Debbie Trujillo

Ask the high schoolers at Bernalillo Public Schools to name their favorite cafeteria meal and they will not say pizza or chicken nuggets. They will say red chili pozole. That answer is due to the work of Debbie Trujillo, who grew up in Bernalillo, New Mexico, graduated from its schools, and has spent the better part of 39 years making sure the students who walk those same hallways are fed, cared for, and celebrated. After a brief stint as a state nutritionist and a pandemic-era tribal food program role, she came back the moment Bernalillo called. “I couldn’t see my district, the place I have so much passion for and love so much, being in turmoil,” she says. “So, I came back.” 

As Student Nutrition Services Director for Bernalillo Public Schools, Debbie oversees nine schools and approximately 2,500 students across a wide stretch of New Mexico’s high desert, where the nearest school can be a 45-minute drive from the next. She returned to the role six years ago, and in that time has built one of the most community-rooted foodservice programs in the state. 

Scratch cooking is the foundation of everything Bernalillo serves, covering roughly 90% of the menu. At the high school, a dedicated pizza line turns out an ever-rotating lineup of made-from-scratch pies (pepperoni, veggie, mushroom, green chili, Philly steak) baked in a conveyor oven Debbie secured through a nearly two-million-dollar grant. Last year, students ranked their two favorite meals at a school lunch hero day: red chili pozole and fettuccine alfredo. “You would think high school kids would want pizza or chicken nuggets,” Debbie laughs, “but they wanted our pozole.” The hominy and chili come straight from New Mexico farmers, keeping the menu rooted in the land and traditions surrounding the district.