09/02/2026
The Secret Ingredient: Culture Of Safety
By Sharon Meady
School Area Supervisor - HACCP/Emergency Management
School Nutrition
September is National Food Safety Education Month. Every Wednesday this month, we’re taking you behind the scenes to highlight a different part of our food safety program and show how we help keep everyone who eats in our cafeterias safe.
As the supervisor of our food safety efforts, I can tell you that food safety isn’t something we think about only in September. It’s part of every school day from the time our cafeteria teams return in August until the last day of school in May.
Our School Nutrition program follows a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan. That simply means we have a step-by-step process to help keep food safe from the time it arrives until it’s served. We check temperatures, watch food preparation and fix problems right away if something isn’t right.
Each month, our cafeteria teams train on topics like personal hygiene, preventing cross-contamination, cooking foods safely, keeping foods at the right temperatures and proper cleaning and sanitation. That training helps protect our students, our employees and their families.
It takes a team to safely serve nearly 32,000 students every school day. From the first breakfast served to the last lunch tray, our staff works hard to make every meal safe, nutritious and ready to enjoy. Parents can feel confident knowing food safety is a high priority because every bite matters.
***
Every Wednesday at 2 p.m., we’ll share the “ingredients” that help bring our School Nutrition program to life. This institution is an equal opportunity provider: knoxschools.org/studentsfamilies/nutrition.