On December 5, an article was posted on our website regarding the new program, named the Round Table Café, in which it suggested that “the restaurant would be selling higher quality food for $5.” The statement appears to demean the lunch served during school and cannot be considered factual, as quality is merely an opinion. This remark is completely bogus, as the Round Table Café serves food provided by the same producer that sells food for our school lunches. The following is a letter from Cynthia Barkley, a representative of East Noble Food Service, in response to the article in order to clarify the miscommunication:

Good morning,

I need to respond to the article in The Knightly Scroll regarding The Round Table Café.  First let me say that I believe there is a great need for the special education students to learn essential daily skills.  The Round Table Café is an exceptional opportunity for these students to gain experiences and skills they will need as they step into the world past high school.

The statement that I need to address is: (and the restaurant would be selling higher quality food for $5.)  Was there a study done on this and if so, where did you get your facts? When a statement is made like this, it really is detrimental to our program.  East Noble Food Service buys our food from some of the same vendors that The Round Table Café does. Our fresh produce comes from Piazza Produce and they are the main supplier for the state of Indiana and surrounding states.  We receive fresh produce from them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

East Noble Food Service serves approximately 3500 lunches and 450 breakfasts daily.  We feed the students of East Noble good, healthy, well balanced meals.  We meet all the guidelines established by USDA and DOE.  All food service staff is trained in food safety, food handling, and nutrition.  All food service staff are professionals and strive to make lunch time pleasant and enjoyable to all students and staff as well.

I believe that East Noble Food Service is a vital component to East Noble School Corporation. We have the same goals for the students of East Noble as the teachers and administrators. We want to build strong, healthy, vibrant young people that are ready to take on the challenges of the future.

Please feel free to contact me.

Cynde

Cynthia Barkley, FSD

East Noble School Corporation

126 W Rush St.

Kendallville, IN   46755

The Knightly Scroll apologizes to Ms. Barkley, the East Noble Food Service Department, and all other lunch officials and facilitators for any offense taken from the statement. At the same time, we thank all of those regarded in the letter for their selfless efforts in giving the students of East Noble School Corporation the privilege of eating lunch during school!