Home Grown Springfield prepares school meals from scratch. Students are served freshly baked muffins, pasta with homemade tomato or cheese sauces and garden-to-table salads, to name a few of the menu items. Additionally, Home Grown Springfield has conducted hundreds of taste tests with students and families over the past several years as they create recipes for new menu items, such as empanadas.
Warwick said Home Grown Springfield has invested millions of dollars to provide the freshest, healthiest options for students in packaging that is attractive and convenient. “They’ve worked very hard to re-direct that age-old adage about school lunches. They have gone above and beyond,” said Warwick. “We’ve had terrific feedback, this school year especially, about the options, quality and appearance of school lunches and breakfasts.” Warwick added that in many instances, Home Grown Springfield also provides dinner meals for students involved in evening programs.
During the pandemic, Home Grown Springfield provided more than nine million meals to Springfield students, including breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, fresh fruits and vegetables and milk.
Mayor Sarno states, “Superintendent Dan Warwick and I are excited to show off and highlight the tremendous work Home Grown Springfield does in preparing our school meals from scratch. As the district’s food service provider, our students are served fresh foods, fruits and vegetables and have worked with hundreds of students and families over the past several years to create our school menu options. The facility employees over 350 workers with over 80% being Springfield residents. I was also impressed to learn that the food waste at the facility is recylcled locally in the region for use as compost for local farms. During the pandemic, Home Grown Springfield provided more than 9 million meals to our Springfield students, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and milk.”
