ANC25: New Learnings, New Friends
The School Nutrition Association Annual National Conference (ANC25) took place in July in San Antonio and the Fork Farms team was busy and engaged on the show floor. More than 6,000 nutrition professionals attended, making it a central gathering for innovation and insights in K–12 food service. A massive exhibit hall hosted nearly 360 exhibitors, displaying culinary trends, food service technology, and new products for school meal programs.
New Food Service Trends
More than 120 education sessions, including general sessions, workshops, and learning bursts covering Nutrition, Farm-to-school Integration (including hydroponic systems and scratch cooking), Operations, Administration, Communications, and Marketing were part of this conference that served as a hub to drive collaboration and best practice sharing among directors, industry leaders, and allied professionals.
Some trends the Fork Farms team saw showcased during the event were reduced-sugar cereals, allergy-safe meal options, clean food, plant-based snacks, smaller production, and tools to support compliance with emerging school meal regulations. Demonstrations and resources highlighted strategies for scratch cooking, multicultural menu items, and farm-to-table procurement techniques. The event also showcased the importance of local sourcing, self-sufficiency, menu diversity, and student engagement in expanding participation and satisfaction in school meals.
Hydroponics Education
Maggie Mae Kennedy, SNS, and Sue Malesa from Fork Farms shared their respective experiences and insights in “Fresh Food, Fresh Ideas: Indoor Hydroponics,” a Learning Burst education session. Kennedy serves as assistant director of student nutrition services for Spring Branch Independent School District (ISD) in Texas where she has launched a hydroponics-based, hands-on, agriculture and nutrition education program with the help of Flex Farms from Fork Farms and Malesa, a former foodservice director in Wisconsin schools.
In their session, Kennedy and Malesa discussed that while hydroponics in schools isn’t brand new, interest is growing as districts seek fresh, flexible, and educational food-grown options in place of processed meals. They stressed the key importance of building relationships between students and food service staff, and how hydroponics for food service staff is both a nutrition intervention and a teaching tool that supports student engagement with hands‑on exploration and healthier eating habits.
You can read more about the great work Kennedy is doing in Texas in this article entitled “Just Add Water: Hydroponic gardens in school cafeterias feed salad bars and fertile minds alike”.
Connection and Growth
Fork Farms had five Flex Farms at ANC25 where current partners came by to celebrate hydroponics, and discuss expanding their systems to larger Flex Connect programs in order to grow even more fresh food for their schools. New potential partners came to learn and explore more about how Flex Farms are providing the tools to grow fresh food to students, right in their schools. This was an incredible opportunity for our team to learn about how we can solve problems around food access and education all over the country.
Fork Farms also learned that food service directors are looking for something new to engage students and are exploring unique ways to help their departments be more self-sufficient. With one Flex Farm providing 250 servings of fresh food each month, we found out that food service directors are more than excited to have the opportunity to feed their whole district and make a significant impact.
At ANC25, Fork Farms also showcased the new Flex Micro – an all-in-one system to grow seedlings, microgreens, or both simultaneously! A fully stocked Flex Micro can grow up to 2,400 seedlings at one time.
ANC25 was a smashing success for the Fork Farms team, and we are elated to be able to bring more fresh food to more students across the country this school year and beyond. Reach out to find out how your students or community can access year-round fresh food.
