Duda Farm Fresh Foods and The Produce Mom Offer Fresh Produce-Focused Training Program in Schools
OVIEDO, FL - With 90 years of giving back in the books, Duda Farm Fresh Foods is showing no signs of stopping. In a new move in partnership with The Produce Mom, the company has launched a new school training program that could give over 31 million students more opportunities to choose fresh produce.
With Duda’s Culinary Ambassador Chef Todd Fisher at the helm, these hands-on culinary training sessions with The Produce Mom CEO Lori Taylor aim to reach nearly 100 school foodservice professionals in Indiana. Each session will be live, focused on teaching these professionals strategies to make fresh produce more exciting and inviting to students, all while emphasizing the national Smarter Lunchrooms Movement.
“We fundamentally believe within Duda Farm Fresh Foods that improved nutrition through healthier alternatives and choices in consuming more fresh fruits and vegetables for our society is important,” shared Dan Duda, President, upon the announcement. “We invest in programs and services that support school meal programs because we believe it will create a lasting impact on future generations and our industry as a whole.”
According to a press release, these training sessions include both demonstration and sampling of five dishes from Chef Todd's USDA school meal recipe collection, each aiming to promote under-consumed vegetable categories, such as dark green, red/orange, and legume. Each person trained receives Culinary Skills Training and Smarter Lunchrooms Strategies continuing education credit, authorized by the Department of Education and USDA Team Nutrition program.
"When my business received the opportunity to create a USDA Team Nutrition curriculum for school foodservice personnel focused on promoting vegetables, I felt strongly that the leaders of the produce industry—like Duda Farm Fresh Foods —needed to be involved," added Taylor. "In one week, the live training sessions starring Chef Todd Fisher have impacted over 10 million annual school meals. The current audience of the forthcoming digital curriculum represents over 1 billion annual school meals across the United States.”
Dubbed “the largest restaurant in town,” school districts are responsible for providing healthy meals and snacks to thousands of children each day in their respective cities. As the company shared in its release, this fuels Duda Farm Fresh Foods’ passion for supporting The Produce Mom and participating in the USDA Team Nutrition program as they encourage students to make healthy choices—choices that will determine lifelong patterns and shape generations to come.
