School lunch has been in the spotlight lately, mostly highlighting its need for improvement. Certainly, some things about school lunch are broken—-there are a lot of frozen nuggets being heated and not a lot of fresh foods being prepped- to name a big one. But one thing that I have learned recently is how much we should be thanking our local lunch lady, not scorning her.

 Last week I spoke at the annual convention of the School Nutrition Association where I got to meet many school food professionals and learn about their work. One thing that came through loud and clear is that these folks are far from the disgruntled, gaudy cartoon lunch ladies portrayed in the movies. (A horrible preconception I admit I had until all too recently.) Rather, they are professionals who care passionately about the children they serve and they do their job under amazingly difficult conditions. Can you imagine feeing 700 children 2 meals a day, with just two ancient burners to work with, in a kitchen no bigger than a large walk-in closet? Or planning an appealing, balanced, nutritious lunch day after day with only a little over a dollar per child to spend on food? Well, this is what these men and women accomplish day in and day out.

So next time you see your local school food professional, make sure you say thanks. And if you are inclined, take it a step further and ask how you can help them achieve your common goal of providing the best possible food to the children.