(Pavillion, WY) – The food service program at Wind River schools has been dealing with weekly supply chain shortages, according to a report to the Fremont County School District 6 Board of Trustees this month.
The products affected by the supply chain shortage change every week and are hard to predict, food service coordinator Kylie O’Neal said.
“Typically, we are finding out what we are shorted on when the truck arrives on Mondays,” she wrote.
On March 14, she said shortages affected cereal, frozen chicken, canned and fresh vegetables, fresh apples, bananas, juice, cream cheese, chicken patties and nuggets.
The unpredictable deliveries have led to “a lot of menu changes,” O’Neal said, making it “a struggle” to meet state requirements for student meals.
On a positive note, O’Neal said beef donations from the community have “helped our program so much this year.”
“We have literally had a ton of meat donated this school,” she wrote, thanking the McCann family, which donated around 350 pounds of ground beef; the Jake Nicolas family, which donated a cow that is currently in the butcher process; and the Robbinett family, which donated a cow that will be processed in April. “The fresh beef makes our meals so much better, and we are very grateful.”
She said Wind River schools served 2,109 breakfasts and 4,505 lunches during the month of January.