February 2019 Newsletter
Dear Friends,

Shortly out of culinary school 40 years ago I worked in a Chinese restaurant in New York City. This experience changed my cooking life. I saw how cooks could work together to produce large amounts of food.

I'm not talking about the kind of teamwork where everyone thinks they work well together and they like each other. I'm talking about the kind of teamwork where a highly productive team scratch-cooks delicious food and has fun doing it.

I worked in a school where the cooks transitioned to the janitorial team in the summer months when students were out of session. At the end of the summer after I had been at the school in the spring semester, the manager of the janitorial staff expressed disbelief about the change in the cooks ability to work as a team by saying "they self-organize, divide tasks, and go to work!" The janitorial manager explained that they accomplished twice as much as any previous year.

Check out the videos in this month's newsletter to learn more about creating teamwork in your kitchen. Or contact us for your training needs. With improved teamwork, comes better food and more savings.

Team work makes the dream work!
Get the Recipe! Easy, delicious overnight oats : a perfect addition to your healthy school or hospital breakfast. It takes a team to cook from scratch.
Teamwork in action making hand-breaded chicken fingers for 2,000 students.
Cooking Instruction of the Month
Featured Blog

12 Steps Toward A Money-Saving Sustainable Hospital Food Program

Nine excited hospital staff members at Samuel Mahelona Medical Center in Hawaii feasted on burgers, vegetables, and brownies. A seemingly typical meal. Yet, far from ordinary. This group of people were taste testing new vegan recipes for a sustainable food initiative at the hospital.
 
The burger was made from sweet potatoes and brown rice. The sides featured ulu chips avocado dipping sauce and fresh carrot slaw. The brownies were made with sweet potatoes. Most of the ingredients came from farms a stone’s throw from the hospital. All of the items were prepared from scratch.
 
No one could believe they were eating vegan food. Even those who rarely eat a meal without meat. One taste tester said, “I’m not a vegan but I would certainly eat this meal always! It was delicious and very filling.”
 
In recent decades, institutions have primarily served food from cans and boxes rather than cooking from scratch. Eggs come in liquid form, mashed potatoes arrive as flakes, and meats are pre-cooked and filled with preservatives. But healthy cooking from scratch is possible, and people want healthy food that tastes delicious more than ever.
One Minute Idea to Improve Your Food Service
This month we are focusing on teamwork. Chef Greg explains how teamwork contributes to saving money and optimizing employee performance in your healthy food service operation. A team working together can accomplish more, freeing up time to cook from scratch.
‌
Join Us on the Road
Beyond Green Spring Conference Schedule

Chef Greg will host three panels of innovative school and hospital leaders at three national conferences this spring. Panelists represent non-profit organizations, government, schools, hospitals, and businesses. We hope to see you there!
Healthier Rural West Summit, March 19-21, Salt Lake City, Utah

The  Healthier Rural West Summit  is an inaugural event for health and healthcare stakeholders who want to impact the future of rural health. The 2019 Summit is being held March 19-21 and features both mainstage panels and two breakout tracks featuring more than 60 industry leading speakers and over 30 sessions. 

The Summit will draw 400 rural healthcare providers, public leaders in local and state government, education, community advocacy organizations and business and technology leaders.  In a highly participative format, the event will debate, discuss and formulate success strategies for creating well-being in the West through inspiring talks, interactive sessions, panel discussions and networking.

Learn more and secure your ticket HERE.
National School Board Association Annual Conference & Exposition, March 30-April 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Session title: Greening the School Cafeteria Through Public/Private Partnerships

Council of the Great City Schools (Chief Operating Officers Conference), April 3, Columbus, Ohio

Session title: Successes and Failures of Farm to School Implementation

Green Schools Conference & Expo, April 8-9, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Session Title: Connecting the Cafeteria to the Classroom: How the Cafeteria Can Be a Cornerstone for Learning
Beyond Green in the News
More Local, Healthy Food at Kona Community Hospital
Beyond Green is helping Kona Community Hospital expand their healthy dietary initiative with more local, plant based food.
Thanks again for the continued support. Drop us a line (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or the old fashioned way), we would love to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Greg Christian and the Beyond Green Sustainable Partners Team
312-275-6801