Time for Lunch

The 4-1-1 on school meals

Starting this fall, California’s Universal Meals Program will offer free breakfast and lunch to all students in public schools, regardless of eligibility.

Studies have shown that kids who eat breakfast and lunch do better academically, have better attendance and visit the school nurse less often. Inadequate nutrition can lead to fatigue, headaches and tummy aches—not to mention behavioral problems that can disrupt learning for the entire classroom. For these reasons, a consistent school nutrition program can help every student on campus.

Starting this fall, California’s Universal Meals Program will offer free breakfast and lunch to all students in public schools, regardless of eligibility. Parents will recall that free meals were available last school year as part of a federal pandemic relief effort. California was the first state to make universal meals permanent.

“I’m a huge advocate for free meals for all at school and it has been a lifesaver for so many families,” says Maxime Keyson, who is both a parent and substitute teacher in the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD). “As for the quality of the food, it’s pretty shocking.” Keyson has some rather sobering reports with regard to her son’s school meal options. She also expressed concern that the district’s daily calorie allotments were insufficient for teenagers, leaving many high school students still hungry.

Vince Scimone, Food Service Director at GUHSD, understands the concern. Dietary guidelines for school meals are established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including daily targets for calories, sodium and fat. A variety of produce must always be offered. “We can only give students one slice of pizza, but they have pretty much unlimited access to fruits and vegetables,” says Scimone. “But that’s not what they want—and one slice of pizza is not going to fill up a big high school football player.”

Keyson has seen teachers bring in snacks and food for students who don’t eat the cafeteria food. “They spend their own money to ensure students are eating,” she says. “Teenagers are notoriously hungry all the time and are regularly leaving the class to investigate vending machines or find alternatives from the teachers they know have stashes in their classrooms.”

Thankfully, this hasn’t been everyone’s experience. “I was surprised how much my kids enjoyed school meals last year,” said a Santee mom of two, who asked to remain anonymous due to her close work relationship with her district. “A few of the lunches are junky and disappointing. But my kids have also tried healthy things that they’d never eat if I packed them. School lunches have improved a lot since I was in school!”

Last year school districts saw a dramatic uptick in students utilizing school meals. According to Scimone, Santana High School went from serving 200 meals per day to 1,300 meals per day while the GUHSD simultaneously lost a third of their food service staff.

According to Melanie Moyer, Menu Systems Development Dietitian for San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), some parents who experienced school meals for the first time were displeased with the menu offerings. She explained that staffing shortages, pandemic restrictions and supply chain problems had all converged to create exceptional challenges. The takeaway is to have patience (and send extra food, if needed) as school districts work to support the students while following USDA mandates.

“Last school year was very atypical and is not a reflection of what a normal school year looks like when it comes to school food,” Moyer says. “We plan to start this new school year by bringing salad bars back, featuring more locallysourced produce, more scratch cooking and variety at lunch, along with a vegetarian or plant-forward entrée offered daily.”

Interesting enough, there are no USDA guidelines for students’ daily sugar intake—and parents have criticized school offerings like cinnamon rolls and colorful namebrand yogurts.

“I think it’s important to note that the yogurt we serve to students is formulated for K–12 with less sugar,” says Moyer. You may recognize the brand name, but “it’s not the same yogurt found on grocery store shelves.”

School menu planners walk a fine line. They need to provide meals that a large population of children will eat, while also meeting strict nutrition specifications. When possible, specialists also try to favor food produced locally. For the last 15 years, California’s Farm to School program has fostered relationships with local farmers to procure locally grown produce for student meals.

“We choose to get our fruits and vegetables locally sourced, and organic when possible,” says Mary Tyranski, an SDUSD registered dietitian. “We believe in California food for California kids. We have great relationships with our local farmers that have continued to provide for our students throughout the pandemic.”

Nutrition guidelines are updated frequently, and there are a few changes this year. There are new, tighter limits on sodium intake over the course of a school week. Additionally, only 80 percent of grains offered are required to be whole grain rich. The remaining 20 percent must be enriched.

“The biggest impact for SDUSD with the new guidelines is allowing us some liberty to offer grains, such as a tortilla to be enriched only and not wholegrain rich,” says Moyer. “Tortillas are a popular item amongst students, and an enriched tortilla is more widely accepted. This will be one of the biggest changes in the menus for this next school year when serving burritos.”

Tyranski asked for patience in the coming year. While there are excellent plans in place to improve the school lunch experience, there are also some big challenges to overcome. “I think it is important for our customers to know that we always welcome feedback,” she says. “Constructive criticism allows us to learn, grow and make positive changes.”

With any luck, school cafeterias will continue to get better and reach more children with tasty, nutritious meals at no cost.

Anne Malinoski is a contributing writer and mother of two boys. She lives in Santee.

September 2022 • SanDiegofamily.com • 19