BUSD Profile

Berkeley Unified School District
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94704-1180

www.berkeley.k12.ca.us

Superintendent
Michelle Lawrence

Number of Schools
16

  • 1 high school
  • 3 middle schools
  • 12 elementary schools

Number of Students
9500

Food Service Director
Ann Cooper

Food Service Contractor or Self-Operational?
Self-Operational

Partner Agencies, if any

  • Chez Panisse Foundation
  • Children’s Hospital Oakland
  • Center for Ecoliteracy

Number of Students served each day

  • Breakfast: 4000
  • Lunch: 4500
  • Snacks: 2500

Percentage Free and Reduced Meals
41%

Participation Rate (among all students)
40%

Price per Lunch

  • Elementary School: $3.00
  • Middle School: $3.50
  • High School: $4.00

Price of other meals/snacks

  • Breakfast: Universal (free)
  • Snacks: no charge

Percent Food Cost
30%

Percent Payroll Cost
60%

School Food Mission Statement
Our vision is to feed and teach children to prepare nourishing, tasty and sustainably grown food; empowering them to make choices that have a positive influence on their personal health, family, community and surrounding environment.

Percentage of lunch allotment to which school utilizes seasonal, local, natural and organic products
25%

Sample Menu for lunch/breakfast/snacks

  • Lunch: Chicken or cheese tamales, black beans, white and brown rice, broccoli
  • Breakfast: Granola, Organic 1% milk, Seasonal Fruit
  • Snack: Granola bar with apple juice

Description of Current Food Service Operation (Choice/Family style/cafeteria style)
Cafeteria

Is the food service part of a centralized food distribution program or made in school itself?
One central kitchen.

Description of School Gardens, if any
We have 13 garden and cooking programs district wide. This initiative is supported by the California Nutrition Network.

Description of Classroom Curricula related to food
In the CNN program we follow their curricula, in the academic classrooms we're piloting the LIFE curricula.

Description of Recycling and Composting Programs
We have programs in most of our schools - all at differing levels of accomplishment.

10 Most Significant Improvements Made in the Last 24 Months to serve healthy food.

  1. Began serving free Universal Breakfast in all schools
  2. Introduced salad bars in all schools
  3. Removed soda and candy machines
  4. Eliminated all products with transfats and high fructose corn syrup
  5. Switched to organic milk and hormone-free and anti-biotic free meat
  6. Introduced grass-fed hamburgers and hot dogs
  7. Replaced canned fruits and vegetables with fresh
  8. Began cooking from scratch for all schools
  9. Increased the use of local, seasonal foods from sustainable farms
  10. Combined the food service and cooking and gardening programs into one department

What is something we didn't ask you about your program that you are dying to tell someone?
That it can be done