Sharon Schaefer (third from left, front row) takes a photo with her school lunch team. Photo courtesy of Sharon Schaefer
Sharon Schaefer, chef and director of Food and Nutrition Services at Gretna Public Schools, is serving up smoothies this school year thanks to a grant from Midwest Dairy.
As part of the grant, Schaefer and her team will provide smoothies and yogurt parfaits blended at Gretna High School. The team will also brew fresh coffee, with the beans coming from The Beanery, a local coffee shop in Gretna.
Schaefer says she is looking forward to implementing the smoothies as a way for students to have access to more healthy nutrition at school.
"It's definitely on-trend with that ninth through twelfth grader and it encourages them to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables than they typically would at breakfast time," she says.
To learn more about Schaefer's work, visit her website. Watch this video to learn more about the smoothie program: