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Dr. Betty Crocker
Lodi Unified School District
In the summer of 2024, Betty launched a 10-day non-congregate meal service in Lockeford, CA, providing essential support to over 1,500 families. Thanks to her leadership, the team was able to distribute 64,000 meals in a single day and a total of 257,000 meals, resulting in a remarkable 300% increase in Summer SSO participation. She worked closely with local partners, including the food bank, California Highway Patrol, Sheriff's Department, and community centers, to organize a large-scale food distribution event that ensured more families had access to nutritious meals.
Betty has been a driving force in creating access to nutrition, no matter the circumstance. From March 2020 to August of 2022, she served over 9 million meals to families during COVID-19, ensuring critical support for communities in need. Today, she oversees the nation’s largest USDA Foods collaborative and plays a key role in influencing school nutrition policy. Her unwavering dedication continues to shape the future of student nutrition, making a lasting impact on the field.
Betty has dedicated herself to fostering strong partnerships within the local food system, bridging the gap between schools and local farmers. In 2024, the nominee integrated unprocessed apples directly from a local farm in the school systems through systematic processing. These connections provide students with fresh, minimally processed, and nutritious produce, introducing them to new fruits and vegetables while promoting healthier eating habits. She is a champion for the education of students on the importance of sustainable food systems.
Betty has established ongoing professional development opportunities for her team, ensuring continuous growth and excellence in school nutrition services. In 2023-2024, she organized training at Pacific Coast Producers, Eli's Apple Farm, Domino's Soil Born Farms, and the CaliVirgin Olive Oil Company, covering key topics such as food safety, meal preparation, nutrition education, and customer service. With around 60 team members attending each session, these initiatives enhance staff expertise, foster collaboration, and improve program efficiency, ultimately empowering her team to deliver high-quality school meals and uphold the highest standards.
Betty is actively leading a comprehensive restructuring of the Nutrition Services Department to enhance efficiency, strengthen operations, and foster professional growth within her team. This initiative includes the creation of new positions to better support program needs, the elevation of team members into leadership roles, and the optimization of workflows to improve service delivery. By investing in her staff and refining departmental structure, she is building a more dynamic and effective team, ensuring long-term success in providing high-quality nutrition services to students.
Betty developed strong partnerships with the curriculum department and 20 teachers to implement a hydroponic garden program across the district. This program integrates Fork Farm Hydroponic Garden curriculum with Flex Farm gardens in classrooms and cafeterias, offering students hands-on, edible nutrition education. The initiative allows students to grow lettuce and other produce, which is then served in the lunch salad bar, promoting a hyper-local food system. This collaboration strengthened ties between nutrition services, teachers, and students, creating a lasting impact on both education and the school foodservice program.
In October of 2024, Betty spearheaded a large-scale Family Luncheon and Farmers Market in collaboration with the principal of an elementary school in a high-need area. Leveraging her Local Foods for Schools Funds, along with a food truck and grills, she created a welcoming Farm-to-Table experience for students and their families in celebration of National School Lunch Week. Over 600 students were served a pirate-themed BBQ lunch, each receiving a canvas bag filled with locally grown produce, including a pumpkin, and recipes to complement each of the six featured items.
Betty has served as CSNA Public Policy and Legislation Co-Chair and will soon be the chair-Watch out world! As well as a board member of the CSNA chapter 45 Motherlode soon to be President. She has been instrumental in elevating the program by bringing in a variety of speakers and training opportunities to the members of her chapter. The nominee has created an inclusive atmosphere for members of school districts and industry partners to be able to connect and learn from each other to further their efforts and advocacy for feeding students. Our nominee is headed to the white house to fight for school nutrition in true lunch hero style.
Betty has stepped up to the plate making Lodi unified school district the lead district for Super Co-Op. This is a big seat that she has gracefully accepted. Betty works with a number of districts from all over the state of California. Building a bridge that connects school districts and industry partners Betty is at the center of it all!
Dr. Betty Crocker deserves to be recognized for her contributions and efforts in school nutrition. We are proud to have a fearless leader who shares the same passion we do...Feeding the kids!
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