LTHForum.com

Fixing Lunch - an article Monica Eng referred me to, about how NSLP is handled by foodservice director Tony Geraci in Baltimore schools - thanks for the heads-up, Monica!

A lot of food service managers manage to the metrics that their organization tracks. For example, I replaced one dietitian who was lauded as a hero for running an efficient operation because she was able to eliminate three $3.50/hr employees. What I had to show the president of the organization that the $30k she saved in labor was more than offset by the additional $80k she spent in purchasing prepared entrees and the $50k in additional overhead costs.

In case you need a more graphic example. Many of the other lunches pictured aren't so bad - the Berkely CA lunch actually looks like something I might order, and the Brooklyn lunches are austere but at least offer fresh fruit and food that's identifiable. Even the mac and cheese lunch in Chicago isn't so bad.

http://americanlunchroom.com/

This one is just awesome (assuming it tastes okay), except for the stewed-looking nectarine:

Jamaican Beef Patty and a Nectarine

I actually think that the nectarine is a clementine, which may account for its "stewiness."

Child Nutrition Act
Proposal for 2009 Re-authorization
Illinois 9th Congressional District Citizen Coalition

We are a group of Illinois ninth congressional district citizens concerned about public health, obesity, and food-related diseases, especially among children, as well as the impact of diet on children’s capacity to learn. We thank you for your current work removing "competitive foods,” of poor nutritional value from school campuses.

The Child Nutrition Act and the National School Lunch Program impose enormous constraints on school districts, sometimes negatively impacting their ability to serve children healthy food. Current federal law focuses on regulating caloric content and specific nutrients, but offers little incentive for the food and farm industry to provide high-quality foods. As a result, schools have little choice but to offer highly-processed foods which have been artificially manipulated to meet the standards: e.g.: pancakes, nachos, corn dogs, and french fries. We are concerned that school lunch is influencing the eating choices that children make outside of school and, ultimately, having a negative impact on diet-related disease.

We recommend the Child Nutrition Act be expanded to include the following:

~ Promote incentives for naturally nutritionally dense foods and minimize use of nutritionally poor, highly-processed foods.(1)
-Expand current regulations to include a daily maximum allowable amounts of sugar, sodium, saturated fats, and to eliminate trans-fats, high fructose corn syrup, rGBH, and artificial colors and preservatives.
-Require two servings of fruits and/or vegetables per meal, one fresh, neither containing added sugar.

~ Meet current grocery-store labeling guidelines.(2)

~ Fund existing farm-to-school provision of the 2004 Child Nutrition Act (Section 122) (3)

Background

1) We ask that the majority of foods served in school lunches be naturally nutritionally dense: meaning that the nutritional guidelines of the Child Nutrition Act are met by the innate nutritional value of the original product. Foods served to our children should neither derive nutrition from additives, nor have their nutritive value reduced by overprocessing or excessive use of additives to enhance the food's appeal. Currently, while many foods in school lunch meet guidelines because vitamins or fiber are added during processing – additional additives of fat, sugar, and salt are needed to make these foods palatable.
The 2003 World Health Organization report on Diet, Nutrition and the prevention of Chronic Disease states:
“Eating nutrient dense foods…to maintain a healthy weight is essential at all stages of life. Unbalanced consumption of foods high in energy (sugar, starch and/or fat) and low in essential nutrients contributes to energy excess, overweight and obesity. The amount of the energy consumed in relation to physical activity and the quality of food are key determinants of nutrition related chronic disease.”
“Energy-dense and micronutrient-poor foods tend to be processed foods that are high in fat and/or sugars. Low energy-dense (or energy-dilute) foods, such as fruit, legumes, vegetables and whole grain cereals, are high in dietary fibre and water.”
More money alone is not the answer: guidelines should encourage the food and farm industry to meet the growing demand for healthier school meals. Without oversight, more money will simply mean higher profits for food purveyors who will continue serving more of the same. We propose a two-tiered system for school reimbursement. Nutritionally poor, highly-processed meals would be funded at the current rate, but a financial incentive should be offered for meals using higher quality foods that are naturally nutritionally dense and minimally processed.

2) Currently, although most meal plans are set for an entire school year, school lunches are without nutritional labels or accurate ingredient lists, in part because commodity foods are not labeled in the same way as other foods. Parents of children with food allergies or dietary restrictions must spend time meeting with the school nutritionists because they cannot access this information on their own. Better labeling will enable all parents to make informed decisions about their child’s diet at school. We recommend that accurate labeling of nutritional information for each meal be offered along with the school menu, and that this information be made easily accessible to school districts.

3) Many schools are struggling to bring nutritional education to their students. $50 million in mandatory funding for section 122 of the Child Nutrition Act would fund 100-500 projects per year up to $100,000 each to cover start-up costs for Farm to School programs. This provision was included in the 2004 reauthorization of the Act with $10 million in discretionary funding, but has failed to receive an appropriation.

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky pledged to support the reform agenda of a coalition of Illinois 9th congressional district citizens in this fall’s reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. Current federal law regulates caloric content and specific nutrients, but offers little incentive for the food and farm industry to ensure that school districts provide high-quality foods.

“The initial idea of federal feeding programs was to help farmers and not necessarily provide the most nutritious meals,” Schakowsky told an Aug. 31 meeting with seven constituents. “The intent was never about ensuring that parents can easily learn the nutritional content of meals, let alone that they have the knowledge to be effective advocates for better school meal programs.”

The coalition--organized by the Evanston/Skokie District 65/202 PTA Council and the Evanston Food Policy Council—asked Cong. Schakowsky
to:

- Promote incentives for naturally nutritionally dense* foods and minimize use of highly-processed foods.
* Meaning that the nutritional guidelines of the Child
Nutrition Act are met by the innate nutritional value of the original product. Foods served to our children should neither derive nutrition from additives, nor have their nutritive value reduced by overprocessing or excessive use of additives to enhance the food's appeal.

- Meet current grocery-store labeling guidelines so that parents can become more aware of the content of school meals.
* Currently, school lunches are without nutritional labels or accurate ingredient lists, in part because commodity foods are not labeled in the same way as other foods. We recommend that accurate labeling of nutritional information for each meal be offered along with the school menu, and that this information, in turn, be made easily accessible to school districts.

- Fund a farm-to-school competitive grant program that will encourage innovation at the local level to both source fresh food and educate children about nutrition.

The coalition wants Congress to ensure that school districts offer healthful meals on a daily basis. Currently, under the Child Nutrition Act, schools are allowed to average the minimum requirements over a week’s worth of meals. Some districts use this as a loophole to create appealing but less healthy meals as an incentive for students who may not eat lunch daily but who typically pay full- price. These meals cover more costs for school foodservice programs than federally-subsidized free or reduced-price lunches.

Cong. Schakowsky said she supports legislation that would require USDA to apply the same standards to all “competitive foods” sold on school campuses during the day (Competitive foods refers to foods sold on a school campus that compete with those meeting Child Nutrition Act standards---e.g. vending machine fare and a la carte foods like doughnuts or milkshakes). She was not pleased to learn from the coalition that schools can meet the current standards and still serve meals of nachos or pancakes. (I think we should not make specific claims about the nutrition levels unless we’re prepared to offer statistics. The kinds of foods should speak for themselves for right now, anyway.)

Cong. Schakowsky accepted an invitation to tour the Evanston Township High School lunch room to see what children eat and meet the school nutrition director. Michele Hays of the PTA Council Healthy Communities Task Force explains: “Federal rules and regulations impose enormous constraints on school districts, hindering their ability to serve children healthy food.” The Schakowsky meeting was an outcome of the District 65/202 PTA Council’s year-long consensus building process which resulted in both boards adopting a “Healthy Communities” resolution (to be attached). The resolution supports improvements to the federal school meal program as well as the Illinois Food Farms and Jobs Act. Sponsored by state representative Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), this new law stimulates efforts to increase the supply of Illinois-produced food for in-state consumption, including encouragement for school districts statewide to secure 10% of their food from in-state sources by 2020.

More information, including the talking points from the Coalition meeting are available by joining http://groups.google.com/group/evanston-health, or contact Michele Hays at michelhays AT juno DOT com. We invite citizens, parents, school officials and program directors to participate in this process – the ultimate goal is to improve school lunch for everyone, students, parents, and schools alike.

As an aside, I've been working directly with the school districe (well, maybe with is a strong statement) and with Congresswoman Schakowsky, and made a really important discovery: the lunches at the magnet school are significantly better than they are at the remainder of the elementary schools. In fact, I'd say that while the magnet school lunches aren't as good as what I could make, they probably represent a best-case scenario under NSLP. The problem is, they're only available to kids who win the magnet lottery.

All Beef Chicago Style Hotdog w/Catsup, Mustard & Relish

A couple of rather disturbing articles in yesteday's USA Today:

Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches

Old-hen meat fed to pets and schoolkids

In addition to the article in the Tribune, there is also this very interesting graphic showing how different school districts stack up against each other in terms of nutrition vs. junk food.

It illustrates one of the important things I've learned about school lunch thus far: despite what is said, it isn't that nothing can be done under the current guidelines and reimbursement. It's that some places are willing to do it, and some aren't.

I think many (if not most) of the people reading this article, and passing judgement on a school nutrition program do not realize that most of the food served has been developed for school nutrition programs - and are not the same as the retail product. For example, most school pizzas are on a whole grain crust; chicken products are baked, not fried, potatoes are baked, not fried, nacho cheese, when served, is in a much smaller portion than what you get at the movies, ballpark, etc., and the first ingredient is cheese. Nacho chips are whole grain as well. Talk to your school nutrition staff before making assumptions. And remember that only about 18% of what a child consumes in a year comes from school meals.

School Meals in Evanston just like all the meals served in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program must meet guidlines for calories, fat, saturated fat, calcium, iron and vitamin A. If you serve food and the child throws it away it does not help the child. Food is very personal and everyone has an opion on what is right to eat. School Food Service Directors have a tough job and the food service employees work very hard and are usually the lowest paid employees in the District. I have seen the menus in the Evanston Districts and know that the food service departments in both districts are working hard to serve the children the fuel they need to be good students and keep this country strong. Parents should show support for these programs and ask what they can do to help and not criticize

OK, I know I'm excited - but one thing that makes me giggle: I'm pretty sure one of the comment posters is our school nutritionist. She made this statement almost verbatim when we toured the cafeteria:


And another (I don't know if this is our nutritionist, but I've heard this rhetoric several times)