FIG K12

10/09/2026

It’s going to be a roaring good time at the FIG Speakeasy! Booth 330. The password is PROFITABILITY! Be there or be square!

A roaring 'thank you' to FIG K12! ✨ Their innovative technology helps K-12 school nutrition programs simplify operations and create better experiences for the students they serve. We’re grateful for their support of Sour 2026 Annual Conference!

09/29/2026

Psst… the password is PROFITABILITY.

Before we meet up in South Carolina, we’re opening the doors to The FIG Speakeasy for a special pre-con webinar:

What’s Really Happening in the Middle of the House?

Your school nutrition program already has the numbers—meals served, labor hours, invoices, purchasing, inventory, expenses and financial performance. But are those numbers actually telling you something you can use?

Join Dusty Swan, Co-Founder & CTO of Swan Solutions / FIG K-12, on Wednesday, October 7 at 1:00 PM ET for a look behind the curtain at FIG Middle of the House.

We’ll talk about the questions hiding behind the numbers:

Are you paying what you expected to pay?
Is labor aligned with participation?
Are you purchasing what you’re actually going to use?
What’s sitting in inventory?
Which locations need your attention?
And when a number looks strange—is there a problem, or is it a clue?

Watch the pre-con webinar, then come meet us in person at the SNA of South Carolina Annual Conference & Expo.

We’ll be ready to keep the conversation roaring in South Carolina.

You don’t need more numbers. You need the numbers you already have to tell you something.

Register now!
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09/15/2026

What if your lunch line had a FAST PASS?

The HI-5 Multi-Use Wave Scanner from TekVisions gives schools a fast, contactless way to keep students moving through the line without relying on cards, barcodes, or traditional identification methods.

Because when lunch periods are short, every second matters.

Contactless. Fast. Built for the lunch rush.

See what TekVisions is bringing to school operations and learn more about HI-5 at:

https://www.tekvisions.com

09/11/2026

Are you getting the full value out of your USDA Foods entitlement?

Every pound matters. Every dollar matters. And when entitlement is not planned, monitored, and adjusted throughout the year, real value can be left on the table.

That is exactly what Spend It Smarter is about.

Recorded live at the 2026 FIG Family Reunion, Gary Russin, Dina Wilson, and Frank Samuelson break down USDA Foods entitlement from the perspectives of operators, manufacturers, processors, and partners — including how to think through Direct Delivery, Commodity Processing, and DoD Fresh and determine which option creates the most value for your program.

This FREE FIG K12 course includes:

18-minute self-paced video training
Printable study guide and back-to-work checklist
Comprehension quiz
Automatic certificate
0.25 CEU

If you have ever reached spring and realized you still had pounds sitting on the table, this one is for you.

Take the FREE course: https://figk-12.com/course/commodity-panel-ffr

Know another school nutrition professional who could spend their entitlement smarter? Share this with them.

And if you like learning this way, imagine what FIG could do across your entire department.

Ready to create more consistency, accountability, and excellence across your team? Book a FIG K12 demo: https://swan.figk-12.com/contact

09/10/2026

It’s time to celebrate National School Lunch Week.

October 12–16, 2026, is National School Lunch Week, and FIG K-12 is celebrating the amazing school nutrition professionals who work every day to put great meals on the table for students.

We’re especially excited to celebrate with our FIG K-12 Preferred Partner, Pilgrim’s Foodservice.

Pilgrim’s is helping bring some serious flavor to the lunch line with their Whole Grain Hot & Spicy Breaded Chicken Breast Filets.

Because school lunch should be nutritious, satisfying, and something students are excited to see on the menu.

We are proud to partner with Pilgrim’s Foodservice and grateful for their commitment to the K-12 school nutrition community.

Let’s celebrate the people behind the meals, the partners who support them, and the students who count on them.

National School Lunch Week is coming. Let’s make it a delicious one.

08/28/2026

USDA’s new Harvest to Hallways initiative is putting a national spotlight on local food, Farm to School, stronger school kitchens and connecting schools with producers in their own communities.

School Nutrition Heroes have actually been doing just that for years.

And that is exactly what Sal Valenza and Andy Enterkin were talking about in The Community Playbook.

What if your next great supplier isn’t at a food show?

What if it’s the bakery three miles from your high school?

The farmer whose child eats in your cafeteria?

The restaurant owner you met at a Chamber event?

The local business owner who would love to support your program—but has never thought of a school district as a potential customer?

Sal shares how local relationships helped his program source pizza dough, bread and eggs from businesses and farmers in his own community. Andy challenges us to stop waiting until we need something to start building relationships.

One of our favorite lines from the session:

“The person that you need to talk to is probably not in the office with you.”

Watch the session, grab the Community Playbook and then do one thing:

Pick one person in your community you’ve never called—and make the call.

Stronger school nutrition programs aren’t built in isolation.

They’re built together.

https://figk-12.com/course/the-community-playbook-2026-fig-family-reunion

08/17/2026

This morning, we did something during our team meeting that had absolutely nothing to do with sales numbers, development projects, customer lists or deadlines.

We told each other what we appreciate about one another.

Then I asked everyone an even harder question:

What do you love about YOU?

The answers were funny, emotional, honest and incredibly revealing.

We have people who build. People who sell. People who care deeply for customers. People who organize the chaos. People who create. People who keep learning. People who keep trying. People who see possibilities. And even Grace, our automated teammate, has a role in helping all of those humans do what they do best.

What struck me most was that we didn't all identify the same strengths.

And maybe that's the whole point.

None of us has to be everything because everybody brings something.

We spend so much time at work talking about what needs to be done next or what we could do better that sometimes we forget to tell people what we already see in them.

Today, we did.

Different strengths. One team. One mission.

We know what we got.

08/16/2026

Puppy Paths at the 2nd Annual FIG Family Reunion. 🐾

We built this into the agenda on purpose. When school nutrition folks from all over the country come to Pensacola, we want them to meet Pensacola — not just the inside of a conference room.

So on the morning of June 8, the FIG family walked the bayfront with a pack of adoptable puppies from the Pensacola Humane Society. "Walk a Future Best Friend" was the assignment. Several of you took it very seriously.

Here's the thing we keep coming back to: the best partnerships are almost always local. The shelter down the road. The food bank across town. The coffee truck run by somebody's neighbor. You don't have to look far to find someone doing good work who'd say yes if you asked.

Thank you to the for bringing the pups, the leashes, and the patience. And thank you to Es Foods for sponsoring the Travelin' Tom's Coffee of Greater Pensacola Coffee truck that kept everybody moving.

There's a shelter near you with a whole hallway of these faces. Your new best friend might just be right down the street. 🧡

08/15/2026

🔥 LIVE KITCHEN TAKEOVER 🔥

Chef Thomas Kurza from Pilgrim's / Gold Kist took a restaurant trend and made it a school lunch: whole grain breaded drumstick, fresh slaw with a scratch dressing, toasted cornbread, and milk.

Want to switch it up? Swap the slaw base for broccoli or kale, then take the dressing Korean, Mexican, or Mediterranean. Same product, brand new tray. 🥢🌮🫒

Watch the full demo below — and thank you Pilgrim's Gold Kist for taking over our kitchen! 💙

08/14/2026

🔥 LIVE KITCHEN TAKEOVER 🔥

Chef Kyle Beth from Foster Farms showed us how one product becomes three menu items — a wrap, a salad, and a hot pasta entrée — with no extra prep and no extra waste.

Cook once. Menu it three ways. Cut the waste.

Plus USDA CEU credit for everyone in the room. Not bad for a morning at the ballpark. ⚾

Watch the full demo below, and thank you Foster Farms for taking over our kitchen! 💚