Food Changes Proposed

Say goodbye to french fries, and say hello to “confetti fries,” a mix of traditional and sweet potato ones. The change, will occur next year in the Shawnee Mission School District, reflects a trend in school districts across the country as the Federal government attempts to get students healthier.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is calling for big changes to school meals, including limiting French fries, sodium and calories as well as offering students more fruits and vegetables.

The proposed rule was released by The United States Department of Agriculture on Jan. 10 and would update the nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which President Barack Obama signed into law in Dec. The proposed meal requirements raise standards for the first time in fifteen years.

The effects of this rule could have a significant impact on Shawnee Mission East. First, and foremost, according to Paula Tilman, manager of food services at SM East, it will likely end up costing extra money to implement. The extra costs will be a result of starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and green peas being limited to one cup a week maximum, while currently the cafeteria offers half a cup every day.

“We are always wanting to improve what we do in the cafeteria and this year was no exception,” Nancy Coughenour, SMSD Manager of food services said. “This year we switched to whole grain pasta and increased the amount of dark green lettuce in our salads.”

The cafeteria will have to complement and replace the starchy vegetable with orange vegetables such as sweet potatoes, as well as dark green vegetables such as spinach. These items cost more than those that they would replace. Tilman believes that students will also be less likely to buy these healthier items.

Furthermore,because of a limit of 750-850 calories that each meal must fall into, there will be a couple items that could be completely gone by 2012. Also à la cartes items are going to be limited to 250 calories. This will eliminate popular items such as the Colossal Burger and Miniature Pizza which exceed the cap.

For a few students, these items are seen as the only worthwhile items in the cafeteria.

“There are not many items in the lunch room that I like, and the Red Baron Pizzas are pretty much the only things that I can eat from the lunchroom,” sophomore Ben Sight said. “Right now I almost never bring my lunch, but if the Pizzas were to go I would pretty much have to.”

Tilman says that more sack lunches could have detrimental effects on the cafeteria. This is because the cafeteria’s budget is determined by the number of meals-per-hour that the they sell. Tilman foresees the popularity for students to buy their meals à la carte will further engender the problem. A meal is made up of, for example, a pasta dish and two to three sides such as mash potatoes and a fruit cup. À  la carte items do not count as meals and coupled with more students bringing sack lunches the losses in revenue could cause reductions in the cafeteria staff’s work hours per week.

Currently the state conducts inspections every five years, but with the new rule, there will be a mandated inspection every three years. That’s where the fines come in.

The inspections’ purpose is to find the cafeteria in violation of government rules, with each violation being potentially punishable with fines. According to Tilman, the inspections consist of inspectors counting the number of school lunches sold, as well as checking that everything is rung up correctly by the staff. The inspectors will also be checking that the cafeteria is providing the right servings of, for example, green vegetables every week and will be on the lookout for students that take more than they’re supposed to, such as two servings fresh fruit.

However, some of the proposed changes under the rule have already been met by the district.

“Luckily Shawnee Mission [School District] has taken steps towards improving students’ health already,” Tilman said.

The district has eliminated things like 2 percent milk–only serving 1 percent and skim milk, which would become a requirement under the rule. According to Tilman, many school districts have not made changes like these, and will be tasked with even greater challenges to meet the criterion of the new rule.

“By doing this, they’re taking away [the students’] options too,” Tilman said.

She expects that this rule’s passage could lead to further government intervention in the cafeteria.

“If this passes, this is just the beginning,” Tilman said. “If it passes think about what else they could control next. Because if they can start controlling what we serve [students], and fine us if we don’t serve it, then they can take away whatever they want after that.”

The USDA allowed for a comment period that ended Wednesday to receive input from the public, before they make the final decision on the proposed rule. They do not need congressional approval.

Photos by Lindsey Hartnett.