Catering to almost 1600 students a day, across five different schools, the North Shore cafeteria staff has been hard at work this school year, so that each student is properly fed so they can continue on with their learning.
From 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. cafeteria staff are working tirelessly to make sure that every student is able to retrieve a balanced meal throughout the day. Alan Levin, the food service director for the district, says that staff members are making meals throughout each period to make sure every student is receiving the freshest food they can.
“During the day we are cooking as needed but we pretty much cook in between every period to make sure that kids are getting the hottest and the freshest food possible,” Levin said. “Most meals we are making as the day goes on, but there are some that we marinate and prepare the night before to give it some extra flavor.”
The cafeteria is open for breakfast in the middle and high school before the first period even begins. Breakfast continues on until the first lunch period around 10:00 a.m. Levin says that each member of the staff is working throughout the morning to make sure that breakfast and lunch are prepared properly for the students.
The school goes through various farms upstate to make sure they are getting the freshest chicken and ground beef products. Levin also talked about how the school makes sure to get fresh lettuce and vegetable products.
“Most of my lettuce and herbs comes from a company called Gotham Greens, they are a year-round greenhouse, we receive fresh deliveries weekly from them,” Levin said. “We also get our chicken and ground beef products from fresh farms in the Binghamton and Albany area that are regularly delivered to us and we make all of the sauces and marinates for those in-house.”
“I have a handful of people come in at 6:30 a.m. to start preparing breakfast and make sure all the lines are stocked for the students before they come in, sometimes well have over a hundred transactions before the first bell rings,” Levin said. “Lunch starts at 10:30 in the high school so also in those four hours while breakfast is being served there are people preparing salads, cold cuts and lunches to make sure we are ready for that first lunch period.”
Levin talked about how there is no set number of meals prepared each day and that the staff responds to the demand of the lunch items. Basma Hanafy, the head chef at the high school, said that there is a lot of preparation and communication in the kitchen each day to make sure every student is able to get a meal.
“There is a lot of communication and a lot of preparing that goes on back there. We do everything from scratch and we only have a few hours each day to get things done so it is important to be organized,” Hanafy said. “It is important for me to be on time and serve these kids because I know that they have a certain amount of time to have a lunch before they have to go back to class and I want them to enjoy their food.”
Levin oversees all five schools in the district and is responsible for designing customized menus for each school to meet the specific needs of its students. Levin says that he likes to create a new menu for each month that try to expand the students palates as they grow older.
“The menu is written by month and usually I like to get all the products for the meals and then get the menu out to the public about a week before the new month starts,” Levin said. “The high school menu is totally different than the middle and elementary schools. I like to keep it more kid friendly for the younger schools and then as they get older, we add things like carne asada, chicken souvlaki and, turkey for the more expanded palate of an older child.”
Hanafy, who has been the head cook at the high school for the past five years, says that she enjoys being able to cook everything her way and enjoys being able to interact and provide for the students every day.
“I cook everything from scratch and I take my time and prepare everything either the night before or the during the day and I always try and make it perfect even if I have to throw it all away and start again,” Hanafy said. “Everything is made with love and it makes me so happy when I see that the students enjoy the food.”
