Award Categories
- Breakfast Excellence
- Culturally Inclusive Meals
- Farm to School
- Marketing and Promotion
- Nutrition Education
- Partnerships and Engagement
- Scratch Cooking
Media Tool Kit for Award Recipients
Winners receive a certificate, digital badge, press release template, public recognition, and more!
Resources
To learn more and apply online, visit the Rooted in Excellence webpage.
Questions? Contact CNStraining@k12.wa.us.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is offering a three-part virtual training series highlighting 10 new standardized recipes and six new culinary videos developed through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) FY 2024 Team Nutrition Training Grant. Each resource responds to one or more changes from the 2024 Final Rule: Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including reductions in sodium and added sugars, the flexibility to offer meat/meat alternates at breakfast, and an increased emphasis on beans, peas, and lentils.
The first two sessions will highlight the new recipes with tips for conducting a taste test, scaling, and yield testing a new recipe. The third session will focus on exploring the new culinary videos and other resources available to support scratch cooking.
Learn more and register using the links below.
October 22: Lunch Recipes and Planning the Perfect Taste Test
October 29: Breakfast Recipes and Scaling Recipes for Your Kitchen
December 3: Culinary Training Resources with Chefs Kent and Mataio
This project was funded using U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funds.
USDA Team Nutrition released new resources focused on eating whole, nutrient-dense foods. These resources support the Dietary Guidelines for Americas, 2025-2030.
Resources for Schools
Are you real food-savvy? Test your knowledge with the Eat Real Food Web Quiz!
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Applications are due October 23. SFAs have limited time to apply for a unique opportunity to strengthen food service operations, expand staff skills, and bring more local foods into school meals.
OSPI is inviting eligible SFAs to apply for Sprouting Success: Operations, Culinary Skills, and Farm-to-School Training, a one-time, year-long pilot offering access to the SproutCNP online learning platform. This opportunity is designed to help school nutrition programs improve efficiency, make the most of their budgets, expand scratch cooking, and simplify local food procurement.
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SproutCNP
Participating sponsors will be part of OSPI's pilot program and will receive one year of unlimited access for all food service staff to SproutCNP’s interactive, on-demand, self-paced online training platform.
The training platform currently offers more than 28 professional standards credit hours, with plans to add more during the project period. Training topics include:
- Knife Skills
- The Skill of As Purchased (AP) and Edible Portion (EP)
- Culinary Math
- Kitchen Management Operations
- Smart Produce Processing
- Time Standards and Work Schedules
- Measuring Productivity
- Forecasting and Ordering
- Director Bootcamp
- Procurement Masterclass
Program directors and managers will also receive access to SproutCNP’s Training Tracker for monitoring staff training completion, tracking of professional standards hours, and accessing to practical technology tools to optimize operational efficiencies.
OSPI Virtual Farm to School Trainings
Participants will also attend four live, virtual OSPI trainings to apply their new skills toward Farm to School activities. Topics will include an introduction to Farm to School; developing recipes that feature local foods; incorporating local ingredients into scratch cooking; procuring local products; and integrating nutrition and agriculture education into school meals. These trainings will provide practical, actionable strategies to incorporate local foods into school meals and strengthen Farm to School efforts.
Professional Development Credit
Both on-demand courses and live trainings count toward USDA professional standards requirements. Registered dietitians and dietetic technicians who complete the SproutCNP courses can also earn Continuing Professional Education Units (CPEUs) through the Commission on Dietetic Registration.
Apply by October 23
To learn more and prepare your application, visit the School Meal Programs training webpage and review the Sprouting Success: Operations, Culinary Skills, and Farm-to-School Training Information Sheet and Scoring Matrix.
OSPI encourages SFAs to not miss this opportunity to invest in their teams, strengthen their food service programs, and build capacity for scratch cooking and farm to school activities.
Sponsors are invited to apply for the Waste Not Washington School Awards. These awards promote sustainability by rewarding schools that build and expand waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting programs and lessons.
Applications close October 31. Awards can support compliance with Washington’s organics management laws.
For more information, review the September S.S.T.A.R.
OSPI continues to celebrate school year (SY) 2025–26 Power Up Your Program participants by featuring Prosser and North Mason School Districts, who used their course takeaways to create new opportunities to engage students, learn about their mealtime preferences, and increase their representation across the cafeteria environment.
Prosser School District—Student Advisory Group Inspires Scratch Cooked Recipes and Fresh Ingredients
Darlene Morrow used Power Up Your Program as an opportunity to develop more student-centered school meals. She began by connecting with middle school students in the cafeteria to ask what they liked, disliked, and hoped to see change in their school meal menu. Students shared a desire for more scratch-made foods featuring fresh ingredients. In response, Darlene worked with her food service team to develop a house-made toasted cheese sandwich recipe and began bringing in more fresh fruits and vegetables for students to enjoy in the salad bar
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To expand opportunities for students to provide feedback, Darlene connected with school board members, staff, and students across the district to begin making plans for a middle school student advisory group. Student recruitment is still underway, but once the group comes together, Darlene plans to invite the group to provide input on meal menus, learn about school meal requirements, and even participate in preparing and serving food. |
North Mason School District—Student Surveys Lead to Adoption of New Cultural Flavors
While completing the Power Up Your Program course, Mackenna Long sought new ways to get students excited about school meals and enhance nutrition education activities. She surveyed students to learn more about their mealtime priorities, then she connected with families and staff across the district to brainstorm education opportunities.
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When students expressed interest in exploring flavors from different cultures, Mackenna responded by introducing an international flavors week, serving globally inspired dishes like ramen bowls, poutine, flautas, and bratwurst. To keep nutrition conversations going beyond mealtime, she introduced a monthly “Flavor of the Month” menu feature to share information with students and families about different foods and the nutrition they provide. Looking ahead, Mackenna hopes to continue building student engagement by adapting family-favorite dishes to incorporate into meal menus. |
Ready to Power Up Your Program?
The Power Up Your Program Canvas courses are open for enrollment. Sponsors can complete each course independently at their own pace. Use the Canvas enrollment links below to get started:
Taste Washington Day Celebrations!
Auburn School District’s Celebration Featured Local Tacos
Auburn School District (SD) celebrated Taste Washington Day by serving a menu packed with local ingredients! The menu featured tacos full of local ingredients, including bison, cauliflower, tortillas, cotija cheese, and lots of local fruits and vegetables. Along with serving local foods throughout the year, Auburn SD offers an agriculture career and technical education program featuring goats, chickens, and fish. Even the goats got in on the apple crunch! Students learn how farm to school meals get made through the culinary arts program.
Valley School District Celebrates Taste Washington Day Serving Farm to School Supreme Pizza
Valley School District served pizza featuring local dough, cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and peppers while offering local fruits and vegetables on the side. Local producers Spotted Acre Farm, Happy Mountain Mushrooms, LINC Foods, and Columbia Community Creamery attended the event interacting with students and discussing their local products included in the day's lunch. Students were able to vote on how well they liked the meal, and results showed it was a big hit!
Governor Ferguson Takes Part in the Apple Crunch!
Governor Ferguson officially declared October 7, 2026, as Taste Washington Day and celebrated by taking part in the apple crunch! Read the full proclamation here.
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OSPI staff also took part in the apple crunch, biting in to some locally grown apples. |
This school year, celebrate the versatility and great flavor of Washington-grown butternut squash through the Washington Local Food (WaLF) program! Butternut squash is a nutrient-packed fall and winter favorite that adds color, flavor, and that "comfort food" feeling to school meals.
Serve butternut squash in a variety of ways including:
- Roasted (creating a simple side dish with herbs and seasoning).
- Mashed or pureed (adding to soups and sauces).
- Added to grain bowls, salads, casseroles, tacos, or pasta dishes like mac and cheese.
- Blended into baked goods (muffins, breads, or even pancakes).
Its naturally sweet flavor and vibrant orange color make it a great choice for introducing students to seasonal local produce while supporting Washington farmers.
Looking for a way to promote WaLF winter squash?
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Want to add butternut squash to the school menu?
- Check out this video for inspiration
- Add WaLF LFS061 Butternut Squash to the 2027 pre-order survey that opens in February.
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Washington Local Foods Spotlight Request
OSPI wants to hear from sponsors that have served Washington-grown butternut squash or other WaLF products in creative ways. Share success stories, favorite recipes, student feedback, photos, or marketing ideas that generate excitement around local foods with OSPI at farmtocnp@k12.wa.us.
Crisp, colorful, and sometimes a little spicy, radishes are October’s produce spotlight!
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Radishes come in an assortment of colors, shapes, and sizes, including red, white, purple, and black. Enjoy them raw for a peppery crunch or try roasting them for a milder flavor. Radishes are also a fast-growing crop, going from seed to harvest in just 3–4 weeks, making them a fun choice for hands-on learning in school gardens and classrooms.
Bring radishes to school! Feature them on the salad bar or school menu, host a classroom taste test, or plant radishes in a school garden or classroom and let students watch them grow.
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Looking for ideas and ready-to-use resources? Explore the OSPI Harvest of the Season: Radishes resources for cafeteria connections, classroom activities, family resources, recipe ideas, and more!
 Farm to School success inspires others! Share stories, photos, and lessons learned from local food, school gardens, taste tests, and other Farm to School activities with the Farm to CNP team at farmtocnp@k12.wa.us!
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