Polk County Public Schools

News Release

Polk Schools Foodservice Director Is Finalist For Prestigious Industry Award

April 24, 2009

Marcia Smith, a Winter Haven resident and the foodservice director of the Polk Public Schools for the past 26 years, is one of nine national finalists for one of the foodservice industry’s most prestigious awards.

The Chicago-based International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) named Smith and eight others as 2009 Silver Plate Award winners and finalists for the 2009 Gold Plate Award and title of Foodservice Operator Of The Year. One winner will be announced May 18 at the association’s Gold & Silver Plate Celebration in Chicago.

Smith won the Silver Plate in the Elementary & Secondary Schools category. The eight other finalists along with Smith for the Gold Plate include the President & CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings, the Vice Chairman, CEO of McDonald’s, the Director of Dining Services at Princeton University and the Vice President and General Manager of the Ritz Carlton, San Francisco. Click here to view a list of all nine Silver Plate winners and Gold Plate finalists.

According to an IFMA news release, Smith received the Silver Plate based on some of the following criteria:

• In recent years, the school district’s lunch service has increased by 10 percent and breakfasts served have increased by 19 percent. More than 80 percent of Polk’s students take school lunches, one of the highest percentages in the country.
• The foodservice department involves students in menu development and provides eating environments conducive to socialization and food enjoyment. The department is also credited with creating menu promotions making eating fun. Menu input from students includes tasting parties, focus groups and surveys.
• The department has extensive professional development and training programs with subject areas that include sanitation/safety, nutrition, quality cooking and equipment use and care.
• The department’s promotion of National School Lunch Week and National School Breakfast Week.

Smith oversees a foodservice department that serves 78,000 meals daily and has 900 employees. Smith’s department annually oversees the production and service of more than 3 million breakfasts, 10.7 million lunches, 355,000 afterschool snacks and 287,000 summer meals. The annual foodservice budget is $40 million.

Smith has held numerous positions with the School Nutrition Association and was the organization’s president in 2001-2002. Smith was named the 2004 Golden School Foodservice Director of the Year, a program of the Foodservice Achievement Management Excellence Awards.