Foreword

No childhood is complete without the memory of the cafeteria lunch lady. She was the underappreciated, and often feared, deliverer of a lunch of largely unknown origin. It wasn’t her fault that you suffered through five days of government cheese and hockey puck burgers. The school food supply chain has relied on heavily preserved food products for the purpose of long term storage and limited preparation costs. Now, there is a new approach to the school cafeteria food supply chain – the “Farm to School” (F2S) philosophy. Spearheading this new food philosophy is Chef Budd Cohen.

Chef Budd Cohen has dedicated his culinary career to promoting the connection between local farms and the cafeteria. His culinary ingenuity and ability to build relationships with farmers is transforming the culinary landscape in schools. In this book, Chef Budd uses his culinary journey to instruct other chefs, food service directors, administrators and all interested parties about how to alter their culinary journey, rerouting them to the local farm community.

This book fills a void in the culinary arts by outlining, in detail, the steps necessary to connect your school to a network of local farmers and farm cooperatives that will supply you with farm fresh produce and meats to introduce new tastes, fresh ingredients, and higher nutritional value to your school meals.

Chef Budd’s enthusiasm, cheerful personality, and motivational approach to the Farm to School movement have transformed many schools across Pennsylvania and Delaware. In this book, he has designed and perfected the instruction manual for a cafeteria conversion to healthier farm-sourced ingredients, while supporting your local community and economy.

Foreword by Dr. Timothy Lynch, Science Teacher at William Penn Charter School and Researcher at University of Pennsylvania