ONTARIO, Calif. — As the school year kicks off in California, Gold Star Foods Inc. (Gold Star) is reaffirming its commitment to delivering high-quality and nutritious ingredients to millions of children across the Southwest. Recognized as a partner in developing high-quality student meal programs, Gold Star supplies more than 500 school districts, which collectively serve more than 3.3 million meals per day, with fresh and local ingredients.
"The start of the school year is always an exciting time for us," said Sean Leer, CEO of Gold Star Foods Inc. "Transforming the student nutrition supply chain remains a top priority for us because every child deserves access to fresh and delicious meals, and it's great to see students excited about what's on their lunch trays."
The implementation of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act as well as society's changing attitudes about child nutrition has changed the way Gold Star conducts business. No longer "just a box mover," Gold Star offers meaningful and sustainable solutions to assist schools in effectively managing their school lunch programs.
As a part of its commitment to student nutrition, Gold Star has developed a comprehensive strategy to ensure that the foods they provide to children are the safest, healthiest and most ethically-sound available. Gold Star is proud to offer the following programs:
- Made in California Food Products
- Fresh Meal Solutions – Gold Star provides students with freshly prepared, nutritious meals that meet federal Child Nutrition Program regulations.
- Green Business Practices – Gold Star cares about the environment and continuously searches for ways to reduce its environmental impact. As such, the company has developed a state-of-the-art facility and fleet protocol, which strives to reduce the company's carbon footprint.
- Program Compliance – Gold Star supports schools with administrative review in areas such as food safety, nutrition quality and meal patterns, procurement, USDA foods and more.
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Locally Sourced Food – 72 percent of all Gold Star fresh bread and produce are manufactured or grown within a 250-mile radius of the company's headquarters in Ontario, California. Many of the fresh items off children's school trays include:
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- Apples – Fresno
- Broccoli and Cabbage – Salinas/Oxnard
- Cucumbers – Imperial Valley
- Grapes – Kern
- Tomatoes – Kern/Bakersfield
- Sustainably Grown California Wheat – Hanford
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Keeping up with the demands of this changing food system requires partnerships and investments with farmers and suppliers. This complex program calls on organizational commitment to deliver results to each student's tray.
Gold Star looks forward to working with its partners to ensure that students get the freshest and most nutritious foods available.
About Gold Star Foods
Founded in 1978, Gold Star Foods Inc. is the nation's leading nutritional food distributor to K-12 schools with operations in California, Arizona and Nevada, supplying more than 500 school districts and serving more than 3.3 million meals per day. Headquartered in Ontario, California, Gold Star manages a comprehensive supply chain that ensures the reliable delivery of fresh bread and produce, as well as refrigerated, frozen and dry menu items. For more information about Gold Star Foods, visit: www.goldstarfoods.com.
Source: Gold Star Foods Inc.