AUSTIN’S PRIMARY SCHOOLS ARE NO LONGER JUST SERVING FOOD, THEY’RE TEACHING IT

WORDS BY NATHAN MATTISE

Given all the diverse and exciting things happening in Austin dining these days, maybe it’s no surprise the same can be said for food initiatives across local schools in 2023, too.

Kealing Middle School in East Austin has had a successful traditional culinary arts program for a while now, notably winning AISD’s annual Sliced & Diced recipe development competition in 2022. That led to a Kealing student-created burrito appearing on menus across the district. But last year’s new program director and chef, Gloria Adriana, has built upon that interest with even more challenging culinary initiatives for her middle schoolers. They run a small catering operation that worked parent-teacher night last year and will handle two student art shows in the 2023–2024 school year. Their most ambitious upcoming project might be the one that calls for some occasional days to start at 6 a.m.

“Last year, my kids officially started practicing so we can formally start the BBQ team this year,” says Adriana. “My students have done pork chops, they’ve done waffles and chicken, they’ve done BBQ, grilled corn — all this amazing stuff. And they learned a whirlwind of things.”

Sliced and Diced at Kealing Middle School courtesy of AISD

This academic year, a team of Kealing students will become one of the few middle schools in the state to compete in the Texas High School BBQ competitions. Last year’s championships in Round Rock involved 90-plus teams competing after they each qualified by finishing in the top 10 of 11 different regional competitions. The prepared meals must break down across five judged categories — chicken, brisket, ribs, beans and dessert — and students take the lead on every detail, from starting the fire to picking the seasonings.

“The kids are fully in charge of what they present, you just kind of guide them — think about this, think about that. ‘OK, you’re going to smoke it? What temperature?’” says Adriana. “Some day, some of these kids will get recruited. ‘You want to come to Navarro? You had the most amazing BBQ, and we really enjoyed your technique and enthusiasm.’”

Developing new culinary skills isn’t the only exciting food initiative happening in Austin schools, though. Across Lake Travis ISD, for instance, students get a unique focus on nutrition through the lens of local produce. By leveraging some funding from the Dell Foundation, the district has partnered with the Sustainable Food Center to identify nearby farmers and regularly bring different fresh, local products into cafeteria offerings — like Greener Pastures Chicken from Elgin or True Harvest Farms and their hydroponic greens in Belton. The goal, says Lake Travis dietician and marketing coordinator Marissa Bell, is to try and bring in a new featured menu item each month and then build some educational programming around it.

Greener Pastures at Lake Travis High School

One big example was Lake Travis’ 2023 Earth Day meal. Since Greener Pastures serves a number of restaurants around Austin, Bell and the team were able to connect with chefs Iliana De la Vega and Ana Torrealba of El Naranjo. The chefs planned and prepared a special Chicken Tinga Taco meal for students last April using Greener Pastures’ products. Greener Pastures farmers came out to the cafeteria that day as well, so students interacted with both the pros who were raising the ingredients and those who were preparing them.

“I was out on the lunch line serving that day, and we had students coming back for thirds. They were saying it’s the best taco they have ever had, and it was exciting to see because you don’t usually see that enthusiasm about school food from the students,” says Bell. “I even had one girl come up to the lunch line, and she was jumping up and down shrieking, ‘Y’all are serving real food today, I can’t believe it, I’m so excited.’ She called it real food, which I thought was interesting.”

“These kids notice the quality and they value these things,” Bell continues, noting Lake Travis hopes to do events like this once a semester going forward. “It’s a new generation and they care about the impact this is all having on the future, and they care about what they put in their bodies.”

St. Stephen’s Lunar Celebration

Over at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, student-led food initiatives focus on inclusivity and sustainability. St. Stephen’s has more than 600 students in grades 6 through 12, with about 170 boarding students from 20 countries. “Food is a universal language, and we grow our community through the exchange and sharing of food. The objective is to give our residential community a small glimpse of their dorm mates’ life and cultural experiences,” says Gene Phillips, Jr., director of residential life & 12th grade sponsor. “Students plan the menus, lead the community in prayer in their language, and are allowed to share stories about where they live with the community. Understanding where one is from helps bridge the gap in intercultural communications.”

Working with organizations like the student government or the Green Goblins environmental club, the school has a robust composting program and recently added solar panel arrays. But for 2023, the newest project is a hydroponic garden directly in the cafeteria that can eventually be replicated and scaled up to produce herbs or vegetables for student meals.

“Luckily St. Stephen’s sustainability commitment has been there,” says senior Harrison Oddo, who is designing the garden and has been one of the students working on the school’s recent sustainability initiatives. “So it’s been super fun. It’s a little creativity with some environmentalism and sustainability in mind.”

As he currently works to finalize the design, Oddo hopes the garden will be up and running this school year. The project will ultimately also come with some sort of practical and educational guide — filled with ideas and information for educational programming as well as instructions for additional builds — so “hopefully people will be able to copy and paste this process and design a little bit,” he adds. And if that happens as planned, it will simply be the latest victory in St. Stephen’s students’ step-by-step approach to building a more sustainable campus.

Students at St. Stephen’s Lunar Celebration

About the Contributor

Journalist Nathan Matisse (@nathanmattise) is always working to perfect his sourdough bagels. He also enjoys bocce, amaro, road trips, and a good playlist.