Rocky River City SD serves up farm-fresh “Bistro Box” lunches and family meal kits with help from Nutrislice.
Background
The Rocky River City School (RRCS) district, located in Ohio, has long been on the cutting edge when it comes to providing new and innovative nutrition services for students. In 2016, Tina Wasserbauer, a registered dietitian and nutrition services specialist for RRCS pioneered a novel, farm-to-school initiative that brought a wide variety of high-quality, fresh produce to school meals while supporting local farmers and growers.
After the success of the farm-to-school program, Tina and her team turned their attention to introducing digital menu and ordering options in the district. Their goal was to begin by providing visually beautiful and informative online menus and then eventually, mobile pre-ordering capabilities. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the spring of 2020 and forced school closures, RRCS fast-tracked their digital ordering plans in order to continue providing families with nutritious, delicious meals when they needed it most. By partnering with Nutrislice, the district was able to quickly implement contactless pre-ordering of weekly meal kits and daily “Bistro Box” lunches to keep students fed during uncertain times and beyond.