MSNA Industry Conference takes on ‘risky business’
By Mike Mitchelson

“Risky Business” was the theme of the 2009 MSNA Industry Conference at Ruttger’s Bay Lodge near Brainerd, Minn., and throughout the two-day event, not one Tom Cruise reference was heard. Instead, the conference focused on navigating the increasingly challenging waters of providing nutritious meals at schools with tightening budgets.

Day 1 was highlighted with three breakout sessions: an update on the Kids Against Hunger program, a Farm to School discussion panel, and an equipment preventative maintenance presentation.


Farm to School

The Farm to School panelists were Annette Henrickx Derouin, Willmar Public Schools foodservice director; Jim Groskopf, St. Paul Public Schools purchasing analyst; Tina Wheeler, foodservice director for Little Falls Community Schools; and JoAnne Berkenkamp of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The panel was moderated by Nadine Kasel, advertising sales manager for Foodservice News. Some highlights:

Food safety and liability: Berkenkamp said there are two ways schools can obtain product: through distributor or direct from farmers. It is legal for schools to purchase direct from farmers, but miscommunication occurs with various departments of health across the state regarding standards. Berkenkamp suggested “ground floor” communication standards across districts and health departments.

Derouin said she first contacted an area sanitarian and explained the concept she wanted to implement within the school district. With that guidance, and by first reading the regulations within the Minnesota Food Code, she was able to proceed.

Sourcing local product through a distributor or processor can relieve a school district of liability issues, however. St. Paul Schools lack processing ability, a local processor sources the food and therefore assumes liability, Groskopf said. Wheeler added that Little Falls sources through a cooperative in Long Prairie, which inspects the food and assumes liability.

First items: St. Paul began working with Pepin Heights Orchards about four years ago, Groskopf said, purchasing smaller-sized apples that the orchard otherwise would have used for juicing—the perfect size for a serving at a school. “We had great variety” with that practice, he said. The district then moved to corn on the cob, squash and red potatoes. “We’re going to be doing more root vegetables.”

Wheeler said Little Falls started with potatoes and squash. Products are presented as a featured item at the school, with an educational component. “We explain harvesting corn or maple syrup production,” she said.

The program started slowly in Willmar, Derouin said, with apples, and has grown to include items such as squash, wild rice and bison. There is also an educational component to the program, including the occasional field trip. “We take kids to the J&L Bison Ranch (in Willmar) to learn about that, and then we feature bison hot dogs at the schools,” Derouin said.

To make the program a success: Derouin suggested detailed planning for whichever district wishes to implement a farm-to-school program. “If you want to do this, start planning now,” she said. “Calendar it out.” She also found a “forager,” who knew all the local producers and could more easily make contact.

Also, hit up other “locavore”-type organizations for information. “When I started at Little Falls, I thought it was the perfect community to do a (Farm to School) program,” Wheeler said. “I got in touch with Renewing the Countryside (http://www.renewingthecountryside.org/) and pulled together a committee to plan it out.”

The vetting process is extremely important, Groskopf said. One attempt to work with a local grower didn’t work—even though there was a contractual agreement—and the district and its processor were left scrambling to find an ingredient for a recipe. “They said they weren’t used to planting under contract, only what they wanted,” Groskopf said. “For large-scale needs, it’s about finding appropriate growers, farmers, distributors.”


Why is this a personal issue?

Berkenkamp: The IATP is national in scope, and therefore my observations the tone (nationally) has shifted in the last 18 to 24 months. Farm to School is becoming much more common—childhood obesity and nutrition has put the issue at the forefront, and people are realizing that kids need to have a connection with food, they need to know that “a chicken has bones.”

Groskopf: You can help matters globally by sourcing locally, such as reducing your carbon footprint. We’re going to use local carrots, rather than from California, so you’re eliminating that transportation distance.

Derouin: I grew up on a dairy farm, so I knew that a chicken had bones—I had to take care of them. And I want our students to know where their food comes from.

Wheeler: I’ve had a very positive experience with Farm to School, we name the farmer/grower on the menu, and some of the kids know the farmer. It also serves to make the parents aware of “why you don’t have watermelon on the menu in February.” We’ve also been contacted by other parts of the community—the Little Falls Hospital and WIC (Women, Infants & Children) Program to work with them.


Preventative maintenance

While some operators don’t subscribe to preventative maintenance programs because they want to save money, that philosophy is false. Gary Maus of 3M and Chuck Knuth of General Parts offered their experience from the manufacturing and foodservice perspectives, respectively. And when it comes to equipment maintenance, there really isn’t much difference between the two.

“Twenty percent to one-third of total repair costs (in foodservice) are emergency repairs,” Knuth said. Maus added that for the manufacturing industry, 15 percent of the maintenance budget is for emergency repairs, Maus added, “and we’re working to get that down.”

The message of the presentation was that scheduled preventative maintenance inspections can find and correct a problem before failure occurs. Particularly important are coolers and dishwashers operating at correct temperatures.

Keeping accurate maintenance records also saves money in the long run, data that can also tell you it no longer pays to repair a piece of equipment. Maus and Knuth discussed the “bathtub curve,” basically a flattened parabola that indicates the standard life cycle for most pieces of equipment. Maintenance is high in the beginning “start up” phase, after the equipment is installed and kinks worked out, which craters to a long “wealth cycle,” during which the equipment functions smoothly with only periodic, regular maintenance. Then the “breakdown cycle” begins, as pieces start to wear out, costs rise, and decisions need to be made on when to replace the equipment.

That curve, of course, is influenced by use and care of the equipment. “The life cycle of equipment can be broken into segments,” Knuth added. “A combi-oven in a school might last 20 years, that oven in a full-service restaurant might last five.”