Latest school food news

The best source for all the latest information on school food in the SFUSD (and beyond) is at www.sfusdfood.org . Two of the most popular documents at that website, "Why can’t we have better food in our schools?" and "A Short History of Food in the SFUSD" (PDF) have both been updated to reflect the most current information. Both documents are also being translated into Spanish and Chinese so that soon they will be available to more people.

For those who don’t have the time or patience to read through these documents just to learn what’s new, here are the latest updates. First, the good news:

• Student Nutrition Services (SNS) piloted a hot breakfast in 10 elementary schools in the spring of 2008, with a goal of getting more students to eat breakfast; schools selected for the pilot had some of the lowest breakfast participation rates in the district, often serving as few as 6 students a day (SNS does not recoup the costs of providing breakfast at a school unless at least 60 students participate.) Overall, nearly three times as many students ate the hot breakfast, as compared with the previous number eating cold cereal, and some schools increased their participation by 400-500%. As a result, the hot breakfast will be expanded to all of the elementary breakfast programs this year; cold cereal will still be available for those students who prefer it.
• Salad bars operated in 25 schools in 08-09 and nearly all resulted in significant increases in the numbers of students choosing to eat the cafeteria lunch. For example, at Lowell High School, 10% more students chose the cafeteria lunch once the salad bar opened during the second semester, as compared to the number eating in the cafeteria earlier in the school year. At the same time, the number of Lowell students choosing to buy the a la carte lunch (which does not include the salad bar, but offers large and small salads among the choices) also increased. The other middle and high schools with salad bars also showed double digit increases in participation. Clearly salads are popular, especially with middle and high school student. More middle and high schools will open salad bars in 08-09. The salad bars will offer increased choices of produce, including corn and beans, allowing vegetarian students a non cheese protein option to supplement the vegetarian hot lunch offered daily.
• Elementary schools which do not have salad bars will begin offering a wider variety of raw vegetables served with lunch, not just the baby carrots of previous years.
• Brown rice and whole wheat pasta will be appearing on the menu monthly.
• All cafeteria meals are now have 0 grams of trans fat.
• More students ate school lunch last year than in 2006-07, despite the fact that district enrollment declined. Participation increased 2.1% even as enrollment drop by .7%

Now, sadly, the bad news:

• The cost of providing school meals is increasing at a rate which is devastating to the meal program. The price SNS will pay for a meal at an elementary school without a salad bar in 08-09 has increased 30% just since last year – and that does not include increases for the price of the milk which must be served with every meal. At the middle and high school level, between 2004-05 and 2007-08, the prices of the 60 most commonly used items in the preparation of food for the a la carte lines increased between 40-101%. Delivery costs are up 42% from last year due to rising fuel costs.
• Meanwhile, the federal reimbursement for meals served to students qualified for free lunches has increased only 4% since 07-08, and the state reimbursement has dropped 13.6% since last year. The amount of the contribution the City makes to support the salad bars has also dropped 54.5% from 2007-08 to 2008-09.
• Due to the skyrocketing costs of food, fuel, and labor, meal prices for those students who don’t qualify for free or reduced price meals will be increasing to $1.50 for breakfast at all schools (previously this was $1), while lunch prices will be $2.50 at middle school and $3 at high school (both previously $2). Elementary school lunch price remains unchanged at $2.
• These price increases are not unique to San Francisco.
  
  Visit www.pasasf.org/cna/prices.html to see how districts all around the country are raising meal prices, and Rising Cost of Food - Child Nutrition Programs | Hearing to hear what witnesses recently told the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Labor and Education about the impact of rising prices on federal child nutrition programs (especially recommended is the testimony of Katie Wilson of the School Nutrition Association.)

If you think it is time the federal government started funding our school meal programs at a higher level so that our kids can be served the kind of high quality food they deserve, please visit PASA: Speak Up for Better School Food to see a quick and easy way to help.

--- Dana Woldow