About me
Professional Experiences
I’ve worked with food heroes in both rural and metro districts, for contract management companies and in self-operations. I am knowledgeable and experienced with multiple facets of child nutrition feeding programs, i.e.,
College Feeding Programs
National School Lunch Program
National School Breakfast Program (breakfast after the bell, breakfast to go, 2nd chance breakfast)
Summer Food Service Program (Food Truck)
USDA Afterschool Snack
USDA Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program
USDA Commodity Foods
Concessions Services
Catering Services
District Beverage and Snack Vending
Vended Meal & Joint Agreements with Charter Schools
Retail Cafes
School Gardens
Food Recovery
Sustainability
I've provided food service leadership for one of the country's leading successful K-12 school nutrition programs, and one of the nation's top ranked colleges. In both industries, we were pioneers in offering innovative & scratch-cooked meals. Now, at the heart of my mission, I want to help other K-12 school nutrition professionals design/expand and offer delicious, wholesome foods that kids will love - while helping them to increase their skills, knowledge, and capacity to influence that joyful outcome!
Hi, I'm Barb. A wife and mother of 3 awesome adult children, and a grandmother of 2 adorable grandsons! And - a school nutrition director for 35 years and a certified holistic health coach. At heart, I’m a foodie! My siblings and I grew up on a small family farm in western MN and we preserved foods from our large garden with mom and grandma, and worked alongside my dad raising pigs, cows and chickens. It was a wonderful childhood! As I reflect on that childhood, I now see how those life experiences prepared me for what I am doing today - helping kids learn about food. How it grows, who grows it and how to prepare it - how to fall in love with whole foods! Yes, school kitchens can do all of that! Call me and let’s experiment together and find out how you can do that too!
Instagram @childnutritionlab