Staff culinary training may be needed to provide information and skills required for preparation of new foods, such as new culturally inclusive recipes. Consider one or more training options that would work best for your program. These trainings can count towards the
Professional Standards
requirements for school nutrition professionals.
Culinary Training Resources
- Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition (CICN) has virtual and face-to-face trainings available at no cost to school nutrition program operators.
- The Child Nutrition Sharing Site (CNSS) is an online information center providing Child Nutrition Programs with a means for sharing effective resources related to program operation.
- CICN Menus of Flavor are four-hour, instructor-led, hands-on trainings focused on global regions’ healthful and flavorful foods. Participants practice culinary skills while using recipes to prepare dishes from the cultural regions using equipment available in a school kitchen. Training modules include Mediterranean Cuisine, Latin Flavors, and East and Southeast Asian Fusion.
- CICN Presents trainings focus on core culinary competencies aimed at reaching school nutrition professionals through the country. The trainings focus on culinary skills and production methods, illustrating manageable techniques and recipes for implementing scratch cooking in school meals. The target audience includes directors, managers, menu planners, dietitians, cooks, and food service assistants who are thinking about implementing more scratch-cooked recipes but are not ready for wholesale program change.
- Culinary Quick Bites from CICN are a short-format training series that can be facilitated on-site by school nutrition professionals overseeing food production. Each lesson focuses on a specific culinary-related training topic and includes an instructional video demonstrating the skill.
- Collaborate with a local chef or cook in the cultural community to demonstrate the preparation of the new recipe(s). An interpreter may be needed to accommodate language communications.
- Your State agency may have options for culinary trainings to expand the skills of your nutrition staff.
- School chef consultants can be used to provide tailored training to school nutrition programs.
