Hartford Union High School Joins the Back to Scratch Movement

On February 23rd, Sustainable|Kitchens added another school district to its roster of clients. This time in Hartford, WI, the second largest city in Washington County. Hartford Union High School, home to some 1300 students has strong leadership and a high level of organization.

It also boasts high student satisfaction and a state of the art kitchen. You may wonder then-- why, with such a strong foundation, HUHS would even need to work with Sustainable|Kitchens. In reality, these types of operations are the best candidates for back-to-scratch projects. Despite having many of the essential building blocks in place, the operation is looking to elevate offerings by eliminating most processed items, expanding staff culinary skills and to work more efficiently.

"The goal of this project," said Charlotte Litjens, S|K Project Manager "is to increase participation and revenue." With an eye turned toward the future, Monica Glorioso, the district food service director sat down with the S|K team to kick the project off on March 2nd. With an aggressive timeline of just three months to make some significant changes to the offerings, the group discussed menu items that might need to be updated. Looking to some of the sauces and condiments as a starting point, a list of staple menu items were identified to begin crafting new, healthy scratch versions of.

This is just the first phase of what S|K hopes to be a longer project that would re-launch for the 2018 school year. Glorioso has big dreams, not just to elevate offerings and enhance the student dining experience but to implement sustainability programs and take advantage of local produce.

With the full support of the school board and growing excitement among students, HUHS is poised to provide a new brand of fresh, healthy and vibrant school lunch!