Returning USD 257 students, faculty and staff are in for a more colorful — and healthier —menu this year.
In an attempt to fight what Cheryl Johnson, Kansas Department of Education nutrition and wellness director, termed, “a growing trend in childhood obesity,” a new set of standards are being instituted in what kinds of food and more importantly, how much of it, hits the plate of students.
In 2010, Congress passed a law called the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The law included a change in philosophy from what constitutes a nutritious meal, transitioning from a predominance of carbohydrates to more fruits and vegetables, protein and whole grains. This new look was mandated to be in place by the 2012-2013 school year.
New guidelines require a half-cup of fruit or vegetables to be served with each meal. The kinds of vegetables will vary, including dark green, red/orange and beans/peas. Starchy vegetables like potatoes will be offered in smaller amounts in order to meet new federally mandated calorie counts. Bread will go from white flour to a whole grain and the serving size will be smaller in order to keep the meal within calorie restrictions. New milk regulations will require two kinds of milk to be served. Either a low-fat unflavored variety which can be 1-percent and skim or a flavored choice, traditionally chocolate, which must be fat-free.
One change that will be seen immediately will be on the salad bar. Iceberg lettuce has been the staple leading up to this year. That will change to Romaine lettuce taking over as the primary green of choice.
The meals also will be required to meet the bar of zero transfats. This is something that Colleen Riebel, director of USD 257 food services, said will be less of an issue than it might have been in the past.
“We don’t use a lot of prepackaged foods,” Riebel said. “What we do use though is part of the trend in zero transfats.”
The main concern for Riebel and her staff will be the increased preparation time needed for the change in meal composition.
“We’ll have to spend a lot more time washing off vegetables and fruits and then getting them prepared for transport,” Riebel said.
Riebel said the staff will be shifted around to meet the new challenges. What that means for students are fewer desserts because staff previously assigned to make them will now focus on the healthier items. Despite the changes, staff hours and the number of employees working won’t change.
Not only will the prep time increase, the food service staff must now contend with even less room in an already tightly spaced kitchen. In order to get all the food out in a timely manner, the kitchen now features an additional sink designated for washing vegetables and fruits.
“It’s going to be tight in there,” Riebel said. “I know we’ll work around it but it’ll be another new challenge.”
Riebel’s chief concern initially will be getting the students to embrace the change in what is being offered. According to Riebel, the greatest worry is how much food the change will end up wasting initially.
“Kids are used to eating more carbs and things like that,” Riebel said. “I think we’ll end up throwing away a lot of food starting out until the kids get used to what we are serving.”
Part of changing the carbohydrate-driven culture is a grant program which USD 257 has participated in for three years. The fresh fruit and vegetable program is a federal grant which is disbursed through the KSDE. The intent of the program is to get elementary age children accustomed to eating fruits and vegatables than they might not have encountered before. The additional food will be offered in the way of snacks for the children. The grant is worth a little more than $32,000 and is a one-time grant for this year.
“Hopefully those younger kids will become exposed to that kind of food and maybe a couple years down the road we won’t have as much to throw away,” said Riebel.
