Why Cooking up Change Inspires School Food Provider Aramark

November 14, 2017 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign

Kristin Busche, the Culinary Nutrition Director at Aramark, has the very important job of working to understand what students want to eat and making it happen in schools. That’s why she’s so excited to be a judge at Cooking up Change this year.

For Busche, Cooking up Change is an opportunity to see the creativity of student chefs on display, and she says recipes designed by students come with a lot of credibility. One of the most exciting aspects of Cooking up Change is that the winning meal is served to all Chicago Public Schools students. In order to make that happen, Aramark dietitians work with student chefs during the development phase to make sure these recipes can be adapted in schools.

Cooking up Change recipes prove that it’s possible to create school meals that meet higher nutrition standards and that students want to eat. While it was once a challenge to find items that met the higher nutrition standards set out by 2010’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, Busche has seen the marketplace change firsthand. “Many of the changes related to whole grain and sodium are now the standard in the K-12 marketplace,” she says. “As our students develop increasingly more sophisticated palates they are forcing the marketplace to adjust even further as it relates to flavor profiles, allergies and other meal offerings such as vegetarian.”

The sophisticated palates of our Cooking up Change chefs will be on full display on Nov. 16 as they present their creative dishes to our panel of judges. We’re honored to have Busche as a judge and as a partner to help us bring the winning meal to all CPS students.

If you’re in Chicago, join us on Nov. 16 to see just how meaningful this experience is. You’ll be able to chat with the student chefs, taste their incredible food and celebrate with us as we announce the winners. If you’re not in Chicago, you can still support Cooking up Change by making a donation and purchasing grand raffle tickets.

Thank you to all our supporters, including Chicago Presenting Sponsor, Aramark; Heroes, Aetna and Sammons Financial Group; Champion Sponsor, School Health Corporation; Culinary Scholarship sponsor, Washburne Culinary Institute; Official beverage partner, Goose Island; and Official Education Partner, Chicago Public Schools CTE Culinary Arts Program. We’d also like to thank our National Sponsors: Gold Supporter, Newman’s Own Foundation; Official Travel Partner, Southwest; Official Culinary Partner, James Beard Foundation; and National Silver level sponsor, American Federation of Teachers.