Board hears food-service review after social-media concerns; district to rebid contract

Kate Murphy, a food-service staff member, told the New Britain Board of Education on Jan. 7 that district food-service monitors visited kitchens and classrooms and did not observe spoiled or expired food.

Nut graf: The presentation laid out the results of site monitoring, corrective actions required by the Connecticut Child Nutrition Administrative Review, and a planned request-for-proposals (RFP) this year to replace the current food-service vendor. Board members and students raised questions about long lunch lines, food variety, allergens and how the district will reduce waste.

Murphy said the district served "close to 900,000 meals since the first day of school" and averages "about 11,700 meals every day." She said she conducted 18 official lunch-site monitoring visits and 12 breakfast-site visits and that the health department inspected three schools with "no findings of moldy or expired food." Murphy said she also reviewed invoices and found that the district had transitioned away from black foam trays last summer and had not ordered peaches or nectarines since the fall.

The…