If The Kids Only Knew

Last week I had the opportunity to work with the Edmond Public School District. I had worked with school districts before, but this was the first time I was able to serve lunch and observe the students. At EPS the cooks make most of the food from scratch, only a few years ago did they stop making their own bread. In case you aren't familiar with the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), I'll give you a little background.

The NSLP is a federally funded program that provides nutritionally balanced, free and reduced-cost meals to non-profit private and public schools and childcare centers. Many people scoff at the idea that these meals are nutritionally balanced. Nutritionally balanced is defined as following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans on recommendations such as no more than 30% of calories can come from fat and less than 10% come from saturated fat. The lunch must also provide one-third (since theoretically we eat 3 meals a day) of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, and Calcium. These lunches must meet the Federal requirements, but it is up to the local school food authorities to decide what is actually served.

In December of 2010 the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) was passed into law. With this act came a few more nutrition related requirements for NSLP, such as more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk. An example menu comparing how lunches used to look to how they can look with new act is located here.


This image was taken from the Houston Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association.

HHFKA does not go into effect until October 2012, but in Edmond they are getting a head start. For example, EPS recently switched to a whole grain pizza crust. I had to opportunity to try it and their pizza was far superior to the pizza that triggered my hunger protest in second grade. They also typically use turkey for their ground meat rather than beef. This is noted on all school menus so parents and students should be aware of this. I say should because the day I served lunch was Frito Chili Pie. A very popular day I might add and the meat in the chili was turkey. This didn't stop the kids from saying how much they liked their beef in the excitement of chili pie day. I would also like to note here that the Fritos were more of an after thought. The students only received an ounce of Fritos, which equates to about 6 corn chips. Hands down the healthiest Frito Chili Pie I have ever seen.

Back to the NSLP reimbursement, schools currently receive $2.77 for a free meal, $2.27 for a reduced-price meal, and $0.26 for a meal paid in full. With HHFKA comes an additional $0.06 for each reimbursement. Yes, that six in the right spot. Six additional cents to help schools provide more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk. Last time I was at the grocery store I didn't see one piece of produce that I could have purchased for 6 cents. Think about it, when is the last time you had a meal covering all of those specifications for $2.83?

Congress agrees with this sentiment that this isn't nearly enough to help fund school lunches. Being the rational people that we the people have voted for, they doing what makes the most sense. They are counting pizza as a vegetable. The two tablespoons of tomato paste on your pizza makes it a vegetable. Never mind that the USDA guideline for a serving of vegetables is a half cup of fresh, frozen, cooked vegetables or vegetable juice. Congress would also like to do away with limiting how often potatoes can be offered, the use of whole grains, and a sodium restriction. It's almost as if Congress doesn't have their constituents interests at heart. Oh wait, is the potato industry in your pants, Representative, or are you just happy to see me?