Local food services team dishes up miracles, day after day

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 28, 2022

On any given weekday, Vashon Island School District’s Food Services team, led by Lisa Cyra, operates the largest restaurant on Vashon, feeding 700-900 students for two meals a day.

This means she deals with the exact same issues facing many households across the community today: unpredictable availability of ingredients, overall rising food costs, and, sometimes, a few picky eaters.

“We do it out of love,” said Cyra. “We have kids come into our lunchrooms at all the schools, and we work so they feel warm, safe, cared for, recognized, and beyond that, we want them to learn in the lunchroom too.”

To accomplish education in the lunchroom, the VISD Food Services team works each day to do something few districts across the state accomplish: serve all their food made from scratch.

That means on pizza days, Cyra is in the kitchen, getting the dough going at 4:30 am. It means chicken shawarma days, a rather popular lunch entree, that requires days of prep work by the Food Services team in making marinades, hummus, tzatziki, and all the components for the dish.

“I want students to experience food they aren’t familiar with,” explained Cyra. “Some kids have never had freshly made bread or a soup made from scratch. They haven’t eaten chicken off of a bone. I know for some students, branching out like that is scary. But when you see it every day, every year, it helps you become a better eater.”

It is a bold endeavor the District embarked on nearly a decade ago.

Most food services programs in districts across the state rely solely on commodities, which consist of foods such as the square pizza, reheated hamburgers, chicken nuggets, and other meals many remember from their days in public school.

As Cyra explained, one main reason other districts employ this strategy is two-fold. First, state-purchased commodities are inexpensive. Second, and most important, state law requires a school district’s food service program to be revenue neutral.

When Cyra works out the month’s menu, she aims for a variety, while keeping in mind the complexities of feeding so many students: allergies, labor required, and, especially as of late, cost. The costs of raw products her team uses each day have risen dramatically. For reference, a case of butter used to cost $30. Today, it costs $190.

“Sometimes I feel like I can’t squeeze it anymore, and yet, we are,” said Cyra. “We are constantly adjusting to offset costs. I am still tweaking every day. I’m really good at it, that is my job.”

Unfortunately, the cost of supplies and increase in staffing costs have impacted the Food Services Program in the same ways many families on Vashon are feeling the pinch. In order to keep the quality and local sourcing of food possible, while maintaining the revenue-neutral program, the VISD Board likely will review meal prices and other efficiencies to reduce expenditures with a potential decision in early 2023.

Cyra and her team have already put a few measures in place to address costs. Pizza Wednesdays, a predictably popular choice amongst the student body, is a low overhead and low labor meal. The Food Services team has also introduced Chef’s Choice each Friday, allowing them to use food not served earlier in the week to help keep costs down as well.

The success is in the numbers. On any given day, more than 50% of VISD students are eating meals created and cooked by the Food Services team. Cyra says with each year, more students are consistently eating VISD lunches.

“My team is amazing and all of this success is the product of their hard work,” said Cyra. “They are in all three buildings, creating connections with students, and the proof is in the numbers. We have more kids eating our food than most districts in the state.”

Vashon’s distinctive food services program is a community endeavor. Many of the vegetables seen daily in the salad bar are grown up the street from the high school, at Matsuda Farms. All of the food waste generated by the program is delivered to feed pigs at a couple of farms on the island.

Cyra hopes to continue to expand the Food Services program in ways that highlight these local connections, perhaps taking students to Matsuda Farm as part of a field trip or finding ways to continue to highlight how real food is brought to their plates every day.

“Our community should know that our program isn’t just breakfast and lunch,” said Cyra.

“Our team is feeding the whole child. Vashon students have the experience of coming to school and feeling cared for and learning the whole day. Education doesn’t stop in the classroom when the lunch bell rings. It is the entire day.”