Schools Raise Funds by Cutting the Fat

HOPKINS, Minn.-Important national issues of school funding and children’s diets have come together in a new program being implemented at the Hopkins School District. The district is helping to promote healthier lifestyles for students and fight child obesity.

Bertrand Weber, a restaurant/hotel management expert, joined with the Cuningham Group, to create Wetlands Caf?, a cafeteria at Eisenhower Elementary School serving only nutritious meals made from fresh ingredients. The cost of running this more expensive program as an alternative to simply and cheaply heating highly processed frozen foods is subsidized by enabling the public to patronize Wetlands Caf?.

The cafeteria serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, even offering take-out services for busy parents looking for nutritious meals for their families. The caf? also offers catering services to the school district and local organizations including the Chamber of Commerce and the PTA.

The Cuningham Group’s design makes for an environment that looks more like a high-end food court than a traditional elementary school cafeteria. Demolishing an existing gym and transforming the space with expansive windows, maple flooring and an elliptical wood ceiling created the caf?.

Profits from this new program subsidize the cost of this healthier menu for kids and also are helping fund a new 900-seat theater for Hopkins High School.