This booklet reports on a study of food service functions in Texas schools. The report contains examples taken from previous school reviews and is based on the state Comptroller's instruction that the best practices identified by the Texas School Performance Review team be communicated to all the state's school districts. Some examples present noteworthy components of a district's overall program, whereas others illustrate how districts successfully addressed weaknesses. The report is divided into 10 issues that affect food services: (1) realizing that hungry children have difficulty learning; (2) deciding whether food services should be contracted to a private company; (3) identifying every student eligible for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program; (4) using performance measures to improve operations; (5) seeing how purchasing and processing techniques affect costs; (6) hiring employees only for the time you need them; (7) using technology to protect student anonymity, improve report accuracy, and reduce duplication; (8) making school cafeterias desirable places to eat; (9) annually evaluating local policies and procedures that affect food services; and (10) using the food service fund balance to help cover overhead expenses, regularly replace equipment, and improve profitability. Overall, the review process revealed that the best-run food service operations carefully leveraged the food service fund balance to improve the operation of the entire school district. (RJM)