Food group plans ‘Eat In’ on Labor Day

What’s for lunch? Salad and fresh fruit might be on the menu, but the main course at most school cafeterias still feature processed fare: cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, hotdogs, sloppy joes and pizza. “The meals are premade – they get microwaved and slapped on a platter,” said Kristi Fountain, vice president of Slow Food Spokane River, an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainability and connecting farmers, cooks, educators, students and others who care about food and the environment. “When you look at what most kids are learning about food, you realize that they’re not encouraged to eat whole foods and healthy meals.” As part of “Time for Lunch,” a national campaign to provide children with real, healthy food at school, Fountain and other Slow Food members in Spokane have organized an Eat-In on Labor Day. The gathering, which takes place at Comstock Park on the South Hill, is designed to raise awareness of the kinds of meals served to the more than 30 million children who take part in the National School Lunch Program. “The way we feed our kids is a reflection of our values,” Josh Viertel, president of Slow Food USA, said in a press release. “We cannot, in good conscience, continue to make our kids sick by feeding them cheap byproducts of an industrial food system. It is time to give kids real food: food that tastes good, is good for them, is good for the people who grow and prepare it, and is good for the planet.” Spokane will be one of more than 240 communities nationwide hosting an Eat-In. With Congress slated to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act, a federal law that governs the National School Lunch Program, Slow Food members want lawmakers to allocate more money toward school meals and closely examine the food served to children. This is especially important, they said, in light of the growing numbers of obese and overweight children and the rate of childhood diabetes in the United States. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, more than 101,000 public and non-profit private schools as well as residential child care institutions are part of the National School Lunch Program. Through this program, children from low-income families receive free or reduced-price meals. Meals purchased by kids who pay full price also are subsidized to some extent. Schools that are part of the National School Lunch Program receive a cash reimbursement for each meal served. This past year, schools that served less than 60 percent free and reduced-price lunches were reimbursed at a rate of $2.57 for each free lunch served; $2.17 for those that were reduced-price and 24 cents each for the full-price meals, according to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Schools with higher percentages of low-income students were reimbursed at a higher rate. According to Slow Food USA, less than $1 of each meal is spent on actual ingredients; most of the money goes toward labor, equipment and overhead costs. “Our schools don’t have the tools – they receive so little money from the government,” said Karen Berube, secretary of Slow Food Spokane River. “So often, our children end up eating junk.” The 2009 State of School Nutrition, a document released in early August by the School Nutrition Association, also noted that more than 77 percent of school food service directors cited the cost of food and food preparation as the “most pressing issues” that face cafeteria programs across the country. The annual report stated that more schools are now offering vegetarian offerings (an increase of more than 12 percent since 2007). Nearly 40 percent are also providing locally-grown fruits and vegetables on their menus and another 21 percent are considering this option. To help the schools and bolster their efforts to provide healthy meals for kids, Slow Food’s Time for Lunch campaign is asking lawmakers to allocate $1 more per day per child for lunch. It also wants the government to establish standards for all food sold at school, including vending machines as well as provide funding to teach children healthy eating habits through farm-to-school programs and school gardens. “People want to trust their schools and the government so they assume they’re doing the right things,” said Berube, who is also enrolled in the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy at Spokane Community College. “A lot of people are surprised to learn that their kids are eating fast food every day.” According to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, school lunches must meet the recommendations of the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which states that no more than 30 percent of an individual’s calories should come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. School lunches also have to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, vitamins A and C, iron, calcium and calories. Although meals served in schools must meet federal nutrition requirements, it is up to individual school districts to decide what types of foods should be served and how they are prepared. Several school districts including Spokane Public School have implemented policies that promote an atmosphere in which students are encouraged to choose healthy foods and take part in physical activity. Although the menu for Spokane schools includes cheeseburgers, pizza and other fast food-type of items, the district issued new nutrition standards this summer that applies to all food and beverages that are sold, served and offered on school property. For instance, hard candy such as lollipops, Popsicles and other artificially sweetened items including soda pop and sports drinks will not be sold or made available to students. Students will be encouraged to eat whole fruits, whole vegetables, and whole grain products. Sweetened pastry items such as maple bars and cinnamon rolls will be available on the breakfast menu only two days each week. The same rule applies for baked French fries and tater tots on the elementary schools’ lunch menu. When her kids were in school, Berube made them a lunch every day because she didn’t think the food served in the cafeteria was healthful. She was especially wary of processed foods and items that contain high-fructose corn syrup. Her concern about food, health and the environment prompted her to read every food label and to cook from scratch as much as possible. There’s now a growing awareness of the fact that the most efficient way to feed school children isn’t necessarily the healthiest for kids, said Berube. Although schools are making the effort to improve lunches, it’s important for parents and other concerned citizens to educate themselves, she said, and to take action by participating in an event like the Eat-In on Labor Day. “It’s important to make sure the kids of our community are well cared for,” Fountain said. “This is our responsibility. By giving schools the resources to serve real food, we can build a strong foundation for the health of our children.”