FOR ALMOST a decade, Angela Cardwell has worked tirelessly to make sure the bellies of the Tullahoma City School (TCS) students are full and well-nourished. The director of nutrition for TCS and a Tullahoma native, Cardwell, along with her staff, takes the job of feeding students to heart.
“I am the largest restaurant in town,” she said. “I have seven locations that are cooking meals. We serve over 3,000 meals a day. Currently, we have the largest participation we’ve ever had because of the pandemic waivers. Everything has been free for two years, which has proven nationwide that school meals need to be free all the time.”
While COVID-19 made food more accessible for students and the community, Cardwell said that as things begin returning to normal it forces her department to end free breakfast and lunch for most of TCS. As of July, Cardwell and her staff will have to go back to solely serving free, reduced, and paid lunches. However, free breakfast will still be available to Bel-Aire, East Lincoln, and Farrar Elementary Schools, and East Middle School. Cardwell is hopeful that schools across the country will find a way to not charge students for breakfast and lunch.
“That is something school nutrition professionals are fighting with the federal government for. We want to make that permanent,” she explained. “We don’t have it locked in, and they have mandated that we must go back to free, reduced, and paid [meals] next year. It has put us in a precarious situation because we have one way in June, and then we’ve got the old way in July. They are vastly different. And we are working on how we will communicate that effectively out in the community because people are going to be upset. They are used to getting bags of food that would cover them for a week, and they would be able to store it and freeze it and use it as they need it. We’ve got to go back to driving to serve breakfast. We have to watch you eat it. You can’t leave, go to your car, or go inside. We have to observe you. Then we have to come back and do it at lunch.”
There is also the challenge of food shortages that are not only affecting grocery stores and restaurants but also school lunchrooms. Cardwell said that schools are way down on the list of priorities for manufacturers. There is also the issue ofbcost, she explained.
“We are also paying triple to quadruple more, for the same amount of food, than two years ago,” she said. “When we are not getting more reimbursement for the meals we serve but we are paying three to four times more, that eats up our money. And all of our money goes back into our program.”
Cardwell says the reimbursements they receive go to fund things like staff wages.
“Everything we get goes back into our program,” she said. “To compensate our employees is something I strive for every single year. I strive for more raises because they work hard every day, and they care for these kids. We have a very low turnover rate, which I am very proud of that fact. I love our staff. We have a really rock-solid staff across the district, and they deserve to be compensated well.”
Cardwell also makes it a priority to provide as much fresh product as possible.
“I also try to ensure the freshest product we can,” she explained. “We do a lot of scratch cooking. We don’t do a lot of pre-packaged foods. We still publish our menus through a site called Nutrislice. It gives pictures and nutritional content. Parents can plan with their kids. If there are food allergies, they can use those to help them educate the children to protect themselves.”
While Cardwell and the food program face challenges, many great things are happening under her and her staff ’s watch. Things such as a food truck that was purchased during the height of the pandemic. The truck traveled to Tullahoma during the school’s shutdown, delivering thousands of meals to students and the community.
“The Starvation Salvation Station ran the roads every day getting food to those who needed it,” said Cardwell. “She ran from March to the start of school. Then we went out once a week, all of the last school year, to feed the community and all the school kids. We were able to feed over 400 kids a week outside of our school system. That was a huge blessing to get out and do that.”
She added that while it was hot and the work was hard, she and her staff found the entire experience rewarding.
And this summer will be no different. The truck started going out to communities on Memorial Day, providing breakfast and lunch to students. Cardwell and her staff will also be available at several camps held in and around Tullahoma. GN
