The FRidge


The FRidge is a popular gathering place to share a meal, laugh and build community.

Nourishing Minds

The Fridge serves quality foods that are locally sourced from environmentally sustainable suppliers and are chef prepared on-site. Forest Ridge students learn about the importance of  mindfully eating unprocessed, fresh, whole foods from a variety of sources. Our kitchen and gardens are learning spaces where our students and community can explore the culinary arts and take part in growing many of the foods we serve. 

  • Apiary (honey bee program)
  • Berry and vegetable gardens
  • Seed bank

Nourishing Sustainability

Forest Ridge harvests our own honey on-site and two organic gardens produce berries and a variety of vegetables. Our breads and pastries are baked fresh in our kitchen and we do not use any artificial colors, trans-fats, MSG or sulfites. We do not use peanuts and substitute with other tree nuts. The FRidge also offers delicious gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options.

The Living Learnscape

The Fridge partners with students and community members to build and maintain a sustainable, beautiful, and edible landscape. We teach and source from several garden beds, native plants, and our campus’s many natural resources. 

Education

Our Chefs partner with teachers and staff to offer culinary, environmental, and nutrition education integrated into the academic curriculum. Previous courses include Chefs in the Garden, and Food Matters. Please see our student and staff testimonials, blog posts, and our Instagram for more information about the Fridge. 

Cutural Cuisine Days

We celebrate the cultural heritage of each of our students by collaborating with them to prepare meals from their family recipes, home countries, and favorite foods. Cultural cuisine days allow our students to expand their palate through continual exposure to new foods and flavors, and to learn about diverse global traditions. Most recently, we celebrated our Lunar New Year cusine day. 

Supplier Relationships

The Fridge connects Forest Ridge families to Garden Treasures Farm CSA (community-supported agriculture) box signups and deliveries in the fall. 

We’re committed to fostering long term business relationships with quality, local suppliers so we can offer our students responsible, seasonal, nutritious foods. 

The Bakery

We proudly utilize local and sustainable flour from Shepherd's Grain to create handcrafted pastries and desserts made daily by Pastry Chef Stacey to provide a sweet treat, from the blueberry scones to guava chiffon cake. In addition a variety of fresh baked breads are made on a regular basis such as baguettes, focaccia, hamburger and hotdog buns.  

Student Volunteers & Workers

Our culinary team is joined each morning with Forest Ridge students working in support of each day’s preparations. We offer work experience and life skills development under the supervision of chefs.

Our student volunteers help prepare the food that we serve in the FRidge, gaining valuable cooking skills!

Meet Our Student Helpers

This year we have over 13 students volunteering in the FRidge kitchens. Not only do they help prepare the food that we serve to our entire community, they also learn valuable cooking and life skills. 

Carly, 8th

Katelyn, 9th

Sonia, 7th

Kaia, 12th

Trisha, 9th

Anjalika, 5th

Sydney, 7th

Belinda, 9th

Elle, 7th

Quinn, 5th

Alyssa, 7th

Caroline, 9th

Maia, 11th