North Country This Week

PARISHVILLE — Students at Parishville Central School are seeing a huge improvement in school lunches following significant work from the Board of Education and the Reimagining School Lunch group.

Following a viral Facebook post last spring that was posted by Chris Vangellow, a father to multiple students in the district, school officials undertook a new initiative to update and improve the school lunch program.

A new cook and lunch manager were hired, with a totally new and redesigned menu put in place for the school year.

One of the primary focuses is on a farm-to-table initiative for the district.

Online comments have been overwhelmingly positive, with many parents and students alike complimenting the district on the quality of the meals.

Many also commented that the portion sizes have since improved significantly.

Coolers have also been rotated for students to see what lunch options are available before making a choice, posts say.

The comments came pouring in on Sept. 6 after the district posted a photo of that day’s lunch on the district’s Facebook page.

“Today’s main lunch choice was Chicken Fajita Bowl with Cilantro Lime Brown Rice, Cheesy Refried Beans, Fresh Assorted Fruit, and Milk. If your child chose to take all they were offered, this is what their tray may have looked like. Kudos to Chefs Taylor and Cory and the rest of the kitchen staff for preparing healthy meals for our students and staff,” the district wrote.

Another post on Sept. 7 showed a soup of the day which was created from leftovers of the previous day’s meal.

“School systems are a large part of food waste in the United States. We are trying very hard to reduce as much food waste as possible. We are working hard to implement a functional composting program and today we are doing an add on to our school lunch menu of chicken fajita soup that they can add to their buffalo chicken or cheese pizza,” the district wrote.

More parents and students offered their praise for the new initiative, complimenting the new staff on reducing food waste while offering new, quality meal options.