January 19, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Is revamped school nutrition policy a healthy choice?

by Alexandria Rocha

Palo Alto's public school students could soon be eating leaner cafeteria cuisine that includes vegetarian and ethnic fare, if the school board adopts nutrition guidelines presented Tuesday night.

After two months of research, an 18-member committee of students, parents, teachers and administrators has set forth guidelines that will regulate the district's newly-adopted nutrition policy in time for the next school year.

At this point, the committee's report is vague in terms of what specific foods cannot be served under the policy. However, the overall intention to improve the quality of school lunches is clear in several of the suggestions, including limiting the trans-fat content in all food, preparing items on-site as much as possible and offering more of a variety.

"We didn't get into lists of food; we weren't getting that specific," said Gerda Endemann, a parent and committee member.

Early last year, a group of parents and community members, known as the Healthy School Lunch Committee, began pushing Palo Alto Unified School District officials to revamp the food services program. They said school food -- which has been provided by Maryland-based Sodexho USA for the past 14 years -- was low in nutrients and shabby in appearance.

Sodexho, which runs the food programs for 40 percent of districts in Santa Clara County, plans its menus around guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture. Students are offered seven entrees daily, from hot dogs to spaghetti to Caesar salad to pizza, said the district's Sodexho-employed consultant, Madeline Marquez.

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.

Sodexho also provides middle and high school campuses with a la carte items, such as New York City pizza, teriyaki chicken bowls, burritos, yogurt and trail mix.

For the Healthy School Lunch Committee, the offerings just aren't good enough. The members want fresh food that looks appealing and is high in nutrients. For example, a taco salad with lean ground beef or chicken, beans and rice for the protein, dark green lettuces and orange carrots would be much healthier, according to the committee. More specifically, a meal should include a milk beverage, protein and starch sources, and lots of fruits and vegetables.

With Sodexho's contract up at the end of this school year, the committee jumped into the ring early, seeing a prime time for change. Its members researched and wrote a nutrition policy that with some revisions, the Palo Alto school board adopted at the beginning of this school year. Superintendent Mary Frances Callan then created a committee of parents, teachers, students and administrators to write the policy's specific guidelines.

"The basic overall decision was we were going to have more variety for the high schools and middle schools," said eighth-grader Laura Gumbrecht, a committee member. "We wanted it to be healthier choices, and we wanted them to be hopefully even ethnic and vegetarian."

The committee also wants the district to explore using vegetables grown at the site gardens, attempting to minimize excess packaging materials, as well as creating a program that makes it less obvious to identify students enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program.

Based on the committee's report, Callan will soon decide whether the district should run an internal food services program or contract with another consultant company when its current provider's contract expires.

Regardless, Callan said a district-employed food services director, or another company, will now have to adhere to the nutrition policy guidelines. The challenge will also include finding a company or running a program internally within the food services budget of $1.7 million.

So far, no one knows exactly how much it would cost to overhaul the district's current program and offer healthier, fresher food. The figures, however, are likely to emerge as the district comes closer to making a decision.

Whether the committee's suggestions will be implemented at the school's once the guidelines are adopted remains to be seen. Endemann, however, a large backer of the nutrition policy, said she is pleased with the report.

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