PHOTO GALLERY: Central Kitchen Brings Mediterranean Menu to School Nutritionists

School chefs from around the region are getting a taste of the mediterranean at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) new Central Kitchen. The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division teamed up with the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) to bring school nutrition professionals together for a day of training and scratch cooking.

“This is all a big effort for doing more Farm-to-School work,” explains Rafael Juarez, Senior Director of Food and Nutrition Services at KCSOS. “We’re providing the opportunity for staff to get some information on Farm-to-School and then work with a specific cuisine and handle that local fresh product.”

Chef Brandon McDearis walked students through the process of creating a mediterranean meal from scratch, including meat and vegetable staples such as kofta and baba ghanoush, homemade hummus, and baked pita chips, all keeping student nutrition in mind. KCSOS internal staff, district chefs, and kitchen leaders from outside Kern County came to participate in the training. Juarez hopes to hold more training sessions at the Central Kitchen to promote sustainability, locally-sourced food, and scratch cooking.

“That’s exactly what the new Central Kitchen is intended for, not only to provide the meals for our students that we serve, but also so that we can facilitate these trainings and make it a centralized location for school district professionals,” he said.