Friday lunchtime is the biggest day of the week for the canteen at Miles Franklin Primary School.
Canteen manager Kim Todd and her team served up 200 lunch orders to hungry children. Macaroni with beef, burgers and waffles in the shape of a heart were the hot menu items.
The former teacher took on the role in March, just in time to be shut down temporarily by COVID-19, but she's loving it.
"I love the kids so this was just a way of me being back with the children and I guess not having the pressures of teaching," she said.
Nutrition Australia ACT put the spotlight on the people who work behind the scenes at school canteens by promoting Canberra's first Canteen Day.
Program manager and accredited practising dietitian Leanne Elliston said the idea behind celebrating canteens on the first Friday of November started in Queensland as a way to show appreciation of the role of canteens in promoting healthy eating in schools.
"The role of the canteen manager is a very thankless job and it's not easy in the environment that they're in," Ms Elliston said.
"The people who do the hard work in canteens need to be thanked for all their great work.
"They do it because they really like it, their heart's in it and they will make it work for the school."
Ms Elliston said canteen managers faced the challenge of breaking even as a business while trying to keep costs down and ensuring they abided by all of the relevant regulations.
Jobkeeper was a saviour for many school canteens which were forced to shut down when COVID-19 hit. But now, business was booming again.
Mrs Todd noticed a spike in the number of lunch orders towards the end of the term and enthusiasm for making school daily lunches dwindled.
"We're here to provide a service rather than to make a real profit," she said.
"It's a bonus if we can, but we're just here to serve the families and the kids."
She was keen encourage cash sales again, after temporarily switching to online orders only, to give students the chance to practice ordering by themselves and calculating change.
Gone were the days where chips, chocolate and fat-laden pies and sausage rolls were offered at the tuckshop.
School canteens now followed the traffic light system where food and drink was categorised by nutritional value.
Green and amber items made it onto the everyday menu while red treat items were reserved for two days per term.
Healthy versions of nachos, burritos, home-made sausage rolls and burgers were popular with canteens, as were snacks made from scratch, such as fruit-based muffins with wholemeal flour.
Freshly-popped popcorn made for a healthy alternative to chips.
While some items were off the menu for good, the humble icy pole had endured the test of time.
"I think icy poles are just something that's always been around," Mrs Todd said.
