TCAPS Food & Nutrition Services

Important Message from Food Services

Due to the national food shortage, TCAPS is having difficulty receiving the product necessary to provide the meals posted on our menus.  As a result, TCAPS is temporarily taking down our posted menus.  Menus will be posted daily at each building based on the inventory available.  We will continue to monitor all allergy and nutritional needs of our students.  Please reach out to your building’s Kitchen Leader with any questions.  We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. 

Welcome to the Food & Nutrition Services department of the Traverse City Area Public Schools district. We are very proud of our operations and take pride in offering nutritious and delicious meals every day. We encourage input from all of our customers, so feel free to contact TCAPS Food & Nutrition Services Director Tom Freitas at 231.933.1911 with any ideas, suggestions or comments. We look forward to making your dining experience enjoyable.

Our Mission
The mission of TCAPS’ Food and Nutrition Services is to improve the health of students by providing flavorful and nutritious meals at an affordable cost. Our goals are to provide service to the school, to enhance the educational environment, and have a positive impact on the community.  

TCAPS Wellness Policy

Meal Programs

Free Breakfast and Lunch

TCAPS is pleased to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students again this year. We take pride in providing the most accurate nutrition and allergen information online. However, parents and students need to be aware that our suppliers are experiencing severe food shortages nationally, so it may result in changes to the posted menu. We are working with our distributor to minimize this as much as possible, but it will continue to happen for the foreseeable future.  If your child requires specific nutrition data/allergen information, please contact your child’s school.

Now Hiring

Would you like a fun and well paying job that aligns with your children's school hours?  Food Service is in critical need of additional staff and we would love to have you on our team. The schedule allows you to be at all of your children's school events and to be off on holidays and snow days with your children. If that sounds like something that would work for you,  please fill out an application at https://www.tcaps.net/jobs/ .

Apply Today for Free & Reduced Meals 

 Applications should be completed each year; these applications are also used for several other grant programs in TCAPS. In addition, students who qualify for free and reduced meals also qualify for college application fee waivers and SAT/ACT fee waivers. So please submit your Free & Reduced Meals Application here.

Having access to healthy food items and meals outside of the normal cafeteria operating hours just got a little bit easier. TCAPS has installed two new vending machines in the cafeteria at both Central High School and West Senior High School as part of a pilot program. The vending machines contain healthy food items that meet the same federal nutrition regulations as all other food sold in the school cafeteria. Sample items include: salads, yogurt, sandwiches, fruit, granola bars, etc.

Students and staff can purchase snack items as well as meals qualifying under the Federal Free and Reduced Price School Meals Program using either cash or their meal accounts. For students who qualify for free/reduced meals, the purchase would count towards their daily meal allowance.

 

TCAPS Food & Nutrition Services takes great pride in minimizing our environmental footprint in Traverse City. In our buildings using disposables, 95% of the plates and bowls are biodegradable. We will continue to strive for 100% biodegradable product usage. 

TCAPS elementary schools are moving to all online production sheets that will greatly reduce the amount of paper we use over the course of a year. 

TCAPS participates in the “External LinkCultivate Michigan” program, an effort to bring more local foods to institutions. Our goal is to purchase 20% of our food products from the state of Michigan by 2020. We are currently partnering with Cherry Capital Foods, Gordon Food Service, and individual growers to achieve this goal.

Gordon Food Service also has a program focusing on local food purchases, called “Near Buy“.  View listings of Michigan produced foods and products purchased by TCAPS:

cultivate-Michigan- Supply, source and serve local food           Cherry-Capital-Foods-logo

     gordon-food-service logo                                    

TCAPS Food & Nutrition Services is proud to be working with local food vendors this year.  We would like to recognize these area businesses and look forward to future partnerships.

  • Aunt Millie's Bakery
  • Farm to Freezer Northwest Michigan
  • Food Rescue
  • Louie's Meats, Inc.
  • MI Farm Coop
  • Norconk Farms
  • Pepsi
  • Prairie Farms

stafford smith, Inc. logo

grand traverse refrigeration, Inc logohobart

Anti-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, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

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 Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at 800.877.8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: External Linkwww.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, 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:

  • Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
    1400 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
  • Fax: 202.690.7442; or
  • Email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.