Students, teachers, school board members, former Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane, and others from across the community came to the table Tuesday night for a preview of the scratch-made meals that will be served at RISE Charter Academy starting this fall.

The event marked an important milestone for Food Paradigm and its pilot project with RISE, showing what’s possible when school meals are prepared more intentionally, with real ingredients, less waste, and student health in mind. Chef Dean Ogan prepared the Taco Tuesday meal, and Overflowing Hands shared its commitment to helping fund the kitchen upgrades needed to bring scratch cooking to life at RISE. After the meal, Food Paradigm co-founder Thursall Celle, board member Roxie Cash, Chef Dean Ogan, and RISE school leaders answered questions about the vision, costs, and what it will take to bring this work to life. Thank you to everyone who came out to support RISE and Food Paradigm. We have a busy summer ahead as we finish building out the details, and we can’t wait to get started this fall. If you’d like to help build healthier school food systems in North Carolina, we’d love to connect. #ScratchFood #HealthyFood #SchoolFood