Good nutrition and learning go hand in hand. 
The Nutrition Services department is made up of a team of food and nutrition professionals that are dedicated to students' health, well being and their ability to learn. We support learning by promoting healthy habits for lifelong nutrition and fitness practices.
About the Child Nutrition Department
The School City of Hammond Child Nutrition Department has been nationally recognized as a “District of Excellence,” the first child nutrition program in the United States to have been awarded this distinction.
Our child nutrition program is located in 22 schools with a population of about 14,500 students. The operating budget is approximately $7.5 million. We are self-operated (not operated by a management company). All meals are freshly prepared onsite in each of our onsite school kitchens. We do not operate a centralized food production facility, nor do we satellite to other locations, our freshness guarantee.
Meals, foods and beverages sold or served at schools meet state and federal requirements which are based on the USDA Dietary Guidelines. We provide students with access to a variety of affordable and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students.
Mission Statement
The Child Nutrition Department of the School City of Hammond provides excellent quality meals, prepared and served in a safe, sanitary, and pleasant environment, while reinforcing healthy eating patterns for students, staff, and their families.
Menus are nutritionally analyzed with a software program called NutriKids to ensure nutritional integrity of all meals. Our menus average 30% of calories from fat (or less).
We are self-funded as we generate our own income, and pay our own operational expenses, with no reliance on local taxpayers or the school district general fund.
Approximately 98% of our employees have taken a food service sanitation course, sponsored by the National Restaurant Association, and our school cafeterias are inspected twice each year by the Lake County Health Department. We proudly say a perfect score of 100% is the norm.
Our customers include Pre-Kindergarten, Headstart, K-12 students, teachers and staff, and adult students in our adult education program. We operate year-round with breakfast, lunch, after school snacks, and a summer child nutrition program.
