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Lunch Applications


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USDA Dietary Guidelines
Smart Snacks In School

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California Thursdays


Join us in celebrating
California Food
for California Kids!


Thursdays district wide our students are served healthy, freshly prepared meals made with California sourced ingredients.

Learn more about this effort to serve California food to California kids here

 

Online Payments: MySchoolBucks
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Ready for the 2023-24 school year?

 

Complete the Preserve School Funding & Family Benefit application today (formerly known as the meal application form).

 

Even though we are serving all meals for free, your completed application may qualify your family for additional services in our community. 

    • Discounted /free internet
    • Discounted PG&E
    • Waived fees for PSAT & SAT testing
    • P-EBT and EBT benefits

Complete your application online in the privacy of your home. All information provided is confidential and-by law- can not be shared.

Click rocket scan image to open the application portal.

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Did You Know that we Have a Food Truck?

It's true! During SY 2022-23 we asked our High School students to name the truck and design art for the truck. And, they delivered!! 

Thank you to Harbor High student Kaz Johnson for naming our food truck and to Soquel High student Damien Miller for creating a design that captured the name and our brand. Job well done!!

A picture that presents a mock-up of the student design for the food truck.

 

Program Recognition

Recognized by the California Department of Education for our participation in Farm-2-summer month in 2022 and 2023.

Recognized by the USDA for as an "outstanding summer meal program." We are one of a small group of California school districts to earn the silver "Turnip the beet" certificate. 

Awarded the CDFA Farm to School Incubator grant, to develop our "plant-to-plate meets farm-to-school" mission! 

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Harvest of the Month

 

Starting in the 2022-2023, the Santa Cruz City Schools food and nutrition department has committed to reinvigorating our harvest of the month program. Students are offered seasonal and locally sourced produce in every cafeteria, all year. Our goal is to provide all students the opportunity to connect the foods they see in their cafeteria space with their own health, as well as the health of their families, community, and environment.

 

 

Surf City Cafes and Life Lab

 

We are happy to be in partnership with Life Lab!

Our students see a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in their school cafeteria. 

Thanks to life lab garden educators, many students see the same fruits and veggies growing in their school gardens. This encourages students to make the plant-to-plate connection!

Visit the life lab page linked below to learn more about the experiential learning that the garden classroom can provide. For educators and administrators, life lab has collected resources to make it easier for food and plant based lessons to reach students in the traditional classroom as well. To check these out, visit lifelabpartnerschools.org 

Learn more about 

Life Lab here

the organization logo for Life Lab garden organization

Committed to Supporting our Kids

and our Community:

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Smit Farms: Apples from Linden, Ca

Know your Farmer, Conoce Al Granjero

Fruitguys: Organic fruits from small farms and orchards in California

Coke Farm: Organic fruits and veg from small farms in California.

Know Your Farmer, Conoce Al Granjero

Brisa Ranch: Organic vegetables grown in Pescadero, Ca

Know Your Farmer, Conoce Al Granjero

Induchucuiti Organic Farm: Organic vegetables grown in Salinas, Ca

Know Your Farmer, Conoce Al Granjero

 

Check back as we add new partnerships.

 

Farm to School Bulletins:

Celebrate the season with coloring sheets, activities and recipes! These bulletins make it easy to bring a little seasonal food based education home. Learn about our partner in farm-to-school: fruitguysfarmtoschool.com

School Bulletin

Boletin Escolar

Our Mission

Surf City Café strives to provide healthy, tasty and appealing meals using local ingredients whenever possible and to give fun and friendly, informed customer service and nutritional education to all our students in a positive, equitable and safe environment.

Meals, foods and beverages sold or served at schools meet state and federal requirements which are based on the USDA Dietary Guidelines. We provide students with access to a variety of affordable and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students.

We also provide nutritional support for each school to assure maximum student achievement, adhering to the nutritional standards set by the USDA in the National School Lunch Program. Surf City Café staff assigned to individual schools ensure that breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper and after school snack programs throughout the district meet the needs of students and staff. Our office is located on the DeLaveaga Elementary campus.

 


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What We Stand For

  • We are committed to meeting and exceeding the standards of California Wellness policy and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
  • We prepare foods with no trans fats or high fructose corn syrup and seek to minimize saturated fats, sugar, Sodium and fatty foods whenever possible.
  • We NEVER fry food.
  • We search for foods with the least amount of additives, sweeteners, salts, sugars, colors and preservatives.
  • We buy as much locally grown produce as possible, shopping within the seasons to provide quality and value as well as a wide variety of foods.
  • We pride ourselves on nutrition education.
  • We are partnering with our community organizations as well as our own staff to continue to teach students and parents alike about the importance and value of choosing local, fresh seasonal foods and eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. 
  • We are committed to minimizing our environmental impact by using local vendors and farmers and thus promoting the local economy and socially just business practices.
  • We use only natural, Green biodegradable cleaning products and recyclable or biodegradable products wherever possible.
  • We are committed to all of this while providing value in the choices we offer, and we are mindful of waste and efficiency so as to meet or exceed to our fiscal responsibilities.

 

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Whats newCateringGo Breakfast!Healthy Snacks


Notice: The California Revenue and Taxation Code (RTC) Section 19853(b) requires local educational agencies (LEA) that operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to annually notify households about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Information Act.

Earned Income Tax Credit Information Act Communication

 
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