Vision
The s’Cool Food Initiative envisions the children of Santa Barbara County making healthy food choices throughout their lives.
Mission
The Mission of the s’Cool Food Initiative is to empower school districts in Santa Barbara County to implement and sustain nourishing cook-from-scratch food programs by:
Providing education and training opportunities for school communities
- Intensive culinary workshops, in-service training, and ongoing professional development programs are coupled with food systems education to empower food service staff and facilitate change in their programs. In parallel, students form a personal relationship with real foods through hands on cooking and gardening experiences on their own campuses.
Assisting with the establishment of local procurement systems
- A healthy school food culture supports and is supported by local agriculture. Connecting cafeterias with our community’s farms ensures fresh and healthy produce, and avoids the heavy cost of long-distance distribution. The s’Cool Food Initiative assists Food Service Directors and their staff in identifying and purchasing local produce.
Providing strategic resources.
- Whether its consult on commodities ordering , menu planning, kitchen redesigning, or HACCP plan creation, the s’Cool Food Initiative is committed to supporting school districts as they make progress towards implementing cooked-from-scratch meal preparation.
Increasing public awareness of the links between real food and health
- The s’Cool Food Initiative promotes events and educational opportunities that educate the public about food system issues and related topics. The changes in school menus can also be reflected in the food system of the community at large, and an understanding of the need for this change encourages action.
Working for national level reform
- Galvanizing local and national resources spreads school food reformation beyond our county’s limits and engages an ever widening range of individuals and organizations. Dispersal of the Initiative’s best practices and general roadmap will pave the way for others as they join the movement towards more healthful school food for every one of our nation’s students.
