Eat Real Certification
Our school meal program is now Eat Real certified!
We are thrilled to announce that our Nutrition Services department is Eat Real certified at the green tier. This achievement demonstrates our unwavering commitment to serving nutritious, fresh and high-quality meals that support the health and well-being of our students.
During the certification process, Eat Real evaluated our program against their ten standards, which go well beyond federal and state child nutrition program regulations. These standards assess the nutrition and the sustainability of the food we serve, such as procuring local ingredients, minimizing processing of the foods we serve, and managing food waste. We are proud to have met and exceeded these standards.
Here are some examples of the impact on student meals made possible through the Eat Real certification process:
Almost 50% Locally Sourced
● 46% of all produce purchased by SMCJUHSD is from local/regional farms
● Some examples of the local produce students enjoy are organic apples from The Fruit Guys out of Santa Barbara, cilantro from Watsonville Produce out of Santa Maria and meligold grapefruit from Bee Sweet Citrus out of Fresno.
● Some examples of the local produce students enjoy are organic apples from The Fruit Guys out of Santa Barbara, cilantro from Watsonville Produce out of Santa Maria and meligold grapefruit from Bee Sweet Citrus out of Fresno.
2x the Fresh Produce
● The number of different fruit options offered daily on their salad bars across all three menus has doubled since 2021
● Examples of seasonal produce offerings include strawberries, cut-up cantaloupe, pears made with coconut and oat topping, sliced persimmons and sectioned grapefruit
Nearly 2x the Responsible Proteins
● Sustainably sourced animal proteins have increased from 23% to 41% over two years, including grass-fed and finished beef from local Casey Redtail Ranch and chicken raised without antibiotics.
The Nutrition Services team would like to thank our incredible staff, district leadership, and the SMCJUHSD community for supporting our Eat Real partnership and vision to increase our scratch cooking program for the health and well-being of our students. We couldn’t have done this without you.
You can read more about our journey here: https://eatreal.org/south-monterey-county-joint-union-high-school-district-is-eat-real-certified/
To learn more about Eat Real, visit https://eatreal.org/