The new federal and state nutrition standards implemented in
2012 were designed to cut down on students’ waistlines in the long term, but in
the short term they are cutting into the bottom line of the New Richmond Exempted
Village School District’s food service.
NREVSD food service director Brenda Young has estimated to
the Board of Education that student rejection of federal and state mandates that
51 percent of all grains offered in cafeterias to be whole grain rich and that
all food trays must contain a fruit or vegetable will result in a 56,500 fewer
meals being served in district cafeterias this school year.
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NREVSD food service workers (from left) Amy Day, Narcissa Castell and Cristy Behler hold buns containing whole grains that are contributing to students buying fewer cafeteria meals.
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An example of a new healthier lunch would be a whole-wheat
cheese pizza, baked sweet potato fries, raw grape tomatoes, low-fat ranch dip,
applesauce and low-fat milk. These healthier meals are getting a collective
‘yuk’ from students.
“When you can’t get kids to eat pizza you know you have a
problem,” said Young, whose mid-year report to the Board of Education showed
district cafeterias serving 200,495 lunches during the first half of the school
year compared to 228,787 served in 2012.
Schools are permitted to opt out of the school lunch program
but those that do lose federal reimbursements which can be as high as $2.93 per
free lunch served and $2.53 per reduced lunch served. New Richmond will serve
an estimated 243,000 free and 27,000 reduced lunches this school year, so
opting out is not an option.
New Richmond students are the only ones saying no to the
federal nutrition guidelines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that Ohio
public schools served 9 million fewer meals during the first half of 2013-2014.
District cafeterias are having trouble giving lunches away
as free lunches served has declined by 10,241 from 2012 and reduced lunches by
4379. Some of the change is attributed to the NREVSD’s percentage of students
qualifying for free or reduced lunches dropping from 46 to 39 percent, but the
big reason is more brown bags coming into the cafeterias.
“Kids are bringing in
the foods that we are not allowed to serve,” said Young.
The big culprit is the whole grain requirement.
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| NREVSD cafeterias will serve 56,000 fewer meals this year as students are saying a collective 'Yuk' to the new federal nutrition guidelines which require more whole grains. (pictured are NREVSD food service workers Bonnie Caudill and Cristy Behler). |
“The kids are OK with the whole grain spaghetti but it’s
being covered by (meatless) sauce,” said Young. “Even the chicken nuggets and
chicken strips must have whole grain coating and that changes the taste. But when
it comes to a crust like pizza or the breakfast pizza, there’s a big difference
in the taste and the kids don’t like it.”
Mac and cheese, a traditional favorite with kids, is becoming
a tough sell.
“The whole grain macaroni is darker and looks dirty and the
kids think there’s something wrong with it,” said Young.
Young’s department closely monitors and charts what is being
eaten and what gets left on trays.
“We have to have either a fruit or a vegetable on the tray,
so when we’re serving a vegetable we know the majority doesn’t like we will put
the fruit on the tray that day,” said Young. “They still have the option of
picking the vegetable.”
An interesting result of the surveys is that New Richmond
students prefer broccoli over sweet potato fries.
“Preferences will vary from building to building,” said
Young. “Students at one building will grab raw vegetables (which must be made
available daily) and they won’t be touched at another building.”
Young doesn’t expect things to improve next year.
“Next year’s rules will require 100 percent whole grains along
with a phase out of sodium,” said Young.
| Students on Free/Reduced Lunch | |||||
| LCE | MON | NRE | NRMS | NRHS | |
| PS | 15 | ||||
| K | 24 | 28 | 33 | ||
| 1 | 10 | 23 | 42 | ||
| 2 | 24 | 17 | 35 | ||
| 3 | 18 | 18 | 33 | ||
| 4 | 21 | 24 | 41 | ||
| 5 | 16 | 27 | 40 | ||
| 6 | 23 | 24 | 36 | ||
| 7 | 79 | ||||
| 8 | 82 | ||||
| 9 | 73 | ||||
| 10 | 70 | ||||
| 11 | 60 | ||||
| 12 | 48 | ||||
| Total # | 136 | 161 | 275 | 161 | 251 |
