District Overcomes Menu Fatigue with Variety of Flavorful Menus

Success Story: Park Rapids Public Schools

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Grades: PreK-12
Student Population: 1,000+
Location: Park Rapids, Minnesota

Most would find it time consuming and daunting to prepare daily meals for more than 1,000 students with a relatively small staff. Not Tom Marcussen, foodservice director of Park Rapids School District in Park Rapids, Minn. Marcussen uses NutriStudents K-12, a self-operated, plug-and-play system to help him dramatically cut menu-planning time while offering a variety of foods with creative flavors. With more than 100 total weeks of USDA-compliant menus, NutriStudents K-12 gives him the flexibility to mix and match menu weeks to fight menu fatigue and offer students and staff an assortment of new cuisine.

“The food choices and flavors aren’t something we’ve had before; that’s nice because we like change as much as our students. They don't want to eat the same things,” Marcussen said. “NutriStudents K-12 is designed so it’s very easy to switch out a week’s menu for one of our old favorites. We’ve received a lot of compliments.”

He continued, “The user-friendly menus are already set up and laid out, and I know they are totally precise in meeting USDA requirements without question."

The positive feedback goes beyond the students. NutriStudents K-12 straight-forward menus and complete step-by-step recipes with HACCP procedures were well-received by the district’s head cooks and foodservice staff. “Everything is laid out for you,” Marcussen explained. “It’s very easy to read – you just go down the list of food items you’ll need and follow the recipe instructions.”

Marcussen and his staff also appreciate the food production records supplied by NutriStudents K-12. The administrative process of keeping organized records is simple when using the downloadable forms from NutriStudents K-12.

Head Cook Judy Gertz, said, “With NutriStudents K-12 my whole job is easier. We’re spending less time doing food prep and cooking. Production reports are all right there and so easy.”

Because of the foodservice staff’s satisfaction preparing and serving NutriStudents K-12 delicious USDA-compliant meals, combined with the overwhelmingly favorable response from students, the Park Rapids School District looks forward to implementing more NutriStudents K-12 menus.