Interview with Julianna Carvi, Food Service Director of Bexley City Schools, Ohio
ScratchWorks Blog, December 2024
By Abby de Riel
We sat down with Julianna Carvi, Food Service Director of Bexley City Schools, Ohio, to talk about the importance of scratch cooking. A staff member of Wellness in the Schools, a founding ScratchWorks organization, interviewed Julianna to learn from her 25 years of experience working in school food. We got to know Juliana during a Speaker Series, where she shared her experiences in Bexley City.
ScratchWorks is supported thanks to generous funding from the From Now On Fund, Life Time Foundation, Newman’s Own Foundation, Wellness in the Schools, and Whole Kids Foundation.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where did your background in school food begin?
Before working in school food, I worked in a small family-owned restaurant where the owner’s mother was a “Lunch Lady.” He relayed fond memories of his mom, and when I met her, she was so kind and warm. Somehow it planted a seed in my brain. After having a frustrating day or two at the restaurant, I asked my sales rep if they knew of any schools looking for managers. As luck would have it, there was a posting at the Ohio School for the Deaf. I applied for it and landed the position. It was my first role working in a school, a state agency, and a beloved institution. Not only did I learn the intricacies of the USDA’s programs, I got certified as a Public Manager and I learned American Sign Language! It was a great entrance into the field.
Bexley is a suburb of Columbus City, Ohio. What are some of the unique opportunities and challenges that come from working with a small school district?
The benefit of working in a densely populated school district with over 1,240 students per mile is the sense of community. We have three buildings: one K–12 and two additional elementary schools serving about 2,500 students. The Food Service staff, including me, get to see the students grow up from kindergarten to 12th grade. No other education staff sees them from start to finish. We really get to know our students.
A drawback to a tightly packed community is that we still have open lunch. We are a walking school — there are no buses, so students have the ability and opportunity to leave campus for lunch. While that has a nostalgic feel to go home at lunchtime, I think school is the safest place for students to be and I’d like them to be here eating with us.
You have been an active participant of the ScratchWorks Speaker Series. What have you learned from the ScratchWorks community in this format?
I’ve learned that I’m not alone in wanting to bring more scratch cooking into my district. Going to the Inaugural ScratchWorks Gathering energized me, and showing up for the Speaker Series keeps me engaged. When actively moving through change, having a cheering section and hearing what others are doing keeps the momentum going. The Speaker Series brings together other directors and advocates for scratch-cooked food. They are the most encouraging people and wonderful to have in your corner.
What interested you in joining the most recent Speaker Series, Engaging Students and Communities in Scratch Forward Approaches?
I joined because I knew there would be innovative ideas coming from my peers. I would tell anyone who hasn’t yet put it on their calendars to do so. Come and lurk, or come and share ideas. You will walk away with something useful, even if it’s not your next taste-testing idea — you will get a palpable sense of excitement around the work.
Every school district approaches the move to more scratch cooking with its own plans and goals in mind. What culinary techniques have been a part of your kitchens’ scratch cooking journeys? What recipes have been most successful so far?
I’m a fan of a strategic plan. After the ScratchWorks Gathering in Spring 2023, I determined that all of my schools would have one scratch-cooked entree per week for the 2023–2024 school year.
My three schools all have different equipment and different skill levels. My team and I, including three enthusiastic kitchen managers, looked at what we needed to develop both areas. With that, I used professional development days to work through a Macaroni and Cheese recipe and a Quinoa Salad recipe to start.
For the Macaroni and Cheese, we tried three noodles and two different cheese recipes for a total of six possible entrees. My cooks honed in on how they could best make the recipes in their kitchens. Then, we invited all the adults in the building to sample and vote on their preferred Mac and Cheese and to give us their thoughts on the quinoa. They were in the building for their own professional development, so we had a captive test group! They were so excited to give us their opinions.
The winner is the Mac and Cheese currently on our menu. As for the quinoa, the Street Corn and Quinoa Salad blew all the others out of the water and all of my schools have salad bars where the recipe is presented. The plan had three parts: 1) assess the skills of my part-time staff, as they are the makers and deserve great training on their knife skills, recipe reading, and even how to measure ingredients; 2) have cooks team up and work in a different dynamics to get everyone comfortable with working outside of their comfort zone in a low-stakes environment (which also allows me to assess who could be my next full-time cook); and 3) see which recipes were the winners when sampled!
A lasting effect from that one day is the adults who had never eaten with us before came into our kitchen, learned that being “more scratchy” is a goal of ours, and are now buying lunch. When kids see their teachers eating school lunches, it validates that food is good. It’s a win-win.
Did you have any tangible takeaways from the ScratchWorks Inaugural Gathering?
At the ScratchWorks Gathering, I remember that Chef Ann Cooper said, “Number one, you need to be using nutritional software!” We were still on Google Sheets for everything. At the Gathering, I also learned about the Healthy Meals Incentives Grant for Small and Rural Schools. I applied for a grant to buy the software and I got it. The Food Services team spent time learning the software and creating our database. We launched it to our community at the start of this school year and it has been a game changer. Our parents love the transparency it affords them, especially to be able to see the allergens in the food we serve. I love the ease of integrating new recipes into our menu and still hitting our nutritional goals. My cooks love being able to scale recipes with a few clicks.
What is one piece of advice you have for school food operators aspiring to increase their district’s cooking from scratch?
I would tell anyone: find one champion on the team who shares the vision. Have them be your ally as you introduce change. I’d also remind people that change is a process, not an overnight activity. Start with achievable goals, something measurable and specific. Make it small, like introducing one scratch-made salad dressing, or adding embellished rice dishes into a cycle menu such as Lime Cilantro Rice or Veggie Pilaf. It doesn’t take much to add a little extra shine to something you’re already doing! Then, once someone makes a new recipe or takes a step forward, celebrate the heck out of it, build energy off that success, and brainstorm the next new thing you can add.