Publication Date: Friday, February 11, 2005
New food for thought
New food for thought
(February 11, 2005) Schools ready to revamp food services program
by Alexandria Rocha
On most Mondays , bagels are a popular breakfast item at Gunn High School. By Friday, the round bread seems to lose its appeal -- but only because the same bagels have remained in the bin all week long.
This tidbit of life in Gunn's cafeteria, also known as the "bat cave," came to the Palo Alto school Board of Education earlier this week via junior Channing Hancock. She shared a few more insights.
"The subs are soggy and like a week old. Students are willing to pay more for quality than going off campus," she said.
Channing's point was well taken. Tuesday night, at a regular meeting, the school board decided to revamp its entire food services program to give the district more control over the fare served in its 17 cafeterias.
With the current food vendor's contract expiring in June, the plan is to open the program up to interested vendors, while also creating a position for an in-house nutrition services manager, who will oversee whatever firm fits the bill.
The district's current food services program, provided by Sodexho USA, has been under fire from the community for the last year.
Saying the food lacks nutritional value and variety, a group of community members known as the Healthy School Lunch Committee stepped forward, pushing the district to adopt nutrition standards and replace its current food vendor. It was slow to start, but the district eventually hopped on board last fall.
Jerry Matranga, the district's new business manager, also said the program is currently $200,000 in debt because of low participation rates -- only 13 percent of the district's 11,000 students are enrolled in the hot lunch program. He said if it's not revamped immediately, the loss will grow to $270,000 by the end of this school year.
At the board meeting Tuesday, Matranga, who took over for retired business manager Bob Golton last month, said overhauling the current program is now a district priority. The board has given him two years to make the $1.7 million program break even.
"I finally feel like there is some forward motion on this, that we're not fighting the district," said Penny Gertridge, a member of the lunch committee. "I'm just hoping they find a vendor that has some vision, is creative and doesn't mind listening to other points of view besides the upper management."
The only problem is that when it comes to school food vendors, the choices are limited. According to the American Association of School Administrators, more than 1,200 school districts across the country contract all or part of their food services to one of the top three companies -- Chartwells School Dining Services, Aramark and Sodexho.
The other top eight primarily serve smaller school districts in the North East. However, there is one local company, Avanti Food Services, based out of San Carlos, that has expressed interest in the local district.
Under Sodexho, which has served the district for the past 14 years, students are offered seven entrees daily, from hot dogs to spaghetti to Caesar salad to pizza, one of which rotates every day while the other six remain the same monthly.
The menus are planned around guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture.
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 say the food is unhealthy and unappealing. For example, elementary school students are served whole oranges and apples, but in order to be appealing to children, they need to be peeled and sliced.
By contracting with Sodexho USA, the district has little control over what food is served at its schools. With the new nutrition standards, however, the food services firm will have to adhere to its standards.
The guidelines range from limiting the trans-fat content in food to offering a daily vegetarian option other than a salad to displaying the nutritional labels of cuisine served.
Over the next two months, Matranga will invite interested food vendors to the district, listening to various presentations and scrutinizing whether they're qualified to adhere to the standards. Sodexho will be a welcome bidder.
"We're going to ask each of the firms that we select to show us the best that they have," Matranga said.
The district plans to select a company by April.
At the same time, Matranga will shuffle the district's current management to create a position for a nutrition services manager. He said there are some retirements coming up and that will help fund the position without spending additional district dollars.
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