Board to bite into healthy lunch debate Board to bite into healthy lunch debate (August 20, 2004)

At first meeting after summer break, members to discuss nutrition policy

by Alexandria Rocha

izza, soda, chips and candy will be on board member's plates as they head into the first meeting since summer break Tuesday night.

After much banter about what's considered healthy for school kids, the Palo Alto Unified School District's Board of Education is set to adopt a nutrition policy that will guide its food services contractor, Sodexho USA, in the next year.

As indicated at previous board meetings, the nutrition policy may ban the sale of soda at high schools, except for special occasions such as back-to-school barbecues, and sports and cultural events. The state already banned the sale of soda at elementary and middle schools one-half hour before school and one-half hour after. The board indicated that nutrition curricula and school gardens would not be included in the final version presented Tuesday night.

Board members said other details of how school lunches will change under the nutrition policy are unknown at this time.

The Healthy School Lunch Committee, a group of community members concerned about what kids eat in school, first brought the nutrition policy to the board in February. The committee's policy encouraged the board to limit the sale of food low in nutrients, adopt a nutrition curriculum taught in line with physical education, and enhance the schools' garden programs.

Through discussions leading long into the night at meetings before the school year ended, the board agreed school food could be healthier and directed district staff to revise the policy into something the board could feasibly adopt.

With Sodexho's contract up at the end of the year, the board will put the food services contract out for bid in the fall. A committee led by Sandra Pearson, former principal of Palo Alto High School, will develop a plan for hiring a new food services contractor that will adhere to the nutrition policy's conditions.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at 25 Churchill Ave.
Associate Superintendent Bob Golton and Pearson, however, "have been researching this over the summer," said board member Camille Townsend.

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