Annual Conference
Conference Session
2013-11-16
"Change the Food, Change Everything! The changing role of School Food Service"Key Areas: Communications and Marketing
Session: Session C - Saturday, November 16th: 8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
- Mesquite B
Speaker(s): Laurie Ongaro Zerga - Founder/Consultant, CHEF-K
Anna Fisher - Director, Food and Nutrition Services, Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Suzanne Bernhard, MPH - Supervisor, Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Objectives: Our objective is to share a collaboration between school food service and community groups as a template for enlisting positive change within the district. Participants will hear about ways to take community input and get everyone going in the same direction.
Description: To people outside our industry school food often evokes images of lunch ladies in hair nets serving mystery meals. We know otherwise. School meals are constantly changing to keep up with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To meet USDA updated meal patterns, School Food Service changed in 2012. What is needed to help kids make healthier choices? School Food Service has the opportunity to drive positive changes. Early results of an intervention in a Northern California school district look good. A small team is collaborating to develop sustainable changes that can be repeated at any school district. They're serving up positive changes within the existing system and communicating the message. Learn to communicate the new role of Food Service that leverages community support and develops educational tools.
Speaker Bio(s):
Laurie Ongaro Zerga - CHEF-K
Speaker Bio:
Laurie Ongaro Zerga, founder of CHEF-K, established a national company to bring nutritionally sound programs to children, teens, and families by teaching lifelong healthy eating habits. She has developed and implemented culinary curriculum and trainer programs listed in USDA libraries. Clients include youth organizations from Boys and Girls Clubs to the US Military. Formerly an executive at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc, she is a public speaker, and has written two parent-child books on healthy food for the pre-school age group. She brings together her personal passion, corporate, and educational experience to schools and non-profits by consulting that adds the business link to community change through healthy food and training interventions.
Anna Fisher - Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Speaker Bio:
Anna Fisher is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Mt. Diablo Unified School District. She is a Registered Dietitian with experience as a clinical dietitian where she worked to develop the hospital's first Wellness Program in the 1980's. She has worked in school food service for 19 years starting in the school kitchens.
Suzanne Bernhard, MPH - Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Speaker Bio:
Suzanne Bernhard received her MPH from San Jose State University. She has been a Supervisor for secondary schools at Mt. Diablo Unified School District's Food and Nutrition Services since 2008. She began in School Food Service in 1998 as Berkeley's first Organic Fruit and Salad Bar Coordinator. Her first love is nutrition education, and collaborating with the Wellness City Challenge provided an opportunity to work in that area.
Upcoming CSNA Events
November 13-16, 202472nd Annual Conference
April 6-8, 2025
Legislative Action Conference
May 4-6, 2025
Child Nutrition & Industry Summit
