The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was recently adopted to address the childhood obesity problem in the United States and health officials hope that controlling this growing problem will save our country future healthcare costs. The changes in food served at school cafeterias will impact public schools nationwide beginning July 1, 2012.
In Brownwood, significant investment has been made in the past five years to purchase combination ovens, or “combi ovens”, which can steam, bake and convection-bake foods.
“We had to eliminate $700 fryers and replace them with combi ovens costing between $15,000 and $20,000 each,” said Steve Locke, the School Nutrition Director for Brownwood ISD. “With six different cafeterias needing this equipment it adds up to a lot of money. We even installed two of these ovens at Brownwood High School.”
Other changes to food include an emphasis on whole grains in place of refined and enriched grains. Locke says this will increase costs slightly for bread, pizza dough, tortillas, etc. The whole grains will also create a different taste in most foods.
“We have already started using more whole grains where possible in our cafeterias and have added a full-time baker so that we can formulate our own recipes,” noted Locke.
The new law requires 51% whole grain content in half of the breads used in 2012-13. Beginning on July 1, 2014, all bread products must have a majority of whole grain content.
In addition, more fruits and vegetables will be heading to the breakfast and lunch plates of school children. Although Texas was ahead of the rest of the nation in increasing fruits and vegetables, the new regulation adds new categories and requirements at lunch for red/orange vegetables, dark green vegetables and legumes. Breakfast will see big changes too with a larger amount of fruit required, beginning in the 2014-15 school year.
Other changes dictate that the required size of meat servings be more age specific than before. Calories in the school menu will be counted and must stay within minimum and maximum levels. Lower sodium levels will also be phased in over a period of ten years.
Locke says his staff at Brownwood ISD has already “changed gears” to prepare for next year now that the new rule has been finalized and published.
“We have started analyzing our current menu to see how it scores on fat grams, calories and sodium,” Locke said. “I have also spent a lot of time recently sourcing new food which will meet the requirements for next year.”
Locke is also working on new and creative ways to introduce new foods to the students.
“We are coordinating with other district employees to begin a taste testing kiosk so students can experience new and different vegetables,” stated Locke, adding that this “Food Challenge” has sparked some enthusiasm amongst some of the elementary physical education teachers.
Though the new rules have prompted some great ideas and a healthier menu, the changes don’t come cheap. The government projects that the increased cost of food and labor will be 11 cents per lunch and 28 cents on each breakfast. The United States will only raise reimbursements to local school districts by 6 cents for lunch only. The local school districts are expected to foot the rest of the bill for the remaining cost of this legislation. Moreover, the 6 cent lunch reimbursement will not be guaranteed but rather performance-based. Locke says that, “Fortunately, the more expensive changes to breakfast will not start next year.” The government projects the total cost of the changes to be $3.2 billion over the first five years.
Separate legislation this past summer mandated that schools increase their lunch prices each year based on a formula provided. Locke says the mandated rise in prices are needed to offset the increased cost of food over the past year or two, as well as the future increases due to the new nutrition requirements.
“In Brownwood, any future meal price increases would not affect students that qualify for the free and reduced-price meal plans,” noted Locke.
The changes in school nutrition are only a part of what can be done to improve children’s health. With healthy eating habits starting and ending in the home, parents of school age children also play a significant role in the fight against childhood obesity. Health and government officials state that 40% of calories in a child’s diet come from school. The other 60% of calories children consume on a regular basis are coming from dinner and snacks. Locke agrees that it will take more to address the problem saying that, “healthy eating should be a partnership between schools and parents. The other element to healthy kids is exercise, which calls for another school-parent partnership. You cannot make significant progress with childhood obesity until all parties are onboard and pulling the same direction.”
