Publication Date: Friday, August 27, 2004
Schools strive for healthy food
Schools strive for healthy food
(August 27, 2004) Division on board between 'educated eaters' and 'forbidden fruit' policies
by Alexandria Rocha
Elementary and middle school students may be screaming for ice cream, but no matter how loud, they're not going to get it.
The school board has banned the sale of junk food and soda at the district's 12 elementary and three middle schools. The ban will be implemented at the two high schools next year.
The ban on unhealthy snacks is a requirement of the district's new nutrition policy adopted by the Board of Education earlier this week. Adopting the policy wasn't an easy process for the board, and even after long hours of discussion, focused mainly on the ban in high schools, the policy was still criticized for being too shallow.
The state already mandates much of what the district's nutrition policy calls for. The only major difference is that Palo Alto's high schools will also have to follow the rules next year. Legislation, however, is moving slowly to ban sodas in high schools statewide.
It's all part of a national movement to curb childhood obesity by restricting what kids eat in school. Parents, however, can continue to pack what they choose in their child's backpack.
"If parents want to drink (sodas) and provide them, that's fine. But, I do not think we should be offering them," said board President Cathy Kroymann.
Under the policy, only certain beverages can now be sold on elementary and middle school campuses, including water, milk, and pure or 50 percent fruit juice. State law, however, allows the sale of soda one-half hour before school and one-half hour after.
Meals and a la carte food items are required to be low in fat, saturated fat and sugar. Nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables - foods often high in fat or sugar, but also high in nutrients - will still be offered.
For elementary school, that means each meal has about 650 total calories, with a maximum of 195 calories from fat and 65 calories from saturated fat. In middle school, meals have about 780 total calories, with about 230 calories from fat and 80 calories from saturated fat. In high school, meals have about 850 total calories, 255 calories from fat and 85 calories from saturated fat.
Members of the Healthy School Lunch Committee, who began pushing the board to adopt a nutrition policy in February, said the board's policy isn't comprehensive enough. Members wanted it to limit the sale of foods with trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, and include guidelines for recycling and composting.
Palo Alto High School Principal Scott Laurence said the guidelines in the policy are a good starting point. The board indicated that amending the policy after further research would be an option.
As of Wednesday, the district's food service provider, Sodexho USA, was required to adhere to the policy's guidelines. The district's food service budget is $1.7 million, and even with the changes, district officials said operations cannot exceed that.
"Our full lunches have always met these regulations," said Madeline Marquez, the district's Sodexho consultant. "It's basically our a la carte items that have changed."
For example, instead of fried chips, Marquez said only baked chips will now be sold. "A lot of items that were packaged, we're making by hand now, such as the burritos," she added.
And it's true, no more ice cream. Marquez said "a lot of (the food) is different," but couldn't provide details on which items have been ousted. "We're trying to find replacement items. If we can't, we're removing the items," she said.
Because high school student body offices sell sweet snacks to generate revenue for various programs, such as choir, athletics and auto club, those two campuses will be exempt from the policy for one year. But as of July 1, 2005, students and staff will have to find new ways to make that money, which Laurence said is in the thousands of dollars.
Laurence added that Paly's administrators "haven't started talking about" different ways for the clubs to generate revenue.
Board members were divided on their opinions of whether the soda and junk food ban should even be implemented at the high school level. Member Mandy Lowell said the board was divided between the "educated eater policy" and the "forbidden fruit policy."
Those for the educated eater policy, including Lowell and member John Barton, said high school students are old enough to make smart, health-conscience decisions. Those with the forbidden fruit policy said that wasn't relevant -- no soda; no apologies.
Angelina Bena, a senior at Paly and one of two student board members, said most students she talked to the first day of school were in favor of adding healthier food options, but not of the total ban.
"The idea of not allowing certain things on campus makes you feel babied," Bena said.
With Sodexho's contract up at the end of this school year, the district has convened a committee of students, teachers and administrators to decide whether the board will contract with a large corporation or hire a food services director in time for the 2005-2006 year. The committee is scheduled to make its recommendations to the board in January.
Alexandria Rocha can be e-mailed at arocha@paweekly.com
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