Publication Date: Friday, February 27, 2004
SCHOOLS
Budget trumps better food
Budget trumps better food
(February 27, 2004) School board sympathetic, but rather focus on fiscal crisis
by Karen Coleman
Palo Alto's school board told a group pushing for more nutritious cafeteria fare that the district has bigger fish to broil right now.
"I would prefer to focus on the budget," board President Cathy Kroymann said after advocates spoke on behalf of their plan at Tuesday's Palo Alto Unified School District board meeting.
The food service initiative was created by a group called the Healthy School Lunch Committee. They propose district standards that would reduce the fat and calories in school lunches, expand organic and vegetarian offerings and curtail the availability of chips, soda and other junk foods.
May Wang, who teaches child nutrition at UC Berkeley, told the board that healthier food in the schools could save money in the long-run. Good nutrition, she said, promotes good behavior and good academic performance. Even potentially lucrative vending contracts could be maintained since the big soda companies also sell bottled juice and water.
Wang and a group of nutrition-minded parents banded together to form the committee nearly three years ago. They successfully launched an initiative to put organic foods on school lunch menus at the start of the 2002 school year, although the program faltered after it proved more expensive and less popular than expected.
Healthy school food offerings also reinforce the lessons taught in physical and health education classes, she said.
"We need to send a consistent message to kids about healthy eating habits."
Bonnie Goldstein, a spokeswoman for the school's Gaithersburg, Md.-based food service vendor, said on Wednesday that the company was working with the committee and is open to suggestions for improvement. Her institutional food service and operations management company, Sodexho, runs the cafeterias for nearly 470 U.S. public schools.
Goldstein said Sodexho constantly surveys and analyzes its food service to improve nutrition and consumer satisfaction. Sodexho often modifies high-fat recipes to make traditional fast-foods healthier, such as baking chicken nuggets and using lower-fat cheeses on pizza, she said.
"We have to find a middle ground between providing them with the food they're actually going to eat and then making sure everyone is satisfied -- parents, students, administrators -- with what we're serving, Goldstein said.
Sodexho also offers milk and healthy-snack vending services for schools that take the candy- and soda-free route.
Sarah Hamburger, vice president of the sophomore class at Gunn High School, described some gross cafeteria experiences including finding small chicken bones in the burritos, artificial dressing on the salads and pizza that has to be eaten quickly before it "appears to melt into a ball of cheese and grease."
Students want to see fortified grain snacks ("Clif Bars"), more juices, and spinach and mixed salad greens rather than iceberg lettuce on the menu, she told the board.
Gunn High School student body president Grayson DeJesus, a senior, said school lunches are the "option of last resort" for students who leave campus when they can and sometimes go without eating when they can't.
"We have heard nothing but excuses about why the food can't be better," he told the board.
Deputy Superintendent Robert Golton said the district is "really concerned" because Sodexho's Palo Alto operation is losing money this year. Sodexho's contract expires next year and will be put out for bid, he said.
The board effectively postponed the matter indefinitely by turning it over to staff for evaluation and setting no due date for their recommendations. Once the staff comes up with a draft policy, Kroymann said the board can "see if we're in compliance" before deciding what to do.
Superintendent Mary Frances Callan said the board wouldn't be able to take up the issue again before April 20.
The board tabled the first informational hearing for the proposed nutrition guidelines two weeks ago. Now that members are getting ready to grapple with a district structural deficit that could reach $4.2 million in the coming fiscal year, fine-tuning students' menu choices is even less of a priority.
Golton painted a grim backdrop for new initiatives during the meeting with an interim financial report that projects a shortfall of $2.9 million for fiscal year 2003-2004 and a deficit of 4.2 million for 2004-05.
The district will begin formal budget meetings March 3.
Board members have expressed support for more nutritious cafeteria food, but had reservations about any policy changes that could cost money.
Even without a formal policy, board member Kroymann said there is nothing stopping Sodexho from adding or dropping items from the menu in the name of good nutrition. "There is nothing to prevent immediate progress being made with healthy food," she said.
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