is ok to even think about serving the crap food to children? You are suggesting we give the old food that has lost its flavor and more likely has developed undesirable flavor to children. It's like you have this idea that we can just serve kids whatever.
I'm just saying that I had an experience where an institution served really good simple healthy balanced food to children within a constrained budget. It's doable. I know how to do it.
Food safety is definitely the most important thing for a kitchen. It doesn't matter it serves food to children or adults.
Pardon my English if I didn't make myself clear. When I say "undesirable" cuts, it doesn't mean they are bad. For example, in local fresh fish markets, there are expensive fish fillets. There are also many big chunks of fish meats that were cut from from filleting. They are as fresh as the fish fillets. Instead of being priced for like $15 per pound for fish fillets, they cost like $3 per pounds. To make fish cakes, they are as good as the fish fillets.
The same goes for beef, port, lamb, etc. Also, the tougher the meat, the cheaper they are, like pork shoulders, beef chucks, etc. It requires more time, more patience, and different skills to cook them than steaks. Actually, I feel children like richly flavored meat stews, no matter it is Italian/French/Mexican/Chinese etc. much more than grilled steaks/chops.
I would go further to say buying from locally grown meat/fish/veg/fruits. Establish good relationship with local farmers/butchers. Mention the food are for children who are growing. One may most probably get healthier foods than from wholesalers.
> I don't understand why it is ok to even think about serving the crap food to children? You are suggesting we give the old food that has lost its flavor and more likely has developed undesirable flavor to children.
This isn't what the original poster meant. There are lots of fruits & vegetables that are thrown out because they're not aesthetically pleasing. As the poster said, they're not rotten. A carrot may have some twists and be a little crooked. An apple may look gnarled. A cucumber may have an light green stripe down one side instead of being uniformly dark green.
I am not a chef. I cook at home, and my cooking skills might be above average. I believe that the cheapest way to run a school cafeteria is to make food from scratch. It is also a much healthier approach.
For example, instead of serving pre-made and super-unhealthy chicken nuggets, buy those cuts of meat and fish that are deemed "undesirable" in grocery stores, but perfectly fine in term of health and nutrition. They can be used to make stews, or they can be made into ground meat by the kitchens themselves and in turn made into meatballs, bolognese, lasagna fillings, burgers, fish cakes, etc. The same idea can be applied to vegetables and fruits, too. A large amount of perfectly fine vegetables and fruits are thrown away every day just because they don't look nice. They aren't rotten. People won't get food poisoning after eating them. They just don't look good. They are either in odd shapes, too big too small, or have some light bruises, etc. School kitchens can buy them and make perfectly healthy and delicious meals from them.
I do see the issue of this approach. It needs cooks who know how to cook from scratch, especially how to cook those cuts of meats they are not familiar with, or cooks who are willing to learn these techniques. I suppose it is much easier to find these cooks in the countries who have a long and rich cuisine history, like France, Italy, China, Mexico, etc. It could be a challenging task here.