![]() ![]() ''Now, the free and reduced priced lunches are subsidized fairly well, but the paid lunches are subsidized rather minimally.'' ''When I first started in school food services, it was a very heavily subsidized program,'' says Julie Boettger, food service director of Rich Township High Schools, District 227. In the last two or three years, a cutback in the commodity program has forced many northern Illinois school districts to raise lunch prices, says Cinnamon. ''We`ve had dairy shortages for a number of years and the milk prices are going up and the milk prices are carrying the cheese prices up,'' MacDonald says. Minimum amounts of food items are specified for various age groups.įood costs today are another area of change and consternation for most districts, according to MacDonald. The USDA requires that school lunches offer each student five items: a meat or meat alternate, two or more vegetables and/or fruits, whole-grain or enriched bread or a bread alternate, and fluid milk as a beverage. We`ve switched from salt shakers to salt packets and students only get one packet,'' Jonen says. ![]() We have lowered the amount of sugar in our cookies and desserts. ''We really are concerned about encouraging good eating habits. People who think school food is all fat and starch haven`t eaten in the schools recently, according to Jonen. ''Nutrition is great, and we do want students to be aware of how food affects their performance and their lives, but we also want them to eat the food because no matter how nutritious it is, if they don`t eat it, it`s still not going to help them.'' ''For some of these kids, school food is the only meal they get all day,'' Phillips explains. We have brought down the fat, the sugar, the salt in all of our recipes and we don`t offer any food for sale in our cafeterias that doesn`t meet at least 5 percent of the recommended daily allowance for one of the eight major nutrients,'' says food service director Sue MacDonald of northwest suburban Township High School District 214.īecause most of Chicago`s public schools have closed campuses and 88 percent of the children attending receive free or reduced-price lunches, Phillips is more concerned about getting the students to eat than losing them to outside competition. ''We`ve worked very hard to make the food as nutritious as possible. Many school lunch programs are joining USDA`s efforts to lower salt usage and limit the fat and cholesterol content of school food in accordance with the USDA`s recommended dietary guidelines. Other recent changes include lowering the fat content of canned pork from 21 to 18 percent, eliminating the use of tropical oils in peanut butter, reducing the fat content of ground beef to 22 percent, and purchasing only unsalted peanuts and chunk tuna packed in water, not oil. ![]() The commodity assistance is available to each State based on the estimated number of lunches that will be provided during the school year. ''The USDA has gone to more light juices in fruit packs, they`ve cut back on sodium and fat content in the commodity program that is very important to our school systems,'' Cinnamon says.Ībout 20 percent of the food for lunches comes from surplus foods donated by the USDA. Two years ago, USDA updated the recipes it distributes to schools to reduce the use of sugar, fat, and salt and to reflect the changing tastes of children. Requirements, and they must offer free or reduced-price lunches to eligible children, operate the food service on a non-profit basis, and make it available to all children without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age or handicap, according to the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA.Īs student buyers focus on fast food, the USDA is focusing more on nutrition-lowering salt, fat and cholesterol levels of commodities provided for schools. In return, they must serve lunches that meet federal ''meal pattern'' Schools that choose to take part in the National School Lunch Program get cash subsidies and donated foods from the U.S. It`s not a captive market any more and we have to be cognizant of putting the right things out there that they are going to eat,'' explains Oliver Cinnamon, food service director of Kankakee School District 111.īecause students are much more selective, food service managers must market the school lunch programs, providing quality food and variety, Cinnamon says, or ''they`re going to brown bag it or go out somewhere else.'' The students have come up through the fast-food era. ''Looking at the school lunch picture, we have a lot more sophisticated customers today. ![]()
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