MUSKEGON, Mich. — Students at Muskegon Area Intermediate School District and Montague Area Public Schools are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Chef Ann Foundation thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative.
"It will make sure the foods we make reflect the communities that we live in, and being able to make sure our foods are culturally relevant and filling those spaces that normally aren't there,” chef instructor Elissa Penczar said.
The Chef Ann Foundation awarded nearly $5 million to eight groups, including Detroit Public Schools. Grant recipients will receive not only funding but three years of technical assistance, tools, training and resources from The Chef Ann Foundation, the National Farm to School Network and support from the Center for Nutrition Health and Impact.
“We'll get expertise from the Chef Ann Foundation for the next three years, and their level of expertise and training in local foods and scratch cooking are going to help us take a look at our systems and see where we can improve,” food service director Dan Gorman said.
Alix Draves, a student at the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center, said he will be able to make recipes that thousands of students will get to enjoy, thanks to funding from the grant that nearly 100 applicants applied for, but only 8 were chosen.
"This upcoming year, I'll be able to exercise the creativity and knowledge to make nutritional recipes out of fresh Michigan-grown vegetables that will be shared with my local school districts,” Alix Draves said. "It will be served to upwards of 15,000 students."