Oral History Project (all interviews)

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  Pat Adams

  Pat Adams and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Pat Adams, a native of Thibodaux, Louisiana, recently retired (again) after a long and rewarding career in child nutrition programs. Pat was already a teacher when she was recruited to be the assistant supervisor in school food service in Terrebonne Parish in Houma, Louisiana, in 1979, and was promoted to supervisor in 1984. She remained with Terrebonne Parish until 1997, when she retired the first time and went to work for the Archdiocese of New Orleans school nutrition program. Pat again retired in 2009 to pursue other interests. Never one to sit still for long, on the day of our interview she was taking a break from chairing her local Mardi Gras committee.

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  Mary Alexiou

  Mary Alexiou and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Mary Alexiou, a native Alabamian, recently retired as the Director of Child Nutrition Programs for Vestavia City Schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville State University and a master’s degree from University of Alabama, Birmingham. Prior to going into child nutrition she worked first as a consultant for various hospitals and nursing homes and then at the Guntersville Hospital. She has also been a very active member of the School Nutrition Association.

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  Gay Anderson – Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Gay Anderson and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Gay Anderson, School Nutrition Director in the Sioux Falls School District in South Dakota. Gay has almost 40 years of experience in food service.

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  Michael Anderson

  Michael Anderson and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Michael Anderson, originally from Oregon, now cooks for the Nenana School District in Alaska.

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  Gertrude Applebaum

  Gertrude Applebaum and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Gertrude Applebaum devoted forty-seven years of her illustrious career to the Corpus Christi School District, forty of which were spent as Food Service Director, and then seven as Assistant Superintendent. Soon after becoming a member of the child nutrition profession Ms. Applebaum attended the meeting in Chicago where Food Service Directors and the National School Cafeteria Association voted to merge and form the American School Food Service Association. She served as President of this organization, now known as the School Nutrition Association, in 1981-82.

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  Sharon Gibson Barksdale

  Sharon Gibson Barksdale and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Sharon Gibson Barksdale grew up on a working farm in Calloway County, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Home Economics. After teaching briefly she went on to serve for twenty-seven years as Director of School Food Services for Columbia, Missouri. She has been active in the Missouri School Food Service Association and also in the American School Food Service Association, serving as President from 1985 – 1986.

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  Paula Barletta

  Paula Barletta and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Born in the Sudetenland, Paula Barletta left Germany after surviving World War II, and later moved to Yuma, Arizona, with her American husband, where she became the food service director.

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  Jimmie Barnett

  Jimmie Barnett and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Jimmie Barnett is from the state of Georgia, where she worked in school nutrition with the Muscogee County School District for many years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics, a Master’s degree in Education, and a Specialist of Education in School Nutrition, all from the University of Georgia. Jimmie began her career as a home economics teacher. In 1992 she was appointed as the Assistant Director of School Nutrition for the Muscogee County School District and later became the School Nutrition Director. She is a member of the School Nutrition Association and has served in leadership roles at both the state and national levels. In 2007 Jimmie received the Thelma Flanagan Gold Award of Service. She is ServSafe certified and has been a ServSafe instructor. Jimmie currently serves as a consultant trainer for the Institute of Child Nutrition.

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  Lucille Barnett

  Lucille Barnett and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Lucille Barnett grew up in Union County, South Carolina, in the 1930s and 40s. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. She served as Supervisor of County and City School Food Service in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for thirty-three years. From 1973-1974 she served as American School Food Service Association President. She resides in South Carolina. See also the Lucille Barnett Photograph Collection and the Lucille Barnett Manuscript Collection.

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  Dennis H. Barrett

  Dennis H. Barrett and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  A native of Idaho, Dennis H. Barrett has spent his professional career in food service working in Alaska, Texas, Nevada, and California. After working thirty years as a food service director, he retired from the Dallas, Texas school district.

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  Elizabeth Beavers

  Elizabeth Beavers and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Elizabeth Beavers is an Oklahoma native who dedicated many years of service to child nutrition in both Oklahoma and Texas. Her double major in home economics and business gave her a solid base on which to build a long and highly rewarding career.

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  Thelma Becker

  Thelma Becker and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Thelma Becker, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in Philadelphia. Becker served as a school food service director in Pennsylvania and is a past-president of the American School Food Service Association, now the School Nutrition Association.

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  Barbara S. Belmont

  Barbara S. Belmont and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Barbara S. Belmont has spent most of her career in association management. She was with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) before becoming the executive director of the American School Food Service Association/ School Nutrition Association for eighteen years.

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  Betty Bender

  Betty Bender and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Betty Bender, a native of Kentucky, was educated at the University of Kentucky, the University of Montana, and Duke University. After working in Massachusetts and Indiana, Bender married and moved to Dayton, OH, and worked for the Dayton School System for thirty years. While there she earned her master’s in Food Management. Betty was ASFSA President in 1983-84.

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  Carolyn Blake

  Carolyn Blake and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  An Alabama native, Carolyn Blake has worked in child nutrition for 37 years.

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  Sadie Booker

  Sadie Booker and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Sadie Gilmore Booker has been actively involved in the education process since graduation from Louisiana Tech University in 1945 with a BSE in home economics followed by an MS-R.D. in 1969. Her first job was as an extension home economist teaching nutrition to 4-H and Home Demonstration Club women. After a 10 year hiatus during which she married and had three children, she returned to her career from 1959 to 1995. She taught elementary school, Jr. High Home Economics and science and high school Home Economics for the El Dorado School District #15. She taught the first Occupational Home Economics class in the state of Arkansas and continued to do so while being School Food Service Director for 25 years. At the college level she taught Catering for Special Occasions for Southern Arkansas University, Nutrition Education for University of Arkansas, and Occupational Home Economics for the University of Southern Mississippi. Mrs. Booker was actively involved in professional organizations serving as President of Home Economics section of Arkansas Education Association in 1968; President of Arkansas Vocational Association in 1969 and President of Arkansas School Food Service Association in 1980-81. She served on the legislative committees of Arkansas School Food Service Association in Washington, D.C.

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  Shirley Watkins Bowden

  Shirley Watkins Bowden and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Shirley Watkins served as Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1997 – 2001, the first African-American woman to hold that position. Prior to that she was Director of Child Nutrition Programs for Memphis City Schools for seventeen years. She served as president of ASFSA from 1988 – 1989. She now works with Southern Educational Services, a consulting business concerned primarily with environment friendly school food service cafeteria operations.

  Shirley Watkins Bowden sat for an update to her oral history interview with Jeffrey Boyce on May 22, 2014, at the National Food Service Management Institute while she was participating in a seminar covering the first twenty-five years of the Institute’s operations. This update is included at the end of the interview.

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  Eugenia Bozeman

  Eugenia Bozeman and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Eugenia Bozeman served first as an area consultant and later as the manager coordinator for child nutrition programs in Georgia for over thirty years, and was also president of the Georgia School Food Service Association.

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  Mattie Bradley

  Mattie Bradley and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Mattie Bradley was hired as the Food Service Director/Cafeteria Manager for the Weiner School District, Weiner, AR in 1996. She was a local restaurant owner who decided to sell her business and retire. When the local school district found itself in need of a Food Services Director, Ms. Mattie’s reputation as an excellent cook and manager got the attention of the school district and she was immediately offered the position. Working within the guidelines of the Arkansas School Nutrition Program, Mattie and her staff provide wholesome meals, both breakfast and lunch, to over 300 students daily. For many students these are the only two meals they get during the day. Ms. Mattie makes it her responsibility to provide nutritious and great tasting meals for her students as well as encouraging them to develop life-skills to help them succeed once they graduate.

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  Marilyn Briggs

  Marilyn Briggs and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Marilyn Briggs began her career in child nutrition as School Food Service Director for San Juan Unified school district in Sacramento, California, during the 1970s. Later she served as Coordinator of the Nutrition Education and Training Program and worked on what became the prototype for the National Nutrient Standard Menu Planning System. She recently stepped down as state Director of Nutrition Services for California to work on her doctorate in nutrition science. She has held offices in the Society for Nutrition Education, the American School Food Service Association and American Dietetic Association.

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  Trudie Brinson

  Trudie Brinson and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Trudie Brinson earlier worked with the Head Start program in Virginia and then began working in North Carolina as a child nutrition manager with the migrant program.

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  Virginia Brissey

  Virginia Brissey and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  A Pennsylvania native, and a Navy veteran, Virginia Brissey worked as a program manager for Kids First in Arkansas.

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  Shelia Brown and Mike Harris Oral History

  Shelia Brown, Mike Harris, and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives

  Shelia Brown and Mike Harris have worked in school nutrition at the Maryland School for the Blind since the 1960s. Shelia is now a supervisor and Mike is an assistant supervisor.

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  Diane Buchanan

  Diane Buchanan and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  A native or Oregon, by way of California, Diane Buchanan worked in finance for school nutrition programs in Alaska before her retirement.

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  Chris Burkhardt – Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Chris Burkhardt and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Chris Burkhardt, who is the executive director of school nutrition for the Cleveland (Ohio) Metropolitan School District.

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  Lonnie Burt

  Lonnie Burt

  Lonnie Burt recently retired as the Senior Food & Child Nutrition Services Director for the Hartford Public Schools where she oversaw the school meal program, including Breakfast, Lunch, Afterschool Snacks, At-Risk Supper, Summer Feeding and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Grant. She has worked in Child Nutrition for the nearly 35 years and has been in Hartford since 2004. Lonnie also works as an Adjunct Professor for Manchester Community College where she teaches classes in Nutrition, Human Resources, and Food Service Safety and Sanitation for the Hospitality Program. Lonnie is a Registered Dietitian who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from Saint Joseph College and a Master’s Degree in Allied Health from the University of Connecticut. Lonnie is a past President of SNACT (2015-2016) and is currently a member of the Child Nutrition Committee. Previous positions include Education Chair, Personnel Chair, and Marketing Chair.

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  Lonnie Burt - Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Lonnie Burt and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the experiences of Lonnie Burt, who is presently employed as the Senior Food & Child Nutrition Services Director for the Hartford Public Schools where she oversees the school meal program, including Breakfast, Lunch, Afterschool Snacks, At-Risk Supper, Summer Feeding and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Grant. She has worked in Child Nutrition for the past 33 years and has been in Hartford since 2004. Lonnie also works as an Adjunct Professor for Manchester Community College where she teaches classes in Nutrition, Human Resources, and Food Service Safety and Sanitation for the Hospitality Program. Lonnie is a Registered Dietitian who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from Saint Joseph College and a Master’s Degree in Allied Health from the University of Connecticut. Lonnie is a past President of SNACT (2015-2016) and is currently a member of the Child Nutrition Committee. Previous positions include Education Chair, Personnel Chair, and Marketing Chair.

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  Lori Buzzell

  Lori Buzzell and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Lori Buzzell worked for seven years in the Juneau, Alaska school nutrition program and now works in curriculum development, including incorporating a wellness policy into the school physical education programs.

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  Four Past-Presidents

  Bowens Martin Caldwell Nix and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Oral History interview with American School Food Service Association Past-Presidents (now the School Nutrition Association), Shirley Watkins Bowden, Dorothy Caldwell, Josephine Martin, and Mary Nix, regarding the founding of the National Food Service Management Institute (now the Institute of Child Nutrition), May 21, 2014, at the National Food Service Management Institute (now the ICN), The University of Mississippi.

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  Dorothy Caldwell

  Dorothy Caldwell and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  After teaching home economics for two years, and then taking several years off to raise her five children, Dorothy Caldwell spent twenty years as food service director for Marianna, Arkansas schools. She then worked as the state director of child nutrition for the Arkansas Department of Education for another decade, serving as the president of the School Nutrition Association toward the end of this period. After a brief retirement Dorothy was recruited to come to USDA in Washington, DC, to work in Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services for another four years.

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  Melissa Campbell and John Dupre - Covid 19 Oral History Project

  Melissa Campbell and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  During 2022 the Child Nutrition Archives conducted multiple interviews investigating how child nutrition professionals dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its effects on the operations of school feeding programs. This interview examines the response of the Louisiana Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs.

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  Earnestine Camp

  Earnestine Camp and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Earnestine Camp has been actively involved with school food service programs for over sixty years since she began teaching Home Economics at Yellville-Summit High School in Yellville, Arkansas, in 1942. In addition to teaching, she directed the school lunch program there from 1943 to 1951. She was an Area Supervisor in the School Food Service Section of the Arkansas Department of Education from 1953 – 1987. She served as Southwest Regional Director for the American School Food Service Association. Ms. Camp coordinated membership for the Arkansas School Food Service Association from 1986 – 1999. Since 1999 she has been active with the Association’s Foundation Program. The Arkansas School Food Service Association established the Earnestine Camp Manager’s Award and Ms. Camp has also been named a life member of both the American School Food Service Association and the Arkansas School Food Service Association. Sadly, Ms. Camp passed away on December 6, 2012.

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  Mary Carter

  Mary Carter and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Mary Carter in in her third-fourth year career in child nutrition. She started out as an assistant manager, then became a single-unit manager, multi-unit manager, and is now the supervisor of thirty-four schools’ child nutrition programs.

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  Jerry B. Cater

  Jerry B. Cater and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Jerry B. Cater retired after 11 years as Research Scientist with the Applied Research Division of the National Food Service Management Institute. She served 19 years as Director of School Food Services in Long Beach, Mississippi. While at NFSMI, she served as project manager on numerous research projects including the development of Financial Management Information System model for school nutrition programs. The model served as the basis the design of FUNDamentals, a financial management reporting software.

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  Debbie Chatagnier

  Debbie Chatagnier and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  After working in hospital dietetics for twenty years in facilities in Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, Debbie Chatagnier has been the child nutrition administrator for Gulfport City Schools for the last fifteen years.

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  Marilyn Chrisman

  Marilyn Chrisman and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Marilyn Chrisman is an Arkansas food service director, having spent her entire forty-one year career working in child nutrition.

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  Lark Christian

  Lark Christian and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Lark Christian has worked as a child care supervisor and statewide coordinator for child nutrition programs for the State of Mississippi. She is now the food service director for Jackson County, Mississippi.

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  Kris M. Chustz

  Kris M. Chustz and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Kris M. Chustz, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a recently retired school food service professional, having worked as a Manager, Area Supervisor, and Computer Training Coordinator for the Eastern Baton Rouge Parish.

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  Jacqueline Clements

  Jacqueline Clements and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Jacqueline Clements holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics and a Master’s in Administration and Supervision. She taught Home Economics for eighteen years before transferring to school food service. Jacqueline then worked as a Food Service Director for an additional seventeen years.

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  Barbara Cole

  Barbara Cole and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  An Arkansas native, Barbara Cole has worked in child nutrition for the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired for forty-one years. She was also a longtime member of the National Advisory Committee of the National Food Service Management Institute/Institute of Child Nutrition.

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  Charles Cole & Pat Deckert

  Charles Cole, Pat Deckert, and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives

  Charles Cole served the state of Texas as a math teacher, school principal, and finally as a Texas Education Agent, where he eventually oversaw the state child nutrition programs. Pat Deckert was a food service director and later a food broker before finishing her career as a consultant with the Texas Education Agency.

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  Mary Eleanor Cole

  Mary Eleanor Cole and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  After finishing her Master’s at LSU, Mary Eleanor Cole was recruited by Mildred Stringfield to come to East Baton Rough Parish child nutrition programs to work on food and equipment specifications. After a number of years she became director in 1976.

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  Arlene Colston

  Arlene Colston and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Arlene Colston is a food service manager at McAdory High School in McAdory, Alabama.

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  Ed Cooney

  Ed Cooney and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Ed Cooney is the Executive Director of the Congressional Hunger Center, which operates the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship Program and the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship Program. The Fellows who participate in these programs gain both with hands-on experience and policy experience. Before coming to the Congressional Hunger Center, Ed spent eighteen years with the Food Research and Action Center, as their lobbyist on school nutrition programs.

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  June Crews

  June Crews and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  June Crews was a School Lunch Program Supervisor in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 1965– 1966.

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  Beverly Cross

  Beverly Cross and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  One of the first hires for the new National Food Service Management Institute/Institute of Child Nutrition, Beverly Cross spent more than a quarter of a century working for the Institute. Here she shares her reflections as she prepares for her retirement in December 2017.

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  Nina Cross

  Nina Cross and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Evelina (Nina) Cross received her PhD from Texas Woman’s University and then joined the faculty at Louisiana State University. While at LSU, she taught and directed the dietetic internship. Her research and many of her publications were in the area of school food service. In addition, she served three years as the first National Food Service Management Institute Scholar. During this time she worked with the research arm of the Institute to develop a financial model for school food service. Since retirement from LSU, Dr. Cross has worked with both the Louisiana and Mississippi Departments of Education to offer continuing education and training to child nutrition professionals. Cross is a consultant trainer for the Institute of Child Nutrition. She resides in Jackson, Mississippi.

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  Mary Davis-Palms

  Mary Davis-Palms and Institute of Child Nutrition. Child Nutrition Archives.

  Mary Davis-Palms is an Area Supervisor with the East Baton Rough Parish School Nutrition Programs. A graduate of Louisiana State University, Mary has thirty-four years of service in child nutrition.