school food
MEETING WITH THE CHARLOTTESVILLE SCHOOLs
During several meetings in the last two and a half years, beginning in November, 2017 , I have met with Carlton Jones, the Nutrition Administrator at Charlottesville Schools. He has kindly informed me of the difficulties he has in changing the menus in all the schools, from grade school to high school. These are not insurmountable issues but are difficult:
Children are picky eaters: Offering pizza or tacos means the children will eat and the cafeteria receives the money needed to help pay the bills (Federal monies are the other source of the budget)
The school gets $2.25 per meal, lunch and breakfast meals and a total of $3.25 counting employee wages and “rent” for the space within the school. Actual money for the food in each meal prepared is 70 cents for breakfast and $1.25 for lunch.
The school system uses a large vendor who is contracted with annually for most of this food. In recent years pop tarts have been removed (yay!!!) and whole grain breads are provided.
Lunch offers a sale and every meal requires a fruit and vegetable , frozen, canned and rarely fresh. Yogurt is offered daily, low carb apparently, though I have not looked at the label yet. Pizza is offered Fridays at grade school and twice weekly in the high school. Grilled chicken and tacos are offered frequently. Eggs and cheese are available but not nuts (allergies). Hummus is served, though Carlton politely indicated that only the “more educated or more financially stable” students know what hummus is.
Farm to school week occurs each October, when local farms bring fresh fruits and vegetables and chefs and cafeteria crew prepare the meals. Two years ago Harrison Keevil volunteered that week to guide in making a menu and meals.
Education: It appears that educating many families in nutrition and food preparation would be most helpful in creating the interest and skills to prepare more fresh fruits and vegetables for meals at home which may translate to better choices by those students in the schools. This is indeed the hardest part because it is more labor intensive and requires volunteers at the neighborhood level.
For those who live in the Charlottesville area, I would love to meet with those interested in this particular issue. Chefs and creative moms and dads are welcome. Our office, Downtown Family Health Care sits across the street from Friendship Court, and there are of course several other communities such as West Haven, which are also Section 8 housing where many SNAP users live. I believe that once shown shopping skills and cooking skills, parents will be more motivated to choose better for their children and prepare better meals. The health benefits are huge as most readers will know.