December 2017 - School Lunches fuel Learning

By Lila Szozda, Child Nutrition Director

School lunches provide fuel for learning to take place. Our Child Nutrition Services Department works hard every day to make sure students have several healthy choices, and to encourage them to try new things. It's important that students get a nutritional meal and be able to concentrate at school – food equals brainpower!

Under the national school lunch program, school districts are regulated as far as what we are able to serve students. There are specific nutritional value targets we are required to meet. The dietary specifications for school lunch include: 550-850 calories, sodium <1230 (k-5), < 1360mg (6-8), <1420 mg (9-12), saturated fat < 10% of total calories and no trans-fat.

Snacks also have to meet strict federal guidelines, called Smart Snacks. Any food sold during the school day must meet these standards. These foods may include cereal bars fruit snacks cheese sticks and yogurt sold in vending machines, school stores, snack bars and as fundraisers.

We have 40 Child Nutrition Services staff members. 29 hold School Nutrition Certification in Food Safety and Nutrition and 23 hold Serv Safe Certification. Our school lunch program is self-sustaining between federal dollars and revenue collected, including all salaries and benefits of department employees, equipment and equipment repairs/maintenance, food, supplies, staff professional development and software. We are proud that we can sustain this program in this way, keeping the school district’s general funds in the classrooms.

A total of 365,928 meals were served in Perrysburg Schools during the 2016-17 school year, which averages about 2,127 per school day. Among those meals, 45,801 qualified for free meals and 18,792 for reduced price, which are reimbursed by the federal government.

When we serve something like pizza, it is important to understand that it is not the same type of item that is carried at a typical grocery store. Suppliers make different meals for schools, which may include all whole grains, less than 10% saturated fat, no trans fat and they are also lower in sodium, fat and sugar than their commercial counterparts. Having foods that resemble familiar foods is important, because it makes it more likely that students will eat a good meal and enjoy it. Meals are also made in our kitchens, for example, the junior high and high school sell soups that are made in-house.

We offer many choices hoping a student will try something new, especially when it comes to vegetables. We offer a variety of salads as well as fresh, cooked and frozen vegetables. We also serve fresh and canned fruits. The salads are very popular, even in the younger grades!

In elementary schools, lunch is required to consist of protein, grain, 3/4-cup vegetables, 1/2-half cup fruit and low fat or fat free milk. Our vegetables are typically served in half-cup portions, and we encourage students to take two different vegetables – one they know and one to try.

Variation is another way that students are encouraged to try different foods. There may be five to six different combinations of sandwiches, warm foods and salads available on a given day. We encourage students to taste test in the cafeteria – we remind them to just try it!