Cinnamon roll day comes around once a month for USD 428’s Central Kitchen in Great Bend. Along with the dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls are the only food item the kitchen makes completely from scratch with their own recipe. USD 428 Food Service Director Kristy Alvord says the day starts with a lot of dough rolling and frosting and takes more than three hours to get the rolls prepared. Roughly 3,000 cinnamon rolls are made on the day for the entire school district.

As the Central Kitchen brings rolls out of the ovens by the thousands, you might wonder how many of them are getting consumed and how many are ending up in the trash can.

Alvord says thanks to a sharing table at the five elementary schools, the district has reduced the amount of wasted food.

Kristy Alvord Audio

The shared table also allows students wanting seconds or additional food to grab the donated items.

Alvord says another helpful change to limit thrown away food is allowing the students to have more choices on what they eat that day. Instead of serving one planned out meal, the students can choose their meal as long they have a half cup of fruit or vegetable.