When chef Michael Pattillo took over the kitchen at Camp Lutherlyn this summer he and the camp joined a growing trend in changing how food is prepared for groups of kids, most often in public schools. Pattillo, was trained at Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Pittsburgh and had worked at Lautrec, the gourmet restaurant at the Nemacolin Woodlands resort in the Laurel Highlands.

Finding the environment of a high-end restaurant not satisfying personally or spiritually, Pattillo decided to move on and try something different. A Butler Eagle story from earlier this month described how Pattillo followed his heart to Lutherlyn, where administrators, campers and other groups have been enjoying his creative approach to fresh food and healthy eating.

Similar stories have been emerging from public schools across the country.

In Vermont, Dustin Smith, a 25-year-old graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America has been working in the kitchen of a Burlington elementary school while his cooking school classmates were working in top-shelf restaurants in Manhattan or resorts in Hawaii. His former classmates tease him about becoming a “lunch lady,” but Smith responds that he become a “farm-to-school” chef, a variation on the popular farm-to-table trend at many restaurants that emphasize the use of locally grown produce and meats. That effort supports local famers and puts the freshest and healthiest ingredients on the plate.

Burlington’s public school system has a food service team that includes seven with professional culinary training like Smith. They work together in 10 kitchens around the city making meals for 4,000 students daily.

Changes to federal nutrition guidelines for school lunches have fueled changes happening at public schools around the country. The new guidelines encourage more fresh fruits and vegetables in addition to whole grain breads and the elimination of flavored milks, which contain more sugar than a can of soda.

The changes mandated in school kitchens and cafeterias does not always go smoothly. Last year, there were reports of kids dumping fresh fruit and vegetables in the garbage and complaining about not getting enough to eat. But that’s where professional chefs like Pattillo or Smith can make a big difference. With creativity in the kitchen, new dishes can be more nutritious and also better tasting than much of school food served decades ago.

The healthier school lunch trend means moving away from highly processed foods made far away and reheated before serving to school children. The new focus is on locally produced foods that are prepared and cooked on site or in centrally located kitchens within the school building or district.

Based on reports from many school districts, one key to success — meaning acceptance by the kids — is to involve the kids in taste testing and feedback. But even then, a creative chef, a pleasing presentation — and patience — can succeed in getting kids to eat healthier meals.

The need is great, given that tens of millions of kids are eating school-provided lunches, including 32 million enrolld in the federal free or reduced-cost lunch program. And with growing health concerns related to obesity, heart disease and diabetes being traced back to diets dominated by processed foods and lacking fresh fruits and vegetables, upgrading school lunches to healthier fare can have a huge impact in future heatlh care costs across the country.

As more chefs consider moving from or skipping fancy restaurants in favor of school kitchens, the trend is encouraging. Even if a school district cannot afford to hire a full-time chef, it’s possible a consulting chef can be brought in to change the menu and teach the existing staff how to prepare healthier meals.

In Butler County, the Vo-Tech school could serve a central role, since it serves county schools. A chef or chefs, possibly tied to the culinary arts program, could work with different school districts to change menus to meet new nutrition quidelines, replaceing highly processed meals with fresher, healthier meals cooked on site and using local fruits and vegetables as much as possible. Maybe Pattillo and Lutherlyn officials could share their experiences with public school officials interested in the shift toward healthier and fresher foods.