Buffalo Public Schools one step closer to healthier, tastier meals

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Public School District is one step closer to creating a healthier and tastier meal experience for students.

A status update for the Buffalo Public Schools new district commissioner building was shared during a meeting where renderings of the new building were released Thursday evening.

The building will be constructed directly across from the current commissary building on East Delavan Avenue.

“There’s the process of bringing the food in and preparing the food as you would in your kitchen, using farm fresh ingredients, much of which is locally sourced,” said David Hills, Chief Operating Officer of BPD. “They will then be frozen to send to the schools. Locally we have 88 locations. They will be heated, plated and distributed.”

Hills said he has been negotiating with McGuire Development for the past two years to build a commissary.

Once negotiations are over, they will begin construction and leasing of the facility, which will be approximately 60,000 square feet.

“I noticed that everyone is working hard. I know they are doing their best to improve the school food system. Even though this is my last year in high school, I’m a little sad that I can’t see everyone’s hard work” , said 12th grade student Daliah Alsayadi, “I think the halal food they will get is very important. I’m Muslim, so I haven’t seen a lot of halal food in cafeterias,” Alsayadi said. “I know there are people who eat kosher and some Christians who don’t eat pork.”

The new program includes scratch cooking, fresh and locally grown ingredients and a greater diversity of meal options.

BPS school board member Terrence Heard said, “A lot of kids come to school to eat. We look at these different variations in food and religion and choices in food to make sure we can appeal to every nationality and religion in the city of Buffalo.”

“I have a middle schooler, a kindergartner, and a first grader. We look at the menu and sometimes they pack their bento box. Sometimes we get school lunch. We like veggie nuggets. It’s a favorite. That’s what we usually get,” Buffalo Public Schools board member-elect Adrianna Zullich said. “I’m excited to see things like kale and when we collaborate with farms and local products.”

“Right now we are very limited in what we can do. What we can do is a vision that I don’t think people even realize. You know when you have a plan and sometimes when it’s built you go ‘We can do this and we can do this’ and there will be so many options. It will be available to our students, our community, our staff,” said Ruth Conner, director of the BPS Food Service Department.

A groundbreaking step is expected next spring.

Hills says he expects the new commissary to be ready in the fall or winter of 2026.