Cafeteria Conundrums

PSD community divided on topic of nutrition in schools

by Colleen Canty

Money talks, but when it comes to school districts, so does pizza.

Although Poudre School District (PSD) may be above the national average in the arena of nutritional meal programs – offering a menu increasingly peppered with local food products, scratch food recipes and unprocessed food components – the topic of school lunch is as hot as the nacho cheese served every Friday.

At Tuesday's PSD Board of Education Meeting, all sides of the lunch line fought over proposals for a comprehensive food service assessment and school meal reform – and what it all means for families' and schools' wallets.

The road to healthier meal choices in schools means burning more money to get there: approximately 5 percent more than what is already being spent, according to Craig Schneider, director of child nutrition for PSD.

Introducing fresh produce in lieu of canned, home-cooked meal recipes instead of “ready to assemble” and increased nutrition education, awareness and training for those whose hands create the food and mouths consume it, means dipping into wallets that are already thin to begin with.

Thomas Balchak, PSD Board of Education director and president, said the school district is serving more low income children than ever before. According to Schneider, 60 percent of PSD's school meals are consumed by students on free and reduced lunch meal plans, meaning cost burdens fall entirely on those who don't qualify.

“And for those families who sit just above the threshold to qualify, they are the ones who are going to incur the cost increase,” said PSD board director Patrick Albright. “What if they can't afford lunch anymore? Some students, mainly in middle schools, are coming to school without meals already.”

Not only did many cafeteria workers, parents and teachers in the room feel as though schools could not sustain escalating food prices for healthier options, they simply didn't see a need for them.

“My kids have more of a choice at their school than they do at our home,” said Patty Dale, a cafeteria employee within the district. “I just can't afford all the vegetables they offer; I don't think we have a problem. We do a fantastic job.”

But according to obesity prevention supervisor at Poudre Valley Health System Virginia Clark, if PSD strives to exceed benchmarks set in academic areas, health and nutrition goals shouldn't be out of the question.

“Colorado is ranked 29^th for child obesity,” Clark said during her presentation detailing her and partnered School Nutrition Action Committee's (SNAC) concerns about the food currently being offered in school. “Kids receive a significant value of nutrition from their school; they're the models for what's okay. If pizza is being offered everyday, we need to ask how often we should allow kids to eat certain foods.”

The Comprehensive Food Assessment, advocated for by Clark, would aim to provide a clear snapshot of what's happening in school cafeterias now, work with health professionals and the community to find ways to improve it and develop a review system to gauge students' reactions and the changes' success.

While some board members seemed hesitant about the reform possibly squelching food options and enacting too tightly monitored policies, SNAC pushed the issue into the meeting room and are passionate about seeing it through.

“My daughter got home from school and I found 60 dumdum wrappers accumulated in her backpack,” said Mary Van Buren, SNAC member and PSD parent. “It's an ironic treat schools are giving our kids. It's like throwing treats to the dogs.”