During 20 years serving breakfast and lunch to students at Central Junior High School, Dixie Workman made it her job to understand the eating habits of the students who occupied her cafeteria daily.
Although the cafeteria has moved and the menu has been altered more times than she can remember, Workman said students’ tastes remain the same after two decades. Dictated by the simple tastes of students, Workman routinely helped stock the cafeteria at Central Junior High with pizza, French fries, chicken nuggets and hamburgers. Despite meeting the fickle tastes of adolescent diners, increased health concerns in children and teens forced lawmakers to make drastic changes to the composition of school menus.
Concerned by skyrocketing rates of obesity in children and adolescents, U.S. senators passed legislation in 2004 forcing federally funded schools to alter menus to ensure that the meals served met proper nutrition guidelines. Since the beginning of the 2006-2007 year, Workman and food service employees of USD 497 and school districts across the country have begun the transition from high calorie to high nutrient-based offerings. Much to the dismay of students, the result is the disappearance of traditional favorites packed with fat and sugar in exchange for whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
“They miss their desserts,” Workman said. “Because of the wellness program, cookies are about the only thing we can have. We used to have apple crisp, strawberry shortcake, chocolate cake and stuff like that, but they can’t have any of that anymore.”
Despite their good intentions, lawmakers might have unwittingly created a whole new set of obstacles for schools to overcome. Students’ reactions to the changes have been predictable, but what legislators did not predict is the loss of $137,000 in revenue last year that is threatening USD 497 food service’s self sufficient status.
Paula Murrish, food services director for the district, said she knew revenue would be down as a result of the changes. She attributed the loss of funds to lackluster a la carte sales as well as the increased costs associated with health conscious foods. A la carte sales had previously generated as much as $1,000,000 per year in revenue for food services but fell to $484,000 last year, leaving the district in a financial deficit it might not be able to recover from.
“We will probably get to a point where we will not be self sufficient anymore,” Murrish said. “We have always been self sufficient and not had to have general fund money reimburse food services. I don’t know how long we can hold out, but we are trying.”
Food service’s budget crisis doesn’t seem likely to end anytime soon either. Even thought the district has downsized staff members from 151 to 108, become more aggressive in bidding processes for ingredients and services and raised meal prices by 10 cents, the decline in revenues continues to force administrators to make ends meet while providing flavorful foods students demand. Murrish said she believes offerings will get better as the district becomes better suited to providing the new menu items.
“We can always step it up and make it better,” Murrish said. “It’s just what kids will tolerate and what they get used to eating because I have to have meal sales to sustain my labor.”
Workman said she was not surprised by students’ unwillingness to try the new entrees and a la carte offerings made with less fat and sugar. She said students didn’t care for the baked chips and reduced fat snacks now offered, especially after having grown accustomed to the chips and sweets previously available. The culprit is no mystery to Workman and her young patrons; the flavor just isn’t what it used to be.
“The kids at first did not like them at all,” she said. “They liked their homemade cookies because they were bigger and more flavorful. They are starting to come around because some of this group doesn’t know what they are missing. It’s getting better as each year goes along but there just isn’t the flavor from before.”
Murrish said she understands students’ frustrations with the changes but also said she believes that with proper nutritional education and more time the district can begin to have a positive effect on the way its students eat at school and at home.
Without focusing on the reasons the changes are being made, the message will never get through to students, Murrish said. Although the program seems to be headed in the right direction, she said significant progress will not be made until students as well as parents are exposed to the nutritional education aspects for a considerable period of time.
“We know you have to start somewhere and hopefully after elementary kids have gone through the process [results will come],” Murrish said. “It takes time, it won’t happen overnight.”
And for Workman, one innocent comment said it all.
“I was surprised when one of the students came up and said ‘do they really think by changing your menus here it’s going to change the way we eat?’” she said. “And I thought, you know, that’s a smart child.”
For now USD 497 must be content with a slight increase in meal sales while waiting for the long-term results lawmakers hoped for when initiating the program. For students accustomed to the previous menu, true change remains a challenge.
As Workman said, only one aspect of her job remains the same; student taste buds. Regardless of the district’s efforts, those aren’t apt to change anytime soon.