School Food Service
Here’s a tough question: would you rather read through information on 12 different companies that provide contract management for school food service, or sit down to a plate of warm, chef-prepared sweet Italian sausage calzini?
Exactly. Food is exciting — and Taher never forgets that.
Neither will your students.
Our enthusiasm for food translates directly into a better experience for students: meals made with fresh, high-quality ingredients. Dishes prepared from scratch. Menus and display cooking sessions inspired by our Chef Council’s world travels. Plenty of healthy options, supplemented by nutrition information and education.
In other words, we want your students to eat the best food possible, now and for life.
How will this food-centric approach fit into your district? Seamlessly. After more than 30 years in this business, Taher knows what it takes to create successful, profitable partnerships. We’ll go above and beyond your school board’s requirements by taking the lead on progressive nutritional guidelines, implementing forward-thinking environmental practices, and, of course, easing the strain on your district’s overworked budget.
More than that, we’ll do everything it takes to make sure you’re comfortable with the relationship. You’ll rest easy knowing Taher will make a long-term commitment to your district, students, staff, and the entire school community. Simply put, we exist to make your job easier.
Which means you’ll be able to put down the paperwork, and go get that calzini.
Taher’s K-12 school food service management offerings.
We’re food people. Our approach is chef-based, which means everything we do revolves around our chefs’ passion for fresh, high-quality ingredients, meals cooked from scratch, and globally inspired recipes.
It also means we’re keenly focused on nutrition.
We simply couldn’t call ourselves food people if we weren’t committed to serving only the healthiest dishes. We believe good food is good for you… period. But we’re also conscious of the health crisis facing the United States. With childhood obesity reaching epidemic proportions, and the onset of type 2 diabetes increasing every year, it has become every food service providers’ responsibility to scrutinize their practices and move toward healthier offerings.
Taher’s Food 4 Life initiative represents our commitment, in every stage of our operations, to promote our customers’ healthy diet choices.
We purchase as many products as possible; more and more every year, from local farms and organic producers. Our experienced dietitians shape our menus according to the most progressive nutritional knowledge. Taher is the first food service management company in the nation to commit to a total elimination of trans fats from our menu.
We also give our customers the tools to make healthy choices on their own. Along with making nutritional information for the foods we serve instantly available online, we also publish a quarterly Food 4 Life flyer, including tips on healthy lifestyles, environmental issues, and food trends. Plus, since lifelong habits are formed at the K-12 and college levels, we work with school staff to incorporate nutrition into curriculum.
Because, at our core, we simply want our customers to eat what’s best — now and for life.
Food 4 Life Belief Statement
Taher recognizes that nutrition and eating habits have changed over the years, and we are concerned about the impact of these changes on our customers. Consequently:
NUTRA KID™
Taher’s nutrition awareness education program centers around a positive character named NUTRA KID™, which represents good eating practices. NUTRA KID™ helps teach children the importance of developing good eating habits that
extend beyond school lunch. “You Are What You Eat” promotional materials encourage everyone to make wise food choices to improve their attitude toward nutrition.
One goal of the program is to create enthusiasm among children and teachers by incorporating nutrition into the school curriculum. Taher has created several marketing promotions using NUTRA KID™ as a tool to encourage children to choose a variety of foods. Students can access nutritional links on the Web, and on-site posters provide nutritional information on students’ favorite foods.
Taher is committed to assisting in nutrition awareness education for children, parents and school personnel. This partnership will 
allow our message to reach all students, and help them develop a positive attitude toward eating that will last a lifetime.
Farm to School
Based on the popularity of our Farm to School Program, we have partnered with produce companies to bring farm fresh fruits and vegetables to School District students more often!
We have identified items that can be purchased locally from Farms during their growing season. Students will be able to see the name of the farm and where it is located when we feature farm fresh products.
We are excited to bring the freshest possible fruits and vegetables and use family farms as much as we can during the school year.
USDA Nutrition Standards
School meals across the country will take a more healthy approach this fall when new USDA requirements take effect. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), administered by the USDA, released new meal and nutrition standards in January 2012 – the first major update in 15 years. This is good news for over 32 million children who will benefit from the requirements, which are designed to improve the health and nutrition of students while helping maintain a healthy weight. The changes are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed by congress and championed by First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her Let’s Move! campaign.
• Fruits and Vegetables:
• Grains: At least half of the grains offered will be whole grain-rich.
• Milk: Non-flavored milk offerings are limited to 1% or skim (fat-fee). All flavored milk, when offered, must be fat-free.
• Caloric Level: Minimum and maximum calorie levels are specified depending on the age of the student. The new age groupings are grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
• Other Standards: All menu items will be trans fat-free. There also will be limits on saturated fat and sodium.
Scratch Cooking
![Food4Life [sm]](https://www.taherfood4life.org/schools/shawano/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/FOOD4LIFE-sm-w-Taher-logo.jpg "FOOD4LIFE-sm-w-Taher-logo"){kind=logo}
The National Focus on Childhood Obesity continues, and we are committed to helping introduce more scratch made recipes to students and reduce the number of processed foods that are served in Shawano schools. Our Fall Cycle menu begins this October with some new exciting recipes, and will continue to offer three choices at each Elementary school. Offering alternate choices gives parents peace of mind that their student will find an entree that they will enjoy, and allow us to introduce new recipes to students.
Standards for the National School Lunch program have also been modified to include more whole grain, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Our menus will be changing slightly to accommodate the new standards.
We understand that changing kids eating habits cannot happen overnight, but we feel it is our responsibility to expose children to a healthier menu, and encourage them to try new things.
Here are some photos of a few of the new entrees you will see featured this fall.
With Taher’s innovative food court system, school lunch lines move more efficiently,
and students can choose exactly what they want.
CLASSIC CAFE STATIONThe cycle-menu entrée choices are made from scratch daily, offering a minimum of two selections every day. This station is available for students to choose from on a daily basis.
PIZZA AND PANINI STATIONA daily Panini or pizza choice. Taher’s Signature Pizza starts with a specially formulated crust. After smothering it with our zesty, old-world recopy pizza sauce and fresh mozzarella, we finish it off with a variety of toppings.
FRESHWICH®Deli Sandwich Station offering made-to-order fresh deli sandwiches and wraps, on choice of bread, served with all pickles, peppers, sauces, condiments, or simply tacos, burritos, wraps, ets.
HOT SANDWICH & INTERNATIONAL GRILLPresenting burritos, tacos, wraps, burgers, chicken, fish, and other popular items.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE BARAn accompaniment to every meal. This station utilizes self-service and offers students a selection of fresh and canned fruits, and fresh vegetables.
GRAB-N-GOOur A la Carte offerings will include healthier food, snacks and beverages selections, including our exciting and delicious line of Grab-n-Go products; made fresh, they are also available for students on the run Items offered include freshly-made salads, sandwiches, wraps, and homemade soups.
Absolutely delicious!!!!! Thank you for spectacular food and drink yesterday. YOU and YOUR staff continue to out do yourselves. GREAT work.
A BIG thank you to Chef John for his introduction to Thai for the Ethnic/Gourmet Foods class! It was a great deal of prep work-I truly appreciated it and the kids thought it was FUN! I had lots of students take the sample with them and were talking about how they loved the taste of the chicken. I even had student who aren’t in the class stop in for a sample!!!!!!!! We are SO fortunate to have creative expertise in the building!
