Ep. 48 - Healthy School Lunches

Maureen Pisanick is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Pisanick Partners, LLC a nutrition consulting firm servicing early childhood and K-12 foodservice programs.  She currently supports over 40 school districts in Northeast Ohio in creating and implementing a strategic improvement plan for their meal service programs. Mrs. Pisanick led one of the first schools in Ohio to win the HealthierUS Schools Challenge award in 2011.  Through her involvement in farm to school efforts, culinary training course development, and recipe and menu software analysis, she has created turn-key solutions for a niche market geared towards wellness and public health in Ohio.  She is often called upon to provide professional development training as a respected leader in the local and national school nutrition industry. Mrs. Pisanick is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Dietetic Internship.  She has worked in multiple sectors of nutrition to clinical in and outpatient dietetics at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, and the latter half of her career in school nutrition programs as both a food service director and consultant.  Maureen has served as the Team Nutrition USDA HealthierUS Schools Consultant for the Ohio Department of Education, as well as worked on the Smarter Lunchroom Team Nutrition Grant movement throughout the state.  She currently is a qualified regional trainer for the Institute of Child Nutrition in the area of allergy management and farm to school procurement in schools.  Maureen has held office positions for the local and state School Nutrition Association, and is an active member of SNA, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.   Throughout the pandemic, Maureen utilized networking and coaching to ensure a resilient pivot and continued provision of school meals during unprecedented school closures.  She also expanded her client reach by supporting Feeding San Diego, a Feeding America division providing services to some of the most at risk communities in southern California.   Maureen is the mother of two wonderful girls and maintains an active role in local and state school nutrition advocacy through her work and consulting.    Show Notes: When it comes to learning nutrition is one of the most important factors Hungry minds can’t learn! School lunches can provide healthy options such as a produce bar and encourage the children to taste and “eat the rainbow!”  Maureen and I discuss the importance of a healthy school lunch to get families and children across the country start the school year off right!