Across the whole Geisinger Health system, foodservice has been getting “lighter and leaner” as the team’s worked to streamline its inventory and standardize offerings, Senior Director of Foodservice Steve Cerullo says.

Changes like these are largely the result of a mindset shift that’s been underway at the Pennsylvania operation in recent months.

“One of the directions I’ve given to my team is that the pandemic actually gave us an opening to look forward and to create new things that we should be doing, things that kind of work out better for us instead of the historical question of, ‘Oh, when do we get back to normal?’” Cerullo says.

On this episode of “Dig In,” Cerullo shares how he asked team members to “completely flip the script” and reimagine what’s possible.

At Fallbrook Union High School District in Fallbrook, Calif., a switch to bulk meal service helped the dining team up menu variety, keep labor in check and significantly boost meal participation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a huge win-win,” says Director of Food Services Judi Reynolds, noting that participation "has almost doubled" since the team began serving items in bulk.

In addition, “doing a whole pineapple, a whole cantaloupe, a honeydew melon, it was very cost effective because we didn’t have to do anything with it other than order it, serve it and pay for it,” she says.

On this episode of “Dig In,” Reynolds shares how her team adapted during the last year and hopes to bring some lessons learned into the future.

Faced with the prospect of staff layoffs, the foodservice team at Shasta College in Redding, Calif., changed course and began offering grocery boxes, meal kits and more to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis. And Denise Axtell, director of food services at the rural community college, oversaw this shift.

On this episode of “Dig In,” Axtell explains how her team remained student centered while finding new ways to bring revenue into the program.

On this episode of "Dig In," FSD Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Nash narrates "Making farm-to-school accessible for all," an article written by Gingerella and published on Jan. 12.

When the coronavirus really took hold in the U.S. last March, Legacy Retirement Communities in Lincoln, Neb., went from serving a handful of room service meals each day to 2,100—making the switch in a span of just six hours.

After Legacy Retirement Communities shut down its dining rooms amid COVID-19, Robert Darrah and his team wanted to bring back some flavor of pre-pandemic dining. Here’s how they did it. 

Like districts nationwide, Lee's Summit R-7 School District in Lee's Summit, Mo., could not have foreseen the rollercoaster ride that 2020 would have in store. Nutrition Director Lori Danella shares how her team persevered through a year unlike any that came before it and found the willpower and resources to continue service, providing a record 225,000 meals in October.