FoodLab - Pacific School's Award-Winning School Lunch Program

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The current Monthly FoodLab Menu can be found at the top of the Menu and Calendar page.

​Foodlab Welcome Letter 2024-25
Breakfast and Lunch Free for Students
  • Students are now served breakfast and lunch each day, and all meals are free for all students. 
  • Adult/guest breakfasts are $4.00 and adult/guest lunches are $7.00 and must be paid for in advance at the office.
Every meal distributed helps support Pacific School's unique and award-winning FoodLab program! Although student meals are free, our program costs more to operate than we receive in state and federal reimbursements. If you would like to contribute to the cost of your student's meals, please make your checks payable to Pacific School and put Student Meals in the memo line. Your donation is tax-deductible.
Community Food: If your family or someone you know needs food, use this map  and this flyer to determine other meal and food pick-up locations and times.
Support FoodLab
Pacific School's award-winning FoodLab program is supported by Friends of FoodLab. Thank you to everyone who supports Friends of FoodLab by donating money, time, or food, or attending our annual Farm-to-Table event. Click here to learn how to support FoodLab.
FoodLab Forms and Information
  • Request Special Meals Form  (Available Here) - Use this form to request special meal accommodations for your student; submit to Pacific School Office.
  • Pacific School's Wellness Policy is available here.

​If your student is eligible for Free and Reduced Price lunches, you may also be eligible for the following programs:
Adult Lunch System
Adults are welcome to eat the school lunch. All adults who eat Pacific School's award winning lunches must pay in advance in the office:
  • Staff, Substitutes, and UCSC Interns: $4.00 per lunch.
  • All other adults, parent volunteers, non-enrolled siblings, etc.: $7.00 per lunch. 
After you prepay for your lunches in the school office, you will be issued a bar code card with your family name on it. Each time you eat lunch, remove the card from the wall hanging and place in in the basket by the plates. Children may NOT nibble for free from parents' plates, the price is per person eating.

Paying for Lunches
Please pay in advance for adult meals. The school accepts cash or checks only. Please clearly indicate on your check that the money is adult meals.

Introduction to FoodLab
Description
As a Green Certified Public School in Santa Cruz County with the world renowned, award winning kitchen classroom, FoodLab, we involve students in every aspect of our school meal program—planning, planting, harvesting, cooking, serving and eating local, organic, healthy meals.
 
Mission
The mission of this program is to educate the whole child by teaching them life-long skills such as leadership, teamwork, environmental stewardship and culinary arts, while reinforcing every academic subject covered in the traditional classroom. 

History
In September of 1984, Pacific School began a very unique lunch program in which students in the fifth and sixth grades plan and prepare student lunches on a daily basis. The Food Lab program was created by Stephanie Raugust and has been continued and expanded upon by the current Food Lab Coordinator Emelia Miguel. FoodLab has been recognized with numerous rewards and visitors, both nationally and internationally.

Sample Menus from Previous Months:
FoodLab Featured in EdSource 
​Check out this awesome Video and Article about Pacific School's FoodLab program! FoodLab is also described in this Podcast.

How FoodLab Works
Fifth and sixth graders go into the kitchen once a week in groups of 5 to 7, to work with FoodLab Coordinator Emelia Miguel. Each child has a position - Prep person, Cook, Manager, and Baker - and positions are rotated every month.

Six Areas of Learning for FoodLab Success
The best thing about FoodLab is its effect on the students. Sixth graders who have been in the program for two years are self-confident problem solvers who are knowledgeable about nutrition and connected to their community and to the sources of their food. It's no wonder that the FoodLab program has won so many awards!
  1. Kitchen Skills. The children learn to use knives and other kitchen equipment properly in an environment of strict health and safety instruction. They learn about good nutrition in a cooperative environment where learning to work with others is a necessity.
  2.  Connection to Life Lab. The FoodLab program works in tandem with the Life Lab program, where children plan, tend, and harvest their plots in the school garden - all to provide produce for Food Lab.
  3. Learning about our rich agricultural community. The area around Davenport is abundant with small, organic farms, several of which send their children to the school.
  4. Cultural and Historical connections with food. Menus are planned with diverse cultural holidays in mind, giving the children the chance to experience food from around the world. 
  5. Applied math and science skills. In FoodLab, students learn about units of weight and measurement. They are responsible for multiplying recipes and also learn how to calculate nutrition and serving size.
  6. Developing social skills. During school meals, children are expected to learn and use etiquette, such as putting their napkins in their laps and asking for things to be passed. The cooks are praised, and everyone is aware of the efforts of the people in FoodLab that day. In this way, they learn to recognize and appreciate each other's work, and to feel the satisfaction of a job well done as they see others eating the food that they prepared.
Donations and Volunteer Opportunities
If you would like to donate to FoodLab, please bring or mail your check to the school office (Pacific Elementary School, P.O. Box H, Davenport, CA 95017). Make your check out to Pacific School with FoodLab in the memo field or use the DONATE button on the home page of the school's website.

If you are interested in volunteering to support FoodLab, click here, or speak with Food Services Director Emelia Miguel.
Non-Discrimination Statement
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the state or local agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027 (PDF), found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call 866-632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
  1. mail:
    U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
    1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410
    Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

  2. fax:
    202-690-7442; or

  3. email:
    [email protected].

​This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
"FoodLab is better than recess."
​- Fifth grader
“If I lived in Santa Cruz, I would send my kid here because this is the best food of any school I’ve seen.” - School Kitchen Health Inspector
Preschool field trip to Food Lab during distance learning in 2021.
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Ms. Emelia and FoodLab students cooking at the Boardwalk's annual Clam Chowder Cookoff. They won 2nd place in the Professional Themes category.
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Stephanie Raugust, founder of FoodLab, and Emelia Miguel, current FoodLab Director