When a determined nine-year-old says emphatically that she “doesn’t like vegetables,” asking her to try a vegetarian sausage may seem like a battle doomed to fail.
But Isaiah Ruffin, the first ever executive chef at ACPS, has a few tricks up his sleeve to encourage children to sample new dishes.
“Who would like to try a really awesome sausage?” he enthusiastically asked a table of fourth grade students at Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology last week, failing to mention the lack of meat.
Hands flew into the air, including from Selwa Seman, the child so vocally opposed to eating vegetables.
“It tasted a little like chicken but it was a bit spicy,” she said, not entirely convinced, adding that her favorite dish to eat at school was tacos and nachos.
“I give it a four out of ten.”
Others were more impressed and most acted surprised when Ruffin announced that there was no meat in the product, known as a “Veenie,” which he came across at a farmer’s market in DC earlier this month.
Instead, he tells the children it contains eggplant, garlic, onion, mushroom and sun dried tomato along with a host of herbs.
If the feedback from the 60 young testers is positive, the “Veenie” could find itself on menus across our schools.
“When I came across this product, I thought the taste was excellent, I was impressed that it was made with real vegetables rather than a meat substitute and the sodium levels are low which is something I look for in our dishes,” he said.
“Parents have told us that they want to see more vegetarian options available so this seemed like a good option to test.”
Ruffin, a DC native who began with ACPS last month, mastered his profession in the US Army where he served for 13 years, ultimately acting as a personal chef for high ranking officials.
Since leaving the military in 2014, he has held senior positions at restaurants in DC, Austin and Denver.
The father of three has also used his skills to volunteer with a variety of student nutrition drives, including with the Colorado Proud Schools Meal Day where he created a lunch entree from food grown in a school garden.
Before he joined the division, the 36-year-old worked as a personal chef, catering to high end dinner parties in the DC region.
Now he has a very different, if equally demanding, audience to satisfy.
Plans are for more kitchen takeovers, where dishes traditionally brought in to the kitchens readymade from outside vendors are instead made from scratch in house.
His ambitious three-year plan is to see all our food made in house.
On Friday, students at T.C. Williams High School Minnie Howard Campus got to taste Chef Ruffin’s delicious Chicago deep dish pizza. Dough was made fresh in the T.C. Williams kitchen the previous day with the tomato sauce made the following day.
Ruffin and our School Nutrition team also intend to increase the number of our cultural dishes offered, with a rotating spotlight on different countries.
“I’d also like to see 75% of our food sourced locally, 80% of our students eating lunch with us and see our kitchens run on zero waste,” he added.
“I’m really excited to be here at ACPS. I want to ensure that all our students have access to tasty, nutritious, and gratifying food at our schools. Children are better learners when they are satisfied nutritionally. Healthy, successful students help build strong communities.”
Sara Bennett, Operations Supervisor for ACPS School Nutrition Services, said the new position was created to drive the division’s vision of a healthier food future which happened to align perfectly with the principles of our new recruit.
“When we met Isaiah, we loved his passion for food and sustainability, and his background in plant-based meals. He has also shown some very impressive leadership qualities which are so important. He inspired us, and we are so happy he is here.”
Watch our new chef in action on localdvm!