Back in the 1980s, JoEllen Miner — better known to us as Auntie Josie and a true food service director extraordinaire — suggested to our family a simple but brilliant idea: create fun, engaging nutrition education stickers to encourage kids to choose school lunch and increase participation.

That spark of an idea became Mission Nutrition — and it took off immediately! On the very first day of using stickers in one of her schools, participation jumped an incredible 25%.

JoEllen wasn’t just family (she was the sister-in-law of founder Jon Miner), she was also the Food Service Director for Minneapolis Public Schools and later went on to serve as President of the School Nutrition Association.

So yes — Mission Nutrition isn’t just a business story… it’s a true family story with a whole lot of heart.