What do you do after retiring at the height of your career? For West Sacramento resident Paula Tapia, the answer is: keep going! After 14 years as Cook Manager at Westmore Oaks Elementary, Paula officially retired in June. Just prior to retiring, she was named 2018 Classified Employee of the Year by Washington Unified School District (WUSD) and received an Excellence in Education award from the Yolo County School Boards Association. Now Paula will step into a new role in four WUSD schools as Coordinator for Yolo Farm to Fork’s Growing Lunch Program.

The new role seems a natural fit for Paula, who as Cook Manager was well-known for her enthusiastic approach to improving student nutrition. She regularly surveyed students in the cafeteria on which kinds of new foods they might want to try. Her biggest challenge over the years? Coaxing students to up their veggie intake. According to Paula, “I’d been trying for years to push the kids to eat more vegetables.” A few years ago, she experienced a watershed moment while volunteering with the school’s Garden Club when she saw a way to bridge the gap between the garden and cafeteria.  

“It seemed so logical to take [school garden produce] into the cafeteria,” Paula recalls. She began offering students samples of the garden produce in the cafeteria - as she puts it, “Costco-style, with tongs!” Paula notes, “That’s when I noticed a change. When [students] know it’s from the garden, they’re more likely to try it. All they [have] to do is get a taste for it.” She observed the new approach working as students tried and liked a surprising array of new vegetables including kale chips, fava beans, and unusual varieties of romaine lettuce.

In her new position as Growing Lunch Coordinator, Paula intends to spread the same success she witnessed at Westmore Oaks to three additional WUSD schools: Elkhorn Village, Stonegate, and Westfield. Since the program’s launch in fall of 2016 by local nonprofit Yolo Farm to Fork (YF2F), it has yielded “over 3,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals”, according to the YF2F website. The program aims to “[empower] K-6 students to learn how to grow, harvest and eat healthy, fresh produce at school, while sustaining edible gardens”.

To assist the Growing Lunch program’s expansion in West Sacramento schools this year, Paula plans to enlist help from numerous partners. “We have the best community support,” she beams, listing Fiery Ginger Urban farm, the City of West Sacramento’s Kidzone program, the school district, and Raley’s as key partners.

Fiery Ginger Farm provides veggie starts and seeds to the school garden sites. Kidzone participants can choose to help in the school gardens on a regular basis this year. As a long-time supporter of Paula’s efforts, WUSD Director of Food Services Karri Pina continues to support the Growing Lunch program as it expands within the district.

Funding for this year’s Growing Lunch program comes from an Extra Credit Grant generously provided by Raley’s. Community Coordinator Megan Riggs commented, “Raley’s is committed to infusing life with health and happiness. Our Extra Credit program invests in our future through food literacy and sustainability, while creating the next generation of healthy eaters. The Growing Lunch program does just that. Empowering children not only to try new foods, but grow them too and instilling the importance of good nutrition are the perfect ingredients to creating the next generation of healthy eaters.”

Since June, Paula has been enjoying playing more golf and sleeping in past the 3:30am wake-up time required by her Cook Manager days. But she doubts she will be finding herself bored any time soon. cafeteria.