A Grateful Collaboration: How School Districts Shaped Gaia’s Mission

From the beginning, Gaia has had two guiding principles shaping its products: to support school nutrition teams by saving time and reducing redundancy in their daily tasks. Achieving this started by listening to those who live and breathe school nutrition. Gaia reached out to districts of all shapes and sizes—from large city schools with central kitchens to smaller districts where every team member wears multiple hats.

Those early conversations set Gaia’s direction. School nutrition teams shared the daily balancing act of managing inventory, meeting compliance, planning menus, and handling paperwork, all while staying focused on students. Gaia heard about the challenges of limited budgets, tight schedules, and the high standards nutrition teams set for each meal.

With that feedback in hand, the Gaia team got to work. Every line of code, every feature, and every update is a reflection of what school nutrition professionals have shared. Gaia simply wouldn’t be what it is today without the insight, honesty, and expertise provided by you all.

With every story you shared, our commitment grew. Gaia should support your work, not add complexity. We wanted a tool that adapts to your needs, whether you’re managing data at a computer or preparing meals in the kitchen.

Co-Creating Solutions with Schools in Mind

Since launching, Gaia has continued reaching out to districts for feedback, knowing the best way to serve schools is to hear directly from those who use it daily. This ongoing collaboration means that Gaia has evolved with each new idea, each problem solved, and each “Wouldn’t it be great if Gaia could do this?”

Here are a few ways we’ve made Gaia work for you based on input:

Customizable Production Records

One of the first things we learned is that every school and district does things a little differently. While one team may prioritize tracking certain ingredients, another might focus on managing compliance data, and yet another might need an entirely different format. We didn’t want Gaia to be a “one-size-fits-all” platform. So, we made Gaia’s production records fully customizable. Now, teams can set them up to match exactly how they work—without unnecessary fields or extra steps. This flexibility allows teams to track what matters to them in an intuitive and natural way.

Paper Without The Work

We spent time with Diane Slobodnik and Joseph Blissett from Joliet Public Schools, where they manage a central kitchen out of a junior high school. Observing their day-to-day, it became clear how time-consuming it can be to manually enter paperwork into record-keeping systems that aren’t exactly user-friendly. Time could be better spent in the kitchen—whether getting creative with new recipes or enhancing meal options for students.

Together with Diane and Joseph, we co-developed an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature to address this challenge head-on. Now, with OCR, you can simply snap a photo of a production record or inventory list, and Gaia automatically inputs the data for you. No more manual entry. No more backlogged paperwork. Just a quick snap, upload, and you’re back to doing what you do best. 

Centralized Inventory and Ordering

Inventory management is another major pain point that repeatedly came up in our conversations with child nutrition teams. Tracking inventory in multiple places, remembering reorder points, and balancing fresh and stored ingredients was a constant struggle. With that in mind, Gaia gives a centralized view of all inventory, directly connecting to ordering systems. By keeping inventory management in one place, teams can avoid over-ordering, prevent shortages, and ensure fresh ingredients are always on hand. 

The Real Inspiration: You

We’ll be honest—one of the best parts of what we do is getting to work with you. Every day, we’re inspired by the dedication, creativity, and resilience of school nutrition teams across the country. Your work goes way beyond simply preparing food; you’re building community, supporting students’ well-being, and finding innovative ways to make school meals nutritious and enjoyable. It’s work that’s essential and incredibly meaningful, and we’re in awe of all you do to make it happen.

If Gaia can help make even a small part of your job easier—if we can give you back a little time or help you streamline a task—then we know we’re moving in the right direction. Every feature, update, and improvement is made with a deep respect for the work you do.

We’re Still Listening—and Always Will Be

Your input is what makes Gaia more than just software—it makes it a platform designed by and for the school nutrition community. And we’re committed to continuing to earn that role as your partner.

Please reach out, share your thoughts, and let’s make school nutrition more impactful together.