- December 4, 2025
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Laura Rowe loves to cook, but she loves seeing the smiling faces of the students at Tara Elementary School even more.
She retired from working in a hospital and planned to work in a school's kitchen for a couple of years. It was a job she didn’t think she would enjoy, but eventually she found a passion for it at Tara. Fourteen years later, she’s still at it.
“As we see the need for our children and our community, whether it be nutrition, a smile or a talk, we do our best to meet that need,” Rowe said of the school's staff.
Regina Thoma, the director of Food and Nutrition Services for the School District of Manatee County, said on a daily basis, about 29,000 lunches, 17,000 breakfasts and 5,000 other meals and snacks are served districtwide.
The United States Department of Agriculture requirement is that students have to be served at least half a cup of fruit or vegetables, and two other food groups, to be considered a meal. Protein, grain and dairy are among the "other food groups."
Skye Grundy, the supervisor of Student Nutrition for the district, said the public tends to create an image of what food is being served at the schools.
“They're shocked that it's all white meat, whole muscle chicken that we serve,” Grundy said. “It's not chopped and formed. There's no added stuff in it. Our burger patties are 100% beef with some seasoning in them. We try to have the best products.”
Aside by nutrition, the food service department works to keep up with trends when it comes to what students enjoy.
“We're looking at doing a dill pickle pizza, because pickles are on trend right now,” Grundy said. “I'm not a pickle person, but pickles are on trend. Hot and spicy is always in with kids, even the little kids. We’re always trying to make sure we're staying on trend.”
Thoma recalled when popular “Uncrustables”— premade frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — became whole grain and changed the packaging to let people know. Students were no longer attracted to it. When the packaging changed again with “whole grain” in smaller letters, the students started eating them again.
Other food products have altered packaging or ingredients to become more attractive to kids, or school officials who make healthy choices for them, as well.
“A thing for people to remember is even though we serve Domino's pizza, it's whole grain crust, low sodium and low fat cheese, low sodium sauce,” Thoma said. “A lot of the products you see in the grocery store have been customized to meet school requirements, but yet, the students still recognize and know them and they're still a student favorite.”
Alanna Hall, a senior at Braden River High School, said the lunch room can get chaotic but she enjoys the time to chat with her friends. She said she enjoys the diverse array of options during lunch and noted her favorites are hot chicken wings and mac and cheese. She said some foods are there on a daily basis, while others items are switched out to offer variety.
“If you're not feeling a certain food, you can always do something that you're used to like pizza, a burger or something like that,” Hall said. “I like when they change it up, I get a little bit of everything, so I don't get stuck on the same thing and get burned out.”
The district is on a four-week menu cycle and has implemented a variety of new menu items this school year, including the Cuban sandwich.
Angel Iglesias, a junior at Braden River High School, said he enjoyed the Cuban sandwich.
“The Cuban sandwich reminded me of my grandma because they made it the same way she did — with love and passion,” Iglesias said. “It had the perfect amount of warmth.”
Freedom McDaniel, a junior at Braden River, said he and his fellow students often feel they are having the same thing on a regular basis because the cafeteria offers some kind of chicken item on a regular basis. He enjoys going through the potato bar and salad bar to build his own meal rather than getting a premade wrap or salad.
Abigail Insley, a junior at Braden River, said that while it can get loud in the lunch room, the staff provides a welcoming environment. She said the workers ask about her day, make jokes, are polite and take their experiences and opinions into consideration. She said the food is always fresh, particularly the salad bar.
“We all love what we do,” Thoma said. “Our staff loves what they do. We have regulations, and we have all these different things that we have to follow, but we still try to focus on customer service and making sure kids enjoy the experience of school meals.”
“When they leave this line, if they’re happy, I'm happy,” Rowe said.
