Overview

Welcome to Poudre School District’s Child Nutrition Department

All lunches and breakfasts offered in Poudre School District are nutritious, safe and balanced meals that exceed all federal and USDA nutritional guidelines to promote healthy lifestyles.  Customers are offered a daily variety of foods prepared fresh daily that are high in whole grains, fresh produce and include local low-fat hormone free milk.  Poudre School District is one of a three Colorado districts that actively participates in a Farm to School Program.  This program allows us to connect with local Colorado farms to provide fresh, safe and healthy produce in all of our schools.  The Farm to School Program also provides agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities and supports local and regional farmers.

Student wellness and achievement starts with nutrition.  Well-nourished students perform better in the classroom.  That is why Poudre School District is dedicated to providing healthy, nutritious servings in all school cafeterias.  We are a leader in K-12 food service with our district wide operations.  We are constantly partnering with customers, manufactures and other school districts to create and provide our students with fresh, delicious and nutritious meals, including lunch, school breakfast in the cafeterias, classrooms and grab-and-go selections. The district works directly with students, school administrators, and parent/teacher organizations to help create the best learning environment for students.

School meals are well-balanced, healthy meals that are required to meet science-based federal nutrition standards.   Every school lunch includes choices that meet the USDA’s My Plate (www.choosemyplate.gov) guidelines that encourage every family member to make smart choices from every food group, find balance between food and physical activity, and stay within daily calories needs.  Federal nutrition standards for school meals are currently being updated as the USDA released proposed nutrition standards including new calorie and sodium limits, larger fruit and vegetable weekly serving sizes.  PSD continues to be proactive in increasing the nutritional value of meals while actively reducing the amount of processing in foods by working with the USDA on their offered Commodity Foods, manufactures and implementing new recipes. 

Poudre School District meal programs are under National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs which require every school meal offer a choice of milk as an option.  Flavored milk continues to be a popular choice for students and has proven to increase participation in healthy school meal programs.  While some have expressed concerns about the small amounts of added sugars in the specially formulated fat-free chocolate milk that is now served along with low-fat plain milk, scientific studies prove that children who drink low-fat flavored milk meet more of their nutrition needs, do not consume more added sugar or fat and it does not contribute to childhood obesity rates compared to children who do not drink milk.  Plain low-fat milks also contain sugars.  The American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association, have proclaimed their support for flavored and plain, low fat and fat-free milk options in schools to help students meet their daily nutritional needs. 

Poudre School District students have access to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and families with incomes at or below 185% of the poverty level are eligible for the same nutritious meals at free or reduced price meals.  Fort Collins is not a community that has been able to avoid the worldwide economic down turn.  Nearly one-third of students in Poudre School District qualifies for free or reduced price meals.  For too many in the community, these are the only nutritious or complete meals they will receive.  Applications for free or reduced meals are mailed to every PSD household each August and are available daily by contacting the Child Nutrition office (970) 490-3557.  PSD partners with backpack food programs, Larimer County Food Bank programs and we run a Summer Feeding Program to help to make sure children don’t go hungry outside the normal school day.

Poudre School District nutrition professionals are trained to care for the children they serve.  Through strict food safety procedures and staff training, school nutrition professionals maintain a superior safety record while providing nutritious meals to thousands of children every day. 

Poudre School District lunches provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and calcium among other standards.  All these requirements must be achieved within the framework of a budget.  In the face of all the requirements and hard work, school nutritional professionals use their creativity to make the cafeteria a fun and welcoming place all year long.  In most PSD cafeterias, school nutrition employees move hundreds of students through the lunch line with only a few seconds to ensure each student is served a nutritious meal, assist students with choices and ring up each meal in enough time for them to meet the lunch time requirements.  Next time you visit your child’s school cafeteria, consider thanking the people working in the kitchens.

Parents know that kids need a little encouragement to take the first taste of an unfamiliar meal, fruit or vegetable.  As Poudre School District meal programs continue to expand produce options, whole grain selections and reduce processed items, we work to find ways to educate children to choose healthier options at school and at home.  Nutrition education has always been an important part of classrooms, but in recent years, schools have gotten even more creative in teaching children the importance of healthy lifestyle choices.  Initiatives ranging from school gardens (www.psdschools.org/school-resources/school-wellness/school-gardens), farm to plate field trips, classroom projects and recipe contests continue to grow in PSD. 

Parent involvement is essential in educating students of healthy balances.  PSD encourages parents to review monthly menus, plan meals with their child and encourage trying new menu items. No meal program or menu can meet the needs of all families but PSD is working to meet the needs of more families.   Nutritional information for all meals is posted online on the menu page and the district works with families with special diets and allergies to ensure a safe environment (www.psdschools.org/school-resources/student-services/health-services).  Parents can also access their student’s meal accounts to review what meal choices are being made at school, receive account balance alerts or make payments (www.mealpaymentsolutions.com).  There is a $1.00 transaction fee for payments made on this website.

Poudre School District encourages parents to have lunch with their child in school cafeterias to see the eating environment at their schools.   PSD lunches feature a fruit and vegetable offering bar, reduced-fat versions of traditional favorites – like pizza with low-fat cheese and whole grain crust.  If you go with an open mind, you may be surprised how cafeteria offerings have changed since you were a student and even in the past months. 

When it comes to food and exercise, parents are the most important role models for their children.  America’s obesity epidemic is not restricted to its school aged children, so it’s important for families to monitor their eating and exercise choices away from the school day as well.  Many educational resources are available in the district and community to help to make wellness a family lifestyle.  Feel free to contact our department with any questions, comments or concerns about school meals (www.psdschools.org/department/child-nutrition) or call (970) 490-3557.

Thank you for your continued support of nutritious meals for Poudre School District children.

Contact Food Services

Child Nutrition
1502 S Timberline Road
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Director:  Craig Schneider