Meet Clell Hoffman, Albany's Executive Chef

School food has long been blamed for contributing to childhood obesity, a problem for more than 30 percent of California's school-aged kids. Clell Hoffman, executive chef for the Albany Unified School District, has worked for the past three years to transform school meals and, at the same time, shift how people think about them.

Hoffman, 44, emphasizes preparing meals from scratch. When he was hired, he did not make drastic changes in menus or add a lot of new items. He simply stopped serving pre-packaged meals, which reminded him of airplane food, and started to serve in bulk.

The district used to serve a lot of processed food, the chef said. Hoffman trained his staff to make meat sauce, and showed them how to roll breakfast burritos. He started buying $3-a-box raw meat from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rather than opting for the processed version, which costs closer to $60.

Hoffman also created "garden bars," a program in which children grow their own vegetables in schoolyards.

"Kids eat more vegetables when they're eating what they grow," said Hoffman, whom children call "Chef Clell," because of his ubiquitous chef's jacket, which he wears around town so students and parents can spot him easily.

One of the biggest challenges Hoffman faces is to make school meals financially sustainable. Unlike Berkeley, one of the pioneer cities to promote healthy school meals, the Albany school district's meals must essentially pay for themselves. Preparing meals from scratch is healthier, but also drives up labor costs.

"We have to make our school meals more appealing to kids," said Hoffman. "If more kids eat school meals, we will at least break even."

Hoffman got comfortable in the kitchen at a young age. At 7 years old, with both parents working, he quickly learned to fix breakfast for himself. His professional career started at 16 when he worked as a line cook. By the time he was 30, Hoffman owned and ran a southern California grill restaurant. 

Eventually he sold the place and worked in the Caribbean managing a small hotel. At one point, however, he said he realized he needed "something real." He found that "something" in Albany.

"Working in the restaurant industry is all about ego, which restaurant you're working in, etc. I had to let my ego go, but I'm doing something more important than that," said Hoffman, by introducing students to healthier foods and habits. 

Parents have welcomed the chef's effort.

"He takes time to create quality. It is a challenge to prepare food that is nutritious, healthy and also something children would want to eat," said John Montagh, the Marin School PTA president, whose 10-year-old daughter, Rian, said her favorite school lunch is teriyaki chicken. 

"My daughters say they enjoy the salad bar, because they can go and cut lettuce and tomatoes," said the 47-year-old, who has lived in Albany for seven years.

Mom Meghan Beynon said it's important to her that her children can access a variety of fresh food in a sustainable environment. She said Hoffman has taken important steps in that direction.

"The district has less waste because it serves in bulk. It's a good value to teach," said the 38-year-old, whose son, Will, is going to be a first grader as of next week. (Classes start Aug. 25.)

One of Hoffman's goals has been to engage students and find out what they want. He has surveyed them about food quality and choice, and has tried to involve them by letting them design their own meals. A student suggested a breakfast burrito with ham, egg and cheese, for example, and it was added to the menu.

Financially, these efforts have begun to pay off. At Albany Middle School, the number of students who bought school meals has grown by 5 percent over the last three years, to 300 a day. (As of 2008-09, there were 924 students enrolled.)

Last year, Hoffman made $50,000 from the program. Half was used to pay off the prior year's deficit, but the rest was pure profit.

Still, most high school students choose to eat off campus. Only 200 students a day participate in the school lunch program. (In 2008-09, the district reported that attended the high school.)

"I would rather go off campus for lunch because there are more options," said Myles Rabin, 17, who frequents Domino's Pizza and Zarris' Delicatessen for lunch.

Brendan Ward, also 17, agreed.

"There are much better deals if we eat out. We get more food for less," he said.

At Albany High School, meals cost $3.75.

Asked what they'd like for school lunch, Jesse Schumacher said carnitas, or pork, tacos would be at the top of the list.

"What we want is too fatty for school to serve," said the 17-year-old. 

Hoffman said these voices inspire him to try to offer healthy and appealing versions of what students want. He also wants to be more active teaching them about good food; he plans to take a class this fall to learn how to write a curriculum about this. Hoffman already has a teaching credential in nutrition. 

"Kids are finicky and they don't want anything they aren't familiar with," he said. "So it comes down to education to teach them what's healthy eating."