The kitchen staff of Arroyo Grande High School (AGHS) have an essential job that often goes under the radar. Not only do they feed the thousands of students at AGHS, but they’re also in charge of three other local elementary schools while juggling other responsibilities.
The small kitchen staff of AGHS, consisting only of eight staff members, is responsible for preparing, cooking, and serving over 2,400 students from Arroyo Grande High School, Branch Street Elementary, Shell Beach Elementary, and Grover Heights Elementary.
“We feed AG, Branch, Shell Beach, and Grover Heights,” kitchen lead Gaby Andrade said. “[In total] it’s about 2400, 2500 [students].”
Knowing what to cook is also something kitchen staff has to think about.
“A lot [of AGHS students] talk to my staff and tell them what [they] like as [they] go through the [lunch] line, so we just make what [students] like,” Andrade said. “The elementary schools give us a menu.”
On top of the large amounts of food that the kitchen staff of AGHS are required to make, they are also under a time crunch, having to prepare the meals before breakfast and lunch for both the elementary schools and AGHS.
“We begin our prep at 6[am] and then start cooking at 9[am],” Andrade said. “It’s all day cooking.”
While some food is frozen and takes a short time to make, other foods must be made from scratch.
“Some [food] is frozen, the tornados, burritos, and stuff like that,” Andrade said. “But the pizzas we have to make, the pozole we have to make. It’s about half [frozen food] and half [fresh food].”
The kitchen staff of AGHS also makes a separate menu for students with special dietary requirements while carefully ensuring there is no cross-contamination.
“Our director makes a menu for [students with special dietary requirements],” Andrade said. “We’ve all taken the food safety test and know what to do [to avoid cross contamination] since it’s a daily practice for us.”
Between feeding AGHS and the local elementary schools, all while striving to provide the best quality food, the dedication of the kitchen staff of Arroyo Grande High School remains.
