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The Santa Ana Unified School District served nearly 9 million meals in the 2021-22 school year. -
SAUSD’s Saddleback High School’s kitchen serves as its prototype for all of its production kitchens. -
The school district has plans to eventually serve items that are all made from scratch with the exception of milk. -
SAUSD’s Saddleback High School kitchen serves oat muffins.
Students at public schools across California can continue to receive at least two free meals a day at school this 2022-23 school year, thanks to a state initiative launched during the pandemic.
Under the state’s Universal Meals Program, all public school students in grades TK-12, regardless of their parents’ income, are eligible for free breakfast and lunch.
Nearly seven years ago, the Santa Ana Unified School District began its own district-wide universal meals program, under the Community Eligibility Provision. The district served nearly 9 million meals during the 2021-22 school year and it expects to provide a similar figure for 2022-23.
“All students, regardless of eligibility, are offered breakfast and lunch daily at no charge,” said Josh Goddard, Santa Ana Unified’s director of nutrition services. “We also offer snacks and suppers at no charge for students participating in qualifying programs such as full-day preschool and after-school enrichment activities.”
In the summer of 2021, the school district built a brand new kitchen and cafeteria at Saddleback High School with a vision of an all-scratch school meals program, where all of its menu would be made from scratch with the exception of cow’s milk.
The new kitchen and equipment has allowed the nutrition services team to introduce menu items such as birria, carnitas, buffalo cauliflower with hummus and butternut squash chili verde with curtido.
“As you can tell from the selections, we are creating a menu focused on and inspired by our rich local Latinx culture,” said Josh. “The response from students, parents and staff has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Starting this week, the district launched “plant-based Wednesdays” to reduce its environmental impact and increase menu inclusivity, as these menus can be enjoyed by a growing number of students who follow a primarily plant-based diet.
Every public school student in California will be automatically enrolled in the state’s Universal Meal Program, and parents will not need to submit a free or reduced price meal application.
