School lunch programs healthier, take smaller bite of revenues - Colorado Independent Mail

School lunch programs healthier, take smaller bite of revenues - Colorado Independent Mail


It’s 11:50 a.m. when more than 250 students start to filter into Palmetto Middle School’s cafeteria.

On the serving line in the Williamston-based Anderson School District 1 school are pizza, nachos and Mexican pizza made with burritos, taco meat and cheese.

First, the students pass a salad bar, cups of fresh fruit, raw vegetables and whole-grain rolls.

And they’re eating it. Trays go by with cups of grapes, mounds of pickles, veggies and dip, alongside pizza with low-fat brownies and skim milk.

As school budgets feel the crunch from the economy, school food service programs are taking a smaller bite out of school revenues.

But it’s a healthier bite too.

Officials say the increase in the number of children in the free and reduced-price lunch program actually helps school district decrease the amount of money allocated to the food service programs.

“It’s the economy,” said Sandra Jordan, director of food services for Anderson School District 5. “The more students we have on the free and reduced lunch program, the more money we get from the federal government.”

In District 5, the number of students getting free and reduced-price lunches has risen in the last year from 45 percent when Jordan started in 1984 to 55 percent this year.

The increase in the number of students in the program means the district can offer universal free breakfast for students at McCants,. Lakeside and Southwood middle schools, Calhoun Academy of the Arts, Homeland Park Elementary School and Nevitt Forest Community School of Innovation.

Jordan, a registered dietitian, said the breakfast helps the students and the teachers during their academic day.

“Providing kids with breakfast puts them all on a level playing field,” she said. “When you’ve got a student eating breakfast at 6 a.m., and starting school at 8, their blood sugar level is going to be different than a teacher who may eat at 7 before going to work. By providing breakfasts, it levels out the playing field for all of them.”

Jordan said the district also participates in the South Carolina Food Service Alliance, which allows her to reduce her costs by buying foods with other districts at bulk prices.

“We’re supposed to break even, but we may cost a little bit more when we have to make bigger purchases,” Jordan said. “An oven for us can cost $23,000. If one of them breaks down, we have to replace it.”

In Anderson School District 1, the food service program actually makes money for the district.

“The most important thing we do is keep labor costs down,” said David Havird, associate superintendent. “We try to maintain a ratio of 18 meals per man hour.”

The food service program generates an excess of $200,000 to $250,000 per year. That money, said Debra Joye, director of student nutrition, is put back into the program to pay for the costs of utilities, equipment and upgrades in technology. All food service money is kept in a separate account, and none of its revenue comes from the district’s general fund.

“This way the money doesn’t have to come out of the general fund and can go to instruction and the classrooms instead,” Havird said.

In fact, the lunches are so good that Palmetto Middle lunchroom manager Kim Floyd often fills to-go boxes of food for members of the district’s administrative staff. Lunches for adults cost $3.10.

The more meals that are sold, Havird said, the more money the district makes, because of federal reimbursement.

Joye said using free government commodities as the main element of the lunch allows her to spend more on healthier food, like fresh fruits and vegetables.

And that’s what allows her to make lunches that are healthier than most home meals.

“By federal regulations, our food has to be less than 30 percent fat,” she said. “Children eat with their eyes. So when we designed these lunch lines, we put the fruits and vegetables in the front so they would fill up on them before getting to the meats.”

By making small changes, like substituting whole grains, like whole-wheat bread and brown rice, for processed grains, and using low-, reduced- or no-fat foods, she’s able to offer healthy alternatives that children still eat.

“Every time I go through the line I get salad ‘cause it’s nutritious,” said Briana Murphy, 11, a sixth-grader. “I like the broccoli too. It really tastes good.”

Joye said she uses a youth advisory council to help her select what goes on the menu. Once a month, a group of students from each school gives its ideas on what students would like to see on the menu. Many of those ideas show up for breakfast or lunch, Joye said. And while the foods may sound like they fall on the junk side, a few small changes make them more healthy.

“Like our teriyaki chicken,” Joye said. “It’s chicken pieces (boneless and skinless) in teriyaki sauce served over brown rice.”

Palmetto Middle Principal Barry Knight said including the children’s ideas increases the amount of meals that are sold.

“If we don’t listen to our customers, we’re not doing our jobs,” Knight said. “And this gives them a bit more ownership.”

For District 5’s Jordan, the idea that school lunches aren’t nutritious is outdated.

“When I hear people talking about junk in cafeterias, I think they really haven’t been paying attention to what’s being served in a cafeteria,” she said. “We don’t add salt to anything unless we’re cooking. Our food is low salt, low sugar and low fat. And we’ve been that way for 10 years.”