Angela Richey
Nutrition Services Supervisor; Roseville Area Schools and St. Anthony New-Brighton School District; Roseville, Minnesota
A registered dietitian by trade, Angela Richey brings a strategic, student-centered approach to every menu decision and every ingredient that makes its way onto students’ trays.
Her biggest goals have been to incorporate more local ingredients and scratch cooking into school menus. With support from USDA grants and long-standing partnerships with local organizations like The Good Acre, she’s been able to source and serve Harvest of the Month items and local entrées that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible through traditional vendors. Programs like Minnesota Thursdays have also helped connect kids to the amazing produce, grains and protein grown in their home state.
She has also been able to add dishes like Beef Sambusa, which one student described as “a Somali Hot Pocket.” It’s combined on the menu with a Somali-style rice in collaboration with local spice makers and based on a student-created recipe. It’s these types of meals that don’t just nourish bodies but also tell stories, reflect student identities and connect cultures. Angela says, “Those are the sorts of things that happen when we push more towards scratch cooking.”
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And while on-the-bone chicken might seem unusual in school foodservice, it’s opened up important conversations in the cafeteria. “One principal shared how a student made the connection between their lunch and the animal it came from,” she says. “That’s a cool, teachable moment. It's really important that they see and connect where their food is coming from.”
Creating recipes from scratch takes culinary know-how as well as understanding USDA crediting and nutrition guidelines from the ground up. Still, she thrives on the challenge, drawing inspiration from progressive districts, shared recipe databases, and school nutrition advocates. Angela says, “What's great about K-12 foodservice directors is that we’re not in competition with each other. It's not like the restaurant industry. We can just e-mail a director and say, ‘Hey, I saw this on your Facebook page. Can you share the recipe?’”
