ARLINGTON, VA – USA Rice recently welcomed two new school chefs to the K-12 Chef Advisory Board: Brittany Jones of the Houston Independent School District and William "Reggie" Sloan of Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. With the addition of Jones and Sloan, the Advisory Board grows to six acclaimed chef members who are tasked with helping USA Rice extend the domestic rice industry’s reach into school districts and kitchens across the country.
Chef Jones has a decade of experience working in school nutrition, and is the food and agriculture literacy chef for her district that serves 194,000 students. She creates curriculum, lesson plans, and new recipes to teach culinary education and nutrition to pre-K through 12th grade students, their families, and staff across the district – the largest in Texas. Jones has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in hospitality management from Howard University in Washington, DC, and a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University in Miami, Florida.
“I was properly introduced to rice by my husband who is from Jamaica, and as my love for him has grown, so has my love for rice,” said Jones. “I’m excited to be part of the USA Rice Chef Advisory Board because rice is a food that brings different cultures and people together. I’m excited to learn from my fellow chefs and explore new cuisines that involve U.S.-grown rice.”
Chef Sloan is the district chef for Fulton County Schools, with 106 schools and 93,000 students, and serves on the Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Division Culinary Advisory Committee helping to improve menu selection and kitchen techniques across the state. Before he entered school nutrition, he worked for more than a decade at various hotels and restaurants including at the prestigious London Marriott Regents Park Hotel. Sloan also owns and operates a catering service and Reggie's Fish Fry and Bar B Que. He earned his degree in culinary arts from the Art Institute of Atlanta.
“Rice is one of the most cultivated grains from the beginning of time,” said Sloan. “With all its health benefits and many different methods of preparation, I am excited to be a part of this advisory board to help improve and utilize resources for school nutrition professionals using U.S.-grown rice. Additionally, I would like to inspire and hopefully fight against food insecurities around the nation.”
Both Jones and Sloan are well-known within the school foodservice industry and join the other highly touted chefs – Bettina Applewhite of Baltimore County Public Schools, Diane Grodek of Austin Independent School District, Jason Hull of Marin Country Day School, and Rebecca Polson CC, SNS of Minneapolis, Minnesota – to round out the Chef Advisory Board.
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