Bring The Real School Nutrition World to Life

In our fast-paced digital world, social media is a powerful tool for school nutrition directors. It allows them to share their unique stories and showcase their teams’ achievements. With an emphasis on healthy school meals, school nutrition directors can shine a spotlight on their employees and the incredible work they do. This not only builds community pride but also encourages involvement from parents and local organizations. By using platforms like Facebook, Instagram and your district's parent app, school nutrition directors can share their experiences, accomplishments, and daily routines in a way that resonates with the community.

With the right photo and AI, you can create a social media post in minutes.

Why Share Your Story?

Sharing your story on social media creates meaningful connections within the community. Parents are still the main decision makers when it comes to whether or not their child will eat with you. When school nutrition directors focus on the dedication and passion of their staff, strict food safety policies and the healthy options on the menu, it fosters trust and support. For example, featuring an employee preparing market fresh salads and sandwiches or creating a scratch recipe in your commercial kitchen can captivate your audience by seeing the sheer volume you produce. Your posts provide a glimpse into the professional world of school nutrition. These stories are to sure to earn your program greater respect and support while building participation. It's also a great way to attract potential employees who find the work you do interesting.

Only Post Photos That Look Great

Capture the essence of your team's hard work by sharing high-quality images and videos. It's not easy to photograph food and it's often worse to use a bad photo than none at all. Natural light is best so take your food to a window or outside or invest in an inexpensive selfie light. A black or wood tone surface can make your food pop rather than look sterile against stainless steel. Lower the angle by keeping your camera at tray level and use the portrait mode on your phone's camera. Take several pictures until you find the one that does justice to your hard work. Behind-the-scenes pictures of staff in action can give the community a real look at what you do and invites them into your profession. Be consistent! Regular posts keep your audience interested and informed. Take 10 minutes once or twice a week to tell your story because the return on your time investment is significant.

Food photo using portrait mode on camera in natural light at low angle.

Canva is a free design program you can use to create great looking posts and flyers. Check with your IT Department, your district may already have a pro subscription that you can use. Glow up your photos or create exciting graphics for a special menu. Use "Did you know?" often to introduce your content. For example, "Did you know we serve fresh tomatoes from a local farm just 25 miles away?" Plenty of your viewers will be excited by that. Not a writer? Use Canva AI or ChatGPT to construct one or two short sentences for your post.

Showcase Staff Achievements

Regularly highlight the achievements of employees. This could be sharing a success story about a recent project or attending a professional development session. Recognizing staff contributions not only celebrates their hard work, it speaks to their dedication to kids. It also helps with employee retention knowing they are appreciated. It's easy to recognize employees through a monthly highlight reel.

Capture the dedication of employees while they're working.

Final Thoughts

By embracing social storytelling, school nutrition directors can effectively showcase their teams' talents and strengths. The biggest reason to embrace social media? You get to tell the story and challenge misconceptions and stereotypes. Let's face it, how many people really understand what you do? Teachers and school secretaries often don't know. Each post is an opportunity to celebrate your creativity, innovation, and commitment. So, grab your phone and start capturing photos that surprise your audience. Get help if you need it from the tech savvy person in your office. Once you get through the learning curve, quick and easy social media posts can be done right from your phone. The trust and respect you gain will translate into higher participation and improved morale.