Concordia Charter School in Mesa, Arizona is small. It sits in what locals call the C.A.N.D.O. Neighborhood. Roughly 70% of its students face food insecurity at home. None of that stopped the school from pushing its lunch program into scratch cooking, local procurement, and a farm-to-school curriculum that brings students into the garden and the kitchen — a project supported by an HMI grant from USDA and Action for Healthy Kids.
The school's mission centers on whole-child wellness, and Nutrition Director Iris Tirado treats the cafeteria as part of that work, not a service department. "We believe scratch cooking yields the top-quality meals our students deserve," Tirado says. "It gives us the freedom to provide high-quality meals that represent and connect with our students in a meaningful way."
Equipment that makes scratch cooking possible
Concordia used HMI funds to close specific operational gaps that were blocking the program. Two stand out: a walk-in cooler that increases the school's capacity to hold fresh produce, and nutrition analysis software that speeds up recipe development and menu compliance work. Together, those upgrades shift the balance on every menu decision — it's now easier to use fresh ingredients than to reach for canned or pre-processed substitutes.
A structured training calendar, not a one-time workshop
Tirado joined the Chef Ann Foundation's Healthy School Food Pathway Fellowship to deepen her own practice, and the school runs four hours of specialized staff training each month. The curriculum covers scratch cooking techniques, local food procurement, and how to integrate food into classroom learning.
"Building this foundation in our team creates an environment where students see food preparation as part of their learning," Tirado explains. "It reinforces healthy eating habits, which can impact their well-being far beyond the school cafeteria."
Partners that extend what one school can do
Concordia is small enough that partnerships aren't optional — they're what makes the program possible. The school works with the Blue Watermelon Project, Sun Produce Cooperative Foundation, and the Arizona Farm to School Network to keep the pipeline of local produce steady and to keep the farm-to-school curriculum current.
"Our Farm to School program and partnerships enable us to make a meaningful impact," says Tirado. "It's about creating a strong, sustainable program that we can maintain and grow over time."
The garden, the chickens, and the next grade
Farm to School Coordinator James Lang runs the school garden, where students plant, grow, and harvest — and help care for a small flock of chickens whose eggs feed the meal program. The school is adding monthly food demonstrations, educational presentations, and events that walk students through where ingredients come from and why that matters.