But gaining more freedom would come with a price
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Citing greater freedom, the Waterford Graded School District could relinquish funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its school lunch program as soon as this coming fall.
With a firm decision needed soon, members of the School Board’s Personnel and Finance Committee continued to opine and muse about the current state of the program, which has incurred a number of newly implemented decisions at the federal level.
WGSD’s committee examined the pros and cons of leaving the USDA’s program. On one hand, the district and its food service provider, Taher, would have more freedom to create meals that appeal to students.
However, if WGSD removed itself from the USDA program, the federal funding that makes free and reduced lunches possible also would evaporate. The district would need to come up with a new plan to ensure students in need are given the opportunity to have lunch during the school day.
Jim Madden, regional vice president of Taher, said USDA’s restrictions – touted by advocates as a way of curbing childhood obesity – have forced the company to create meals that are less appealing to students.
While Madden said he is in favor of giving students a bounty of fresh produce, he takes exception with USDA’s mandate that students must have a particular produce item on his or her tray.
“We have to put it on their tray, but they don’t have to eat it,” Madden said. “That has created for an increase in food waste.”
Historical numbers were not shared at this week’s meeting, but Madden and other district officials asserted student participation has been waning in recent years as changes have been implemented to stay in compliance with USDA requirements.
Slightly more than half of WGSD’s roughly 1,500 students are believed to currently take part in the hot lunch program.
Madden said further restrictions are coming down the pike. Currently, food service providers such as Taher must provide breads that are 51 percent whole grain. Next year, USDA is requiring 100 percent whole grains. For items such as pastas, Madden said the result is a product students are not keen on trying.
“It’s not just a matter of student acceptance,” he said. “It’s also a matter of how it looks.”
If WGSD were to leave USDA’s program, Madden said, Taher would still aim to provide a healthy meal each day for students opting to take hot lunch. But some of the provisions – including the half-cup requirements of a particular fruit or vegetable – would be erased from the equation.
“We wouldn’t start serving Taco Bell and changing everything because that wouldn’t make sense,” Madden said.
Superintendent Chris Joch said about 19 percent of students enrolled this year in WGSD are part of the free or reduced lunch program.
While the district would have to grapple with how it would meet the needs of this group – accounting for about 280 students – committee members agreed change might be in order.
“There is no reason the USDA … should tell us what our students should eat,” said School Board member Dan Jensen, who chairs the committee.
The full School Board could vote on the future of WGSD’s lunch program at its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. this coming Monday, Jan. 20.
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