The pandemic has certainly presented its challenges to foodservice directors like Sturgeon Bay School District’s Jenny Spude. When schools closed in March due to the pandemic, Spude and her team were tasked with not just making and packaging the food but making sure it got out to the families that needed it in Sturgeon Bay. For a few weeks, those efforts even included much of Northern Door after Gibraltar had to shut down its operations due to a positive COVID-19 test. Getting food to students remained a challenge when schools reopened because instead of serving kids in a cafeteria with reusable cutlery, it had to bring the meals directly to the classroom in disposable materials. She says one big adjustment they made was how to package their meals without having a large negative impact on the environment, even if it comes at a higher cost.

Spude says they are serving fewer kids this year than years’ past possibly due to COVID-19 concerns. Sturgeon Bay School District among others opted into a program that allowed students to have a free breakfast or lunch through the end of the calendar year thanks to a United States Department of Agriculture waiver. Spude says the program has been extended now to the end of the school year.

Picture from Sturgeon Bay Schools