A second-year nutrition services employee at Greeley-Evans School District 6 will spend the next 13 months spicing up his knowledge of school nutrition through a fellowship program.
The Chef Ann Foundation selected Aaron Shipp, an area supervisor for District 6 Nutrition Services, for its 2024 Healthy School Food Pathway Fellowship. The nonprofit selected 24 experienced school food professionals from across the nation with a commitment to “driving healthy, sustainable and equitable school food reform,” according to a news release from the Chef Ann Foundation.
Selected after an application process, Shipp feels thrilled and fortunate for the fellowship opportunity that will expand his horizons on the ins and outs of school nutrition.
“This program was meant for me,” he said
Shipp, who worked at Walmart for 20 years, came to District 6 two years ago to work in the warehouse. He then moved up to his current role. Daily, Shipp goes to a handful of schools across the district to help with lunch duties while getting to know the students, working with his team and loving a job where he can be a people person.
“I’m proud to be a lunch lady,” Shipp said. “This is my forever job.”
The program, in its second year, cultivates school food reform leaders. For 13 months, Shipp and other fellows will learn about how school food is influenced by and affects the wider national food system, become experts on healthy school food policy and expand their professional network, the release said.
“Fellows were able to successfully expand scratch-cooked menus, develop school food workforce training programs, increase local food sourcing, work with students to ensure their diverse needs were represented across menus and so much more,” Chef Ann Foundation CEO Mara Fleishman said in the release.
Shipp said there’s so much to learn from the fellowship because of how much time, care and knowledge goes into providing a delicious and nutritious meal. The average person might not know the federal regulations and the requirements for the meals provided to the children, such as a specific amount of grains and proteins per plate, Shipp said.
During this fellowship journey, Shipp looks forward to learning more about scratch cooking the most. Scratch cooking involves incorporating raw proteins, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables into students’ meals instead of processed foods made in factories.
District 6 has already incorporated scratch cooking into its kitchens, he said, but the fellowship can take his skills to the next level to help enhance the taste and nutrition of meals.
School food professionals prepare and serve meals to nearly 30 million children at schools across the nation, according to the release. A student’s access to appetizing, satisfying and quality school meals can impact their academic performance and physical and emotional wellbeing.
Between 65-70% of families in District 6 qualify for free or reduced lunches, said Kara Sample, assistant director of nutrition services at District 6, in a 2023 Greeley Tribune article.
“Sometimes this might be the only nutritious meal that kids get,” Shipp said. “If we can provide the meals to them, and get them that nutrition, then they’re going to be more apt to learn. It’s going to be easier for them … when they’re not worried about hunger.”
The fellowship also includes designing a capstone project that benefits the participant’s school district and serves as a model for other districts to enact transformative school food change, the release said.
The school food change includes increasing local food procurement and working with sustainable farmers, transitioning to scratch-cooked meals instead of heat-and-serve meals, introducing culturally relevant menu items and reducing food and packaging waste.
The group will also take five trips throughout 13 months to learn from other school districts and attend leadership training workshops across the nation, according to Shipp.
By joining the fellowship journey, Shipp hopes to become the guy that people come to for information so he can know the wants and needs of his colleagues in the kitchen.
“I can absorb everything from this program and increase my knowledge, so that I can be a better benefit to other districts, my colleagues and the kids,” he said.
