Marietta City Schools is starting the new year off fresh, both in education and nutrition.

The school district is one of two in the state participating in the Georgia ACRE Collective’s Local Foods Incentive School Pilot Program, which allows MCS to partner with local farmers to provide organic ingredients and meals to increase nutrition awareness to students.

“It allows us to order better foods … and other Georgia-grown items,” said Cindy Culver, the district’s nutrition director.

Marietta began participating in the program in August 2023 — with the district’s elementary schools, Marietta Sixth Grade Academy, Marietta Middle School and Marietta High School all being a part of the food changes. Now, in their second school year of the program, the opportunities to enable new meal innovations and student participation have only seemed to grow.

According to Culver, the largest expansion in the program has been the inclusion of Chef David Garcia. The culinary expert, who joined the district as their first full-time chef in August, has had 17 years of experience preparing a variety of “global flavors” in his career.

“Our goal is to create meals that excite students and celebrate the community’s rich cultural heritage,” Garcia said in a recent press release from the district. “Food has the power to connect, and we’re using it to build stronger relationships with the students we serve.”