Awards & Recognition

DCSD receives Golden Radish Award for Farm to School accomplishments.

DCSD was recently honored with a Golden Radish Award by Georgia’s Departments of Agriculture, Education and Public Health, as well as the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and Georgia Organics for its outstanding farm to school program.

The district was recognized at the Sliver level for its accomplishments during the 2016-17 school year, including:

  • Offering 355 taste tests of locally grown produce utilizing recipes that featured school garden grown items like kale pesto, radish bruschetta, and carrot and kale stir-fry.
  • Integrating farm to school into the curriculum through science, technology, engineering, math, and health.
  • Parents and volunteers hosted school farmer’s markets to raise money for the school garden by selling garden grown produce.

On Monday October 24, 2016, DeKalb County School Nutrition Services received the Golden Radish Award for Farm to School Accomplishments.
Georgia’s Departments of Agriculture, Public Health, Education and Georgia Organics met at the State Capitol for the annual Golden Radish Awards to celebrate incredible gains made in the farm to school movement. The Golden Radish Award publicly recognizes school districts for all aspects of farm to school, from local food procurement to hosting taste tests to gardening with students, and is awarded at Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorary Levels. Districts were evaluated on their work in ten different activities of farm to school. DeKalb County School District was recognized at the Bronze level for their accomplishments during the 2015-2016 school year, which included:
  • Over 740,000 meals featured a locally grown item.
  • Students taste tested a variety of local foods in the cafeteria and through cooking lessons, including radish bruschetta, sauerkraut, cabbage stir fry, and sweet potato smoothies.
  • Forty-five field trips during the school year gave students the opportunity to visit farms and experience agriculture first-hand.
  • Twenty-six edible school gardens maintained by students, staff, and local community members. The district partners with the Fernbank Science Center to provide in-depth training for educators and volunteers to become Master School

Best Practice Awards Recognition Program – National School Lunch Week (October 6 – 10, 2016)

DeKalb County School Nutrition Services earned two Best Practices Awards on October 6, 2016: Promoting a Healthy School Environment and Customer Service – Working Smarter Not Harder for outstanding practices in the State of Georgia.

The Farm to School Initiative, Fundraiser Strategies were added to the revised Wellness Policy/Regulation. School Nutrition Services was recognized for implementing a district wide Wellness Policy Assessment Evaluation Checklist. This tool is used to evaluate school-based wellness activities for annual compliance.

The District’s Summer Feeding Program was recognized for serving high quality meals to ensure all children have access to meals during the summer months. DeKalb County School Nutrition Services operates two programs simultaneously during the summer providing meals to the students of the District.

To work smarter, not harder and to provide great customer service, School Nutrition Services utilized three central meal preparation hub sites that provided meals to 55 DeKalb Parks and Recreation Programs. Onsite meal preparation was conducted at 77 schools. The program employed top performing School Nutrition personnel. School Nutrition coordinates program goals with the District, DeKalb County Parks and Recreation Program, DeKalb County Board of Health and Community Outreach Programs.

Certification of School Meal Compliance

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act provides an additional 6-cents per lunch reimbursement to school districts certified to be in compliance with the new meal patterns. DeKalb County Schools, School Nutrition Services has achieved and maintained this certification since School Year 2013-2014. This certification helps with improving the nutrition content for children and program financial integrity.


The back door is the front door to the cafeteria. School Nutrition Services best practice is to maintain a safe and clean facility.DeKalb Board of Health Codes:

(N) Maintaining Premise. The premises shall be free of items that are unnecessary to the operation or maintenance of the establishment such as litter or equipment that is nonfunctional or no longer used.

(R) Frequency. Refuse, recyclables, and returnable shall be removed from the premise at a frequency that will minimize the development of objectionable odors and other conditions that attract or harbor insects and rodents.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

  1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
  2. fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
  3. email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Los demás programas de asistencia nutricional del FNS, las agencias estatales y locales, y susbeneficiarios secundarios, deben publicar el siguiente Aviso de No Discriminación:De conformidad con la Ley Federal de Derechos Civiles y los reglamentos y políticas de derechos civiles del Departamento de Agricultura de los EE. UU. (USDA, por sus siglas en inglés), se prohíbe que el USDA, sus agencias, oficinas, empleados e instituciones que participan o administran programas del USDA discriminen sobre la base de raza, color, nacionalidad, sexo, discapacidad, edad, o en represalia o venganza por actividades previas de derechos civiles en algún programa o actividad realizados o financiados por el USDA.Las personas con discapacidades que necesiten medios alternativos para la comunicación de la información del programa (por ejemplo, sistema Braille, letras grandes, cintas de audio, lenguaje de señas americano, etc.), deben ponerse en contacto con la agencia (estatal o local) en la que solicitaron los beneficios. Las personas sordas, con dificultades de audición o discapacidades del habla pueden comunicarse con el USDA por medio del Federal Relay Service [Servicio Federal de Retransmisión] al (800) 877‐8339. Además, la información del programa se puede proporcionar en otros idiomas.Para presentar una denuncia de discriminación, complete el Formulario de Denuncia de Discriminación del Programa del USDA, (AD‐3027) que está disponible en línea en: http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Spanish_Form_508_Compliant_6_8_12_ 0.pdf. y en cualquier oficina del USDA, o bien escriba una carta dirigida al USDA e incluya en la carta toda la información solicitada en el formulario. Para solicitar una copia del formulario de denuncia, llame al (866) 632‐9992. Haga llegar su formulario lleno o carta al USDA por:(1)  correo: U.S. Department of AgricultureOffice of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250‐9410;(2)  fax: (202) 690‐7442; o(3) correo electrónico: program.intake@usda.gov.Esta institución es un proveedor que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades.