Welcome to Gaia: What the Platform Does
Gaia is a software platform for school nutrition operations. It is used by district staff, school and kitchen managers, and cashiers to plan menus, order and track food, run point-of-sale, and report on USDA compliance.
The Main Areas
Pantry: the central database of items, recipes, supplies, and vendor products. Custom views let you filter and review this data.
Menus: menu plans built at the district level and school menus generated from each plan. Includes the public menu that families see.
Production: the weekly production view, forecasts, and production records that capture what was offered, served, and left over.
Orders: vendors, order guides, manual orders, Shop Week, and receiving.
Inventory: on-hand quantities, transfers, shelf life, and the inventory transaction log.
Students: the student and staff roster, eligibility status, and account balances.
POS: the point-of-sale app cashiers use to ring up meals, plus the web pages for terminals, templates, transactions, and sessions.
Reports: operational reports (Forecast vs. Served, Consolidated Forecasts and Orders, Reimbursable Claims, Daily and School Inventory, POS Transactions) and USDA compliance reports (Weekly Weighted, Daily Weighted, Standard Weekly Nutrition, Recipe Analysis). Food cost appears on production record, menu, and recipe reports.
How the Areas Connect
Items are used in recipes. Recipes appear on menu plans. Menu plans generate school menus and production records. Production records use ingredients from inventory. Inventory is replenished through orders. Meals served at the POS draw from the student account and contribute to compliance reports. Each area depends on the ones before it, which is why initial setup follows roughly this order.