By: Amanda Brezzell 

On the road that leads from the farm to the tray, we encounter many folks along the way who contribute to feeding our kids. Who’s Feeding Our Kids is a series where we explore different people and organizations within the food system who are working to feed our kids and support the 10 Cents a Meal program.

These are some of their stories.

This story features Elissa Penczar, Chef Instructor for Muskegon area Intermediate School District and Dan Gorman, Food Service Director for Montague Area Public Schools and North Muskegon Public Schools.

With funding from the PLANTS Grant, Dan and Elissa have teamed up to create a sustainable farm to school network that includes a processing kitchen and food hub in the Muskegon Area.

Students preparing food as a part of their Hospitality & Food Management curriculum through the Career Tech Center.

Photo Credit: Career Tech Center

School Meals 

Dan Gorman has worked in school nutrition for over 25 years, and in his current role, he serves as the Food Service Director for Montague Area Public Schools and North Muskegon Public Schools. His duties include ensuring that the kitchens run efficiently, staff are well-supported, and students receive healthy, balanced meals. He also works to maintain USDA compliance, food safety, and a positive environment where students feel cared for. In addition to his work with school nutrition, he is also the co-lead of Creating Healthy Schools Muskegon County.

Across Montague and North Muskegon, Dan oversees the service of around 1,700 lunches and 1,200 breakfasts daily to a student population of 2,500. He and his team also operate two summer meal sites, where families can pick up seven breakfasts and lunches each week. It is important to note that because the districts qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) all students receive free meals. This is a critical program that helps to ensure that no child goes hungry. 

Dan notes that when he first took on this role, “there were no Farm to School efforts in either district”. Ever since becoming a pilot site for the 10 Cents a Meal Program, Dan has fully embraced Farm to School as a financially strategic and sustainable approach, rather than just a good idea. “This shift helped us establish relationships with local farmers, work with smaller distributors, and advocate for more Michigan-grown products from our broad-line vendors”, says Dan. As this work has evolved, Dan has integrated school gardens, classroom activities, taste tests, and partnerships with the Career Tech Center Culinary Education Program into the curriculum.

Culinary Education

Elissa Penczar serves as the Chef Instructor for the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. She has been in her role at the Career Tech Center (CTC) for over 22 years and has watched the Culinary Education Program evolve over time. Most career tech programs are based on job demand, and when the demand for hospitality and culinary competency rose, especially in regards to farm to school, they developed the program to give the students more opportunities to explore careers in these fields. 

Students can enroll in the Culinary Education Program in a number of ways, depending on how their district dictates. Some receive academic credit toward highschool, while others can use the credits toward math and science programs. No matter how they enroll, each student has the opportunity to receive industry valid certifications. The program is also required to partner with local colleges that offer comparable programming, offering the students direct credits at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Community College, and Ferris State.  

Elissa notes that students want to improve the nutrition landscapes for other students, their siblings, and family members. “Many students are blown away during field trips, lessons, and farmer meet ups. Even the most disengaged kids jump in to have voice and creativity”, she says. The program connects students with chefs, nutritionists, farmers, restaurant owners, food and beverage service managers, hospitality managers, the health department, food scientists from Michigan State University and more. Elissa explained that most people don’t understand what these kinds of creative outlets mean for students because they don’t see the value in hospitality work. Because the industry is so large, she is committed to showing her students their options, no matter the stigma. 

Receiving the PLANTS Grant 

Now that the districts in the area have developed a deep relationship with local food procurement, Dan and Elissa are committed to taking this work to the next level. The goal is to build a processing kitchen and food hub to serve Muskegon County. With funding from the PLANTS Grant, this is now being made a reality. Partnerships for Local Agriculture and Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS) is a grant program that funds projects advancing systemic and equity-driven approaches to transforming school food supply chains. Due to limitations on kitchen space, labor, and food processing capacity, some institutions across the state find it challenging to participate in local food programs. The new processing kitchen will help solve this by allowing the districts to purchase Michigan-grown foods in bulk, process them efficiently, and distribute them to schools in ready-to-use forms.

Additionally, this facility will accommodate the Culinary Education Program. Through the processing center, the students will create recipes and seasoning blends, and will assist with minimal and value added processing to local fruits, veggies, and legumes, giving them an opportunity to see what processing on this level looks like. The students will also play a direct role in impacting the system by developing instructional videos for the products they develop and will then share the products and videos with the kitchen staff in each district or other interested buyers. The goal would be to commercialize student-developed recipes, ensuring that scratch-cooked meals are practical and scalable for school districts. 

Both Dan and Elissa believe that this will change the landscape of local food within their district. They both point to 10 Cents a Meal as a catalyst and foundation for the development of their relationships with local food because it intersects a students ability to experience local food with a sound business decision. They have been on track to developing a project that elevates their proven track record of success, and now this is becoming a reality. 

Looking Towards the Future

Farm to School isn’t just about better meals, this is about investing in local farmers, strengthening regional food systems, and teaching students the value of fresh food. “Programs like 10 Cents a Meal and the PLANTS Grant are helping us move toward a sustainable, community-driven approach to school nutrition,” says Dan. When Dan and Elissa look toward the future, they both envision a food system where small and mid-sized farmers have a reliable market in schools, students grow up with a deep appreciation for fresh food, and local purchasing is the norm, not the exception. They see this investment from 10 Cents and Meal and the PLANTS Grant making a long lasting impact, from Elissa's vision to expand aspects of the Culinary Education Program to middle and elementary school aged students, to Dan’s ultimate goal to create a sustainable local food system that benefits both schools and small farmers. 

Beyond food procurement, they are integrating education with food service, building a generation of students who value and understand fresh, local foods. They believe their approach can be sustainable long-term, but understand that if they want local procurement and food education to thrive, they need continued investment from grants and government programs. Because of dedicated individuals like Dan and Elissa, the local food scene in Michigan has developed to be what it is over the last few decades. 

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10 Cents a Meal Policy and Engagement Specialist Amanda Brezzell writes from their hometown of Detroit, Michigan, where they support the 10 Cents a Meal Program through Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, outreach and communications partner on the 10 Cents a Meal implementation team.