September 2007 News

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Santa Barbara School Districts’ Food Fair Featured In FoodService Director Magazine

The June 15 issue of FoodService Director, a trade magazine, included an article on the Santa Barbara School Districts’ Nutrition Services third-annual Food Fair, a product taste test for students. Information gained at the Food Fair is used by the districts’ Office of Nutrition Services when deciding on new products to be added to school menus. Nutrition Services Director Frank Lihn also arranged for Santa Barbara County Department of Environmental Health and other organizations to provide displays that helped students learn about proper handwashing and nutrition.

About 300 third-through-sixth graders from the districts’ afterschool program participated in the May 4, 2007 Food Fair. These young food critics tasted and judged the food samples provided by more than 25 vendors. Students voted for their choices by placing brightly colored happy-face stickers on sheets of paper at each taste station.

The Food Fair is the brainchild of Nutrition Services Director Frank Lihn. Prior to joining the Santa Barbara School Districts, Mr. Lihn worked as an executive chef in various major hotels and restaurants in New York City for almost a decade and spent many years in food service in health care and public school nutrition. Mr. Lihn trained and worked in New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Doral Park Avenue Hotel, United National Plaza Hotel and, in the 1980s, he was the executive chef at 60 East Club in New York City, a private lunch club owned by industry giant Harry Helmsley and his wife Leona Helmsley.