Sodexo-Jackmont @ Atlanta Public Schools

Mardi Gras Customer Appreciation

2012-05-10T12:25:00.001-07:00

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude. The year's banquet was another grand success. Thank you to all of the employees who made it out to celebrate another school year coming to its completion, and thank you to all employees who take loving care to provide the students of Atlanta Public Schools a healthy and nutritious meal every day. To all the winners congratulation!

What’s Up with These New Trays?

2012-02-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

What’s Up with These New Trays?

You have probably asked your Operations Manager, the Chef and yourself this question, “what’s up with these new cafeteria trays” more than once since they have been implemented. Well there is a story behind the trays and I am going to share it with you all.

Two years ago, a Girl Scout troop at Mary Lin Elementary School decided they were going to go on a lunch strike as long as the school lunches were being served on a foam cafeteria tray. This sparked an initiative by the district to look into the option of purchasing an environmentally friendly lunch tray.

At the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, Sodexo-Jackmont, made a conscious decision, thanks to the support of our client, Atlanta Public Schools, to move from a foam cafeteria tray in schools, to a 100% bio-degradable tray. In all 89 of the schools, our meals are served on Savaday by Chinet molded fiber trays.

The new trays are made from a renewable source: 100% recycled paper fibers. There are also days when we serve our breakfast out of paper boats, which is also made from 100% recyclable material. These two options allows us to meet the needs of the students, the client and equally as important mother nature.

Currently we serve over nine million meals in a school year, which means we are keeping nine million foam trays out of the landfills. So next time you are asked, “What’s up with these new trays” your response should be: Sodexo-Jackmont and Atlanta Public Schools have chosen the right product for students and the environment. With every meal we serve we are helping to save the environment.

And that’s what’s up with these trays!

Written By. Noell Curry

Hutchinson Elementary Farm To Market

2011-12-01T06:33:00.002-08:00

Another successful “Farm To Market” event sponsored Sodexo-Jackmont at Atlanta Public Schools at Hutchinson Elementary School. This event focuses on informing students of the importance of protecting the environment, leading healthy lifestyles, and the life cycle of the local food environment.

Grass Feed Beef From "Happy Cows"

2010-12-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

On October 6, Sodexo- Jackmont served all Atlanta Public Schools (APS)a lunch featuring whole wheat penne pasta with meat sauce featuring Will Harris’ grass-fed beef that is grown and raised on White Oak Pastures farm in Bluffton, Georgia. This is an initiative on behalf of School Food Focus to raise awareness about how easy it would be for large school districts to source grass-fed and locally grown meats for more healthful meals.

As a result of this initiative, APS will be the first urban school district servicing 48,000 students to serve grass-fed beef. Over 3200 pounds of beef was purchased from Harris’ farm. Rancher Harris visited Burgess Peterson, Toomer Elementary, Mary Lin and Springdale Park to speak with students, staff and parents about his grass-fed beef and the benefits of sustainable, locally grown foods.

“This is a cause that is close to my heart, and I look forward to teaching children about the values of eating cattle that are raised the way nature intended,” says Harris. “Being able to provide premium quality beef that is healthy, nutritious and tasty for our city’s school system is truly an honor.”

Afterwards the response was overwhelming from parents and teachers both saying they purchased lunch or had it purchased for them. At one school I had a teacher say she had a student purchase lunch but the child was a vegetarian who wanted to support what Sodexo-Jackmont is striving to do in Atlanta Public Schools’ cafeteria.

Post By. Ashley Rouse

Pictures below feature Desmond Fannin and Ashley Rouse on their visit to White Oak Pastures farm in Bluffton, Georgia.

Toomer Elementary Farm To Market

2010-12-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

On October 20, 2010 we hosted our 3 Farm to Market event at Toomer Elementary. All 225 students rotated through 5 different stations highlighting the themes related to the well being of all of our students. The booths focused on nutrition, exercise, community, environment, and achievement, this event fully supports our mission to inspire life long healthy habits in the children we serve.

The Toomer field was transformed into a farm like atmosphere, featuring booths that promote locally- grown foods with a tasting of pumpkin pudding from Chef Praylani, a petting zoo featuring goats from Sun Dog Farms, nutritional talk ,rap and exercise with Mother Hen and Chickin Feed, students will interact with worms and learn the ends and out of composting. One of the booths focuses on all of Sodexo’s Well Being themes. It was with Robby Astrove, formerly of Trees Atlanta, lead the students in planting 6 fruit trees and 10 blueberry bushes that they will be able to harvest from as soon as next year. Thanks so much to all of the Sodexo- Jackmont employees and community partners who made this event a success.

Post By. Ashley Rouse

School Gardens By Student Hands

2010-12-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

Get your hands dirty for a great cause, the Sodexo-Jackmont team took part in the "Be The Change" day of community service event by visiting Bazoline Usher Elementary School and getting our hand dirty. This event was spear headed by fraternities and sororities at Georgia Tech several groups of volunteers visited different locations throughout the city to complete various charitable tasks to improve our community.

Post By. Omar Gunn

GOOD4U Healthy Meals Programs

2010-12-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

The GOOD4U healthy meals program is under way!!! This new and exciting program rewards students for making healthier choices when they visit the cafeteria. The program is so exciting that it has caught the attention of the Atlanta Falcons orgnazation who have partnered with Sodexo-Jackmont in implementing this program at Atlanta Public Schools. The pilot for this program kicked off at Brandon Elementary, Sarah Smith Elementary, and Jackson Elementary below are some are some pictures of the exciting event.

Post By. Omar Gunn

Click Pictures to Enlage......

Local Apples Served @ Atlanta Public Schools

2010-11-05T13:40:00.004-07:00

Local produce at Atlatna Public Schools by Sodexo. Localy grown apple are currently being served the the studetns of the Atlanta Public Schools.

Small, local farms are run by farmers who live on their land and work hard to preserve it. They protect open spaces by keeping land in agricultural use and preserve natural habitats by maintaining forest and wetlands. By being good stewards of the land, seeking out local markets, minimizing packaging, and harvesting food only when it is ready to consume, farmers can significantly reduce their environmental impact. In fact, studies show that sustainable agricultural practices can actually increase food production by up to 79% while at the same time actively reducing the effects of farming on climate change through carbon sequestration .. (via sustainabletable.org)

National School Lunch Week

2010-11-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

This is just an example of how eating healthy can be fun. Guest chefs visited Garden Hill Elementary to talk with students about how important is to take care of their bodies by eating right. Guest chefs and cafeteria staff members also exchanged ideas on different techniques to offering kid friendly healthy meals.