I was nearly giddy with anticipation for our first meeting with the food service administrators from our school district this afternoon. I was nervous that they would be defensive, or that they might have a laundry list of all of the reasons why they were unwilling or unable to make changes in our current food service program. Would they hate me for being outspoken and blabbing about these issues on my blog?
I was relieved to find out, though, that while they started off on the tense side, they were very open to suggestions from the parents and staff that were in attendance. They admitted, later, that they weren’t sure what to expect, either. Were we going to come in with a list of unreasonable demands? Would we be sensitive to the fact that change comes slowly, especially when there is lots of red tape and beaurocracy involved?
The meeting began with a description of the current system – how it’s organized, where the food is delivered and how it gets distributed to the schools in the district. Let me see if I can get it straight…
- The food service staff orders food from a variety of vendors, which include Schwan, Tyson, Sysco and many others.
- The food arrives on palates, which are unloaded at the Central Kitchen for the district, currently located on the San Rafael High School campus.
- The food is sorted and stored in their very crowded facility.
- Each day, the foodservice staff for each school selects the items that they need for their breakfast / lunch programs, heats the food, and then delivers it to their school site, where it is distributed to the students.
The district is planning a renovation of the Central Kitchen, starting this May – with lofty goals of re-opening in time for the start of the 2010-2011 school year. (Have you ever heard of a construction project finishing on time?) In the meantime, they will temporarily use the kitchen on the Bahia Vista school campus. The good news for Bahia Vista is that they will get a new community kitchen when this renovation is finished – filled with the old equipment that is being discarded from the central kitchen.
It got a little confusing when they discussed federal rules about who is allowed to use the school kitchens. At present, any school with a “Central Kitchen”, warming kitchen, or prep kitchen can not allow anyone to use the kitchen for cooking. Yes, you read that right. These kitchens are not built to the health department’s code for cooking. They are merely meant to be staging areas to prep, heat and distribute food. Our whole group was clearly disappointed when we realized that the new central kitchen would not have facilities in place to COOK food for our students. No fresh pasta, no sautéed veggies, no vats of steamy chili or veggie soup.
But the good news is that we have started a discussion – and there is going to be more transparency about the ingredients of the food that is currently available to our students. Right now, when we look at the monthly lunch menu, we aren’t really sure what the kids are getting. What does a Taco Salad really contain? Is it something we would proudly serve our kids, or is it filled with sub-standard ingredients and dressing made from partially hydrogenated oils? Are the burritos vegetarian? Even though the food service people say that the Corn Dogs are better than the “normal” kind, what does that mean?
But all of that is going to change – there is a new online interface that will show nutrition information and hopefully ingredients to anyone who wants to know. NutriKids will also allow families to order and pay for lunches online – even at the last minute when we may be too busy to make lunches for our children. And it should be able to provide us with more information than we currently have, so we can make informed choices about the foods we agree to buy for our children.
While the food service team sings the praises of certain menu items, like the Honey Bun, parents were more skeptical. Even though the Honey Bun may fall within the acceptable federal nutrition guidelines, parents say that it gives kids mixed messages – if this sticky-bun is healthy, than the sticky-bun at the mall / airport must be healthy too. Of course, in reality, the products in the mall/airport are not subject to nutrition standards and are practically a heart attack on a plate. I suppose it boils down to our responsibility as parents to educate our children and talk to them about the importance of the food that fuels their bodies and minds.
Some topics that were too confusing for me to comprehend this time around – maybe someone can clarify them in the comments, below…or I can write about them after a few more meetings when my brain doesn’t feel so fuzzy:
- Other nearby school districts are out of compliance
- How our district’s Central Kitchen renovation would require other districts to use us as their food service provider. Or else.
While I may have been too overwhelmed to understand all of the federal rules and compliance issue, there were a few things that really caught my attention – in a good way! The food service director has some goals – and we embraced them eagerly:
- Fewer items wrapped in plastic
- Eliminating packets of ketchup/mustard/mayo, in favor of large jugs with a pump dispenser
- Offering at least two entrée choices each day
- Offering a “Garden Bar”, with fresh carrots and several choices of fruits daily. Eventually, schools with gardens may supplement the produce in the Garden Bar with items they have grown.
- Talking to parents and integrating feedback into new menu choices and healthier alternatives
Goals are good – and follow through is even better. On this positive note, I’ll say goodnight.
Stay tuned for our next meeting, Thursday, March 25 at 7pm.
Michelle – very well encapsulated – I think you hit the major points right on and explained the limitations, regulations and restrictions that we will be working within. I am very excited and hopeful about being a part of this task force. I hope that we can be an example to other school districts working with compliance issues and show how to provide nutritious and marketable meals to our kids.
Looking forward to working with you all.
Jenn Hatch
Sun Valley parent
What a great start! Congratulations for being the squeaky wheel. It’s got to be gratifying to hear that it’s not entirely an uphill battle. You have good timing, too. Since they are in the planning/building stage on the new kitchen, maybe you can be a parental advisory group to help shape how it all turns out. I’m looking forward to more of this adventure of yours. Good luck!
Thanks Beth – I get worried sometimes that I am too gullible. I want everyone to be truthful and honest because that’s how I am – so sometimes I may put wishful thinking before reality. But there was a room filled with people – and we all seemed to hear the same thing. I hope to attend a food service conference next week so I can see some of the food choices that are available to us. Maybe I”ll see something that looks appealing. I have a hunch I’ll see a lot that doesn’t. Fingers crossed for real change. xoxox M
Thanks for your thoughtful and thorough reporting, Michelle. I happened upon a bag of Sunrise Bites yesterday. The marketing company from Kona, HI (I love that place and Hawaiins are known for their honesty), says–good source of fiber whole grain, trans fat free, all natural flavors, no high fructose corn syrup, no nuts, no dairy, no preservatives. OK so what’s in these things? To me they smell like IHOP–like a pancake doused in maple syrup–I smell yuck. Both my husband and son smell yumm.
So here’s the list of ingredients in “MJM Super Wholesome Sunrise Bites”: whole wheat flour, enriched flour, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil– STOP!!!!! It’s the fourth ingredient, but apparently weighs in less than .5 grams per serving, otherwise our marketing company could not legally make the claim that these things are trans fat free–oldest trick in the book! And that sugar–14 g per serving! The list goes on and on. . . I just don’t see how our strict nutritional guidelines support these disturbing nutritional facts.
I can’t stand the “rules” that allow companies to make big claims on their packaging (no trans-fats, for example) when they aren’t true. Our food service staff must read labels – right? Or maybe once again, I am naive…
Hi Michelle,
Thanks so much for summarizing the meeting so eloquently. I am thrilled about this group and the opportunity to make some positive changes! I too was impressed and relieved with the district’s candor and willingness to allow us to work with them and be a catalyst for change.
In reviewing my notes, a few additional comments I captured were with regards to the Federal Guidelines to which the district must adhere:
- a non-compete with current/approved suppliers (Tyson, Kraft, General Mills, to name a few)
- Nutritional Guidelines made available (Although as a parent I would like to know where to find them.)
- compliance with Union mandates
You might also make mention of the financial challenges under the Title One banner. We risk a $1.6M shortfall in food program funding if we fall out of compliance with Federal Guidelines.
I was interested to see your link to Marion Nestle’s site. I just exchanged email with her the day before we met inquiring whether she was available to speak in our district. She’ll be in the Bay Area in May. It seems however that her attention has shifted now to tackle pet food. She does have a new blog though under foodpolitics.com.
See you on the 25th.
Heather Moore
Sun Valley
It feels like we came to the table with some promise to make some change, although, I do tend to be a bit skeptical when compliance and guidelines start getting thrown around. It will be great to get some more guidelines about some of those – especially what the nutritional analysis criteria are when you consider the “honey bun” and the Sunrise Bites (they taste like graham cracker/cookies – with 14 gm of sugar! nice jolt to the day!) meet these criteria.
glad to have such a committed crew to work with on this – anyone know others who may be interested from Laural Dell, Bahia Vista, San Pedro, and Venetia Valley?
see you all on the 25th!
Many, many thanks to each of you who are addressing this concern. The notes from the first task force meeting show that you are getting to the heart of the matter, so thank you for your willingness to be bold & ask for what our students need. Here at San Pedro, we have been making requests for changes to the Food Service Program for years, as many other schools in the district have been doing as well. Collaboratively, we will be able to support & advocate for each other with greater strength. I am thrilled to think of the changes that can take place.
Unfortunately, I found out about the task force after the first meeting, but I will be in attendance representing San Pedro on the 25th. I will also be putting out the word to our parents, teachers & staff. We look forward to coming on board with full support!
- Julie Lehman
San Pedro Elementary School
Garden & Nutrition Coordinator
Michelle,
Your notes were great, and it must be said that having public notes is key to keeping us informed and connected. So please bring your laptop Thursday, March 25th, 7 pm again!
I am astonished by the bound-and-gagged state of affairs of the school lunch (and school funding, for that matter). Seems like we are approaching a tipping point as to how much parents are willing to take when it comes to watching how our tax dollars are being squandered. The relationship between union workers and contracted vendors seems slimy at best. Food servers aren’t “skilled” enough to serve freshly made hot food? Better food cannot be served because of contracts with giant agribusinesses? How long do we endure these ridiculous conditions? Who is asking for these structures to change besides the parents?
Who do WE ask to represent these concerns?
Andrea
To those of you who were at the last meeting: I never rec’d confirmation for the 3/25 meeting – did anyone?
Jenn
Hi Jenn,
Hope to see you there!
No, I didn’t get confirmation – but I thought we set the time at our last meeting. I plan on attending unless I hear otherwise
Hi Michelle,
I was not able to attend on the 25th and have not received any minutes from the first or second meeting. I’d love a full list of the members, does anyone have that??
Love your synopsis of the first meeting. Looking forward to the next.
I did hear that some breakthroughs on breakfast were accomplished, yeah! I’ve been asking for hard boiled eggs and oatmeal for 3 years!
Wonderful how collaboratively we can make positive small steps!
Karen
Bahia Vista
Thanks Karen,
We haven’t distributed any minutes for the meetings – almost all of the discussion is being documented here, on the blog, so that we can keep it transparent and very public…
We would love for you to attend again. We had 2 other garden/nutrition educators there this time – one from San Pedro and another from Davidson. We are thrilled at the backgrounds and passions of our team!
The link to the second meeting’s post is here:
http://whatscookingblog.com/2010/03/27/school-lunch-reform-2nd-meeting/
I look forward to collaborating with you on more of these issues!
Michelle
Speaking up ..is the only way to effect change. Glad to see they are willing to consider change.