Kat Soltanmorad
Provided
When Kat Soltanmorad talks about food, she isn’t just thinking about what ends up on a plate—she’s thinking about the climate, the local economy and the next generation.
Kat is Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD), and she has devoted 20 years to reshaping what school meals can look like in Truckee. Her goal has been ambitious: feed every student organic, nutritious meals while making kitchens more sustainable, sourcing food as locally as possible and reducing packaging waste.
This may sound straightforward, however Kat knows better. “Here’s the kicker,” She states, “the beef grown just 90 miles from here has to travel to Fresno to be processed, travel to Oakland to be packaged, then (is) sold back to us here in Truckee — and it originates just over the hill.” For Kat, this inefficiency illustrates one of the biggest environmental problems today — disconnect between communities and their local food systems. “Our food system has become so commercialized that it is cheaper to buy the frozen meat from other states than the beef grown just 90 miles away.”
That disconnect is exactly what Kat is working to close. She believes education starts early, which is why she makes it a priority to get TTUSD students out to local farms, getting them involved in the food they eat from an early age. Giving young students the opportunity to learn the importance of sustainability and regenerative farming practices, especially in agriculture, is consequential in the fight for the climate around the world.
“We write grants and try to coordinate buses to get students to one of the 50 farms that we get our organic produce from,” she explains. For many children, this is the first time they’ve seen where their food comes from. Kat hopes those experiences shape their future food shopping and eating choices. “A lot more young people are now involved and that’s really important,” she adds, crediting social media and wider access to information as fuelling awareness.
Kat’s passion is rooted in her training at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona, where she came to understand that food systems and the state of our climate are inseparable. To her, one of the simplest but most powerful ways to fight climate change is to rethink how food is sourced and how waste is managed.
Kat has been instrumental in leading the evolution of TTUSD school meals from packaged, processed foods to fresh, scratch made meals with high nutritional value—which is ultimately beneficial not only for the environment, but also for students. Students eating organic, nutritious food feel better physically and ultimately can perform better including academically.
Since 2013, TTUSD has collaborated with Tahoe Food Hub, a non-profit which operates as a vital link between local farmers and the community. Kat shared that without the Food Services team, consisting of skilled and talented chefs, none of this is possible.
Kat’s work in Truckee is part of a larger shift: more districts across the country are making the switch towards fully organic, locally grown produce. She hopes more schools will secure the funding to follow suit. Every day, Kat proves that climate solutions don’t always require massive infrastructure or sweeping policy – they can start with something as simple as the school lunch line.
Climate Profiles are a project of the North Tahoe Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan climate solutions organization. Learn more at CitizensClimateLobby.org.
Makenna Hogland
Writer Makenna Hogland is a senior at Truckee High School. As a member of Truckee High’s Tahoe Youth Action Team, she appreciates the opportunity to influence local policy and raise awareness of important local issues.
Dining and Cooking