Blog – Innovation Food Services and On-Call Meal Solutions

Check out Chat Lane each week as our President Thomas Lane shares insights into the school meal provider industry.

May 16, 2022

Summer Fun Overshadowed by Food Access and Insecurity

As the warmer months approach and the school year draws to a close, parents and students alike long for the freedom summer vacation brings. Unfortunately, this time of year can also be bittersweet for families that rely on free or reduced lunch during the school year. For nine months out of the year, many families’ reliance on breakfast and lunch eaten at school represents thousands of dollars in savings. For many though, this benefit ceases to exist during the summer months.

May 4, 2021

The Overlooked Essential Workers

During this pandemic, one of the most overlooked and critical essential workers have been those working within the school food service sector. Although often stereotyped as a scowling, hairnet wearing individuals who slop food onto trays, nothing could be further from the truth!

April 5, 2021

Who’s The Boss?

Should the business owner always be the highest paid person at his or her company? Are there situations where the answer is “yes” and some where it is “no”? Or is it more of a philosophical or company culture sort of thing? Every business owner is unique. They might have similar drives, dreams, or goals, but there are different factors in her/his background that are what motivate them and fuel the entrepreneurial fire.

March 25, 2021

It’s Time To Define ‘Working Poor’

When expressing myself to others, both in life and in writing, I try to follow the wisdom afforded to me by the 1996 movie Sleepers. “No religion, no politics”. So, although some hot button political issues currently surround the minimum wage in our nation, this blog does not support the issue of one side or another. Its intent instead, is to celebrate a critical and often overlooked sector of our economy, the working poor.

March 17, 2021

Pride and the Small Business

Does pride have a place in small business? That seems like a simple question. Yes, of course it does. It is okay to take pride in what you accomplish and celebrate it. Right? Or, is there another side of pride all small business owners need to be wary about?

February 8, 2021

To SAVE or to SUPPLEMENT; That’s the Question

Making 2 meals out of 1.

As managers we are taught to “be friendly, but not friends”. And, this is very wise advice. At its core, it means to be nice and be kind to your employees. It also means it is okay to consider them holistically as an individual person, to know the goals and challenges in their lives. This information allows you insight into them that will enable you to get the most out of her or him and help them get the most out of themselves. But, that is where the line is clearly drawn. Once things cross into friendship, your objective ability to manage that person is lost and they, on the other hand, lose their sense of boundaries.

January 29, 2021

Clean Label, Organic School Meals? Let’s Chat

If you have to pick between feeding a child what they like or what is good for them, which do you choose? This is a question that not only comes up often in our homes but also often in our schools. And, until “like” and “good for you” are one and the same, it is a question that will continue for years to come. But, especially with school food, it still leaves us with difficult choices to make.

January 22, 2021

Let’s Talk About the Stigma With Pick-up Programs

Growing up poor is hard in a lot of ways. From personal experience though, the hardest part might be the social stigmas it carries and the scars they leave behind. From WIC to Food Stamps to Community Meals, each program that helps feed you also hurts your soul a little. For me, it happened more than once while getting a Free School Lunch. It was usually six words spoken by the kids behind me in line. “Why doesn’t he have to pay?” How do you answer that question as an eight-year-old?

January 15, 2021

School Nutrition, Let’s Talk About It

It seems like a pretty basic assumption, but do students that have access to nutritious meals benefit from a higher level of mental health? Countless studies definitively demonstrate a direct link between a student’s academic performance and their level of food insecurity. But, can the child’s wellbeing as a person be separated from the child’s wellbeing as a student?