LONE TREE, Iowa (KCRG) - Budget cuts are forcing schools across Iowa to get creative when it comes to putting food on the table for their students.Erik Isenhour is the Lone Tree School District’s food service director.This year, he and his kitchen staff have made a big transition, they’re cutting a lot of pre packaged meals and ingredients.“What we did is we swapped those out for more lasagna, beef stroganoff, beef tacos, just because the cost is so much cheaper,” Isenhour said.Lone Tree ex...
LONE TREE, Iowa (KCRG) - Budget cuts are forcing schools across Iowa to get creative when it comes to putting food on the table for their students.
Erik Isenhour is the Lone Tree School District’s food service director.
This year, he and his kitchen staff have made a big transition, they’re cutting a lot of pre packaged meals and ingredients.
“What we did is we swapped those out for more lasagna, beef stroganoff, beef tacos, just because the cost is so much cheaper,” Isenhour said.
Lone Tree expected to receive around $20,000 in federal grant money this year, but those grants got cut.
To save money, his team turned to homemade meals. A cheaper alternative but more time-consuming for Isenhour and his staff.
“I’m lucky to have a great staff. It’s a lot on my lunch ladies and they all rock it,” Isenhour said. “It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of buy in.”
Thursday Isenhour served beef tacos, and his staff cooked all the meat that morning, in previous years it would’ve been pre-cooked.
He said the students are noticing the extra effort.
“I think students are starting to see what we’re doing. One of the students asked ‘are you cooking all that meat from scratch’, it’s like yeah, we do this everyday,” Isenhour said.
In the first month of the school year, Isenhour said the meals aren’t just saving costs, they’re getting more students to eat school lunch.
He said last year, the school typically served between 250 and 275 students on any given day, and this year it’s serving between 300 and 325 each day.
The other day we served beef stroganoff, a lot of the students came through and said ‘this reminds me of something my mom would make at home’. That’s what we’re really trying to get to, things that they recognize, things that they like and enjoy," Isenhour said.
What started as a way for the school district to save on costs after losing grant money has quickly turned into a way to get better, healthier foods to students in the district.