Child Nutrition

Beef Recall Spotlights Real Cost of Cheap School Lunches
When was the last time you spent 50 cents and got lunch? For millions of children who eat public school fare these days, it's just about every day.
School cafeterias get up to $2.47 a student from the U.S. government to serve lunch. After expenses such as labor, transportation, utilities and equipment, schools are left with a little more than $1 to put food on a tray. Costs typically include 25 cents for a carton of milk, about 25 cents for fruit and additional money if they also serve vegetables. About 50 cents is left for an entrée. Many students pay for at least a portion of their lunch, and as the student contribution rises, the part covered by the government drops, which leaves schools to cover the difference.
[ View Article ] May 7, 2008, 08:15

School kids feel the bite of high food prices
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Rising food prices are making it harder for schools to cook up ways to give kids the nutrition they need. Right now, they're taking shortcuts and shuffling ingredients to make up the difference, but that's only a short-term solution with long-term consequences on the horizon. "I've been in school service for 27 years and this is the worst it's ever been," said Sara Gasiorowski, food service director for Wayne Township Schools in Indianapolis. "I have never seen food prices jump up so far." [ View Article ] May 6, 2008, 08:31

Brownsville: Rising food costs beginning to hit BISD
The drumbeat of rising food costs that is all too familiar to grocery store customers is beginning to hit the Brownsville Independent School District's Food & Nutrition Service. School meal programs have been mostly insulated from the higher prices consumers are paying at grocery stores because schools buy their food in bulk and take bids on most items in the spring. As a result, BISD students are eating food today that was priced more than a year ago, said Terry Mendez, BISD Food & Nutrition Service administrator. "Right now we're at the point of planning for next year and how to deal with what's to come," Mendez said. "Everyone's telling us to expect high prices." [ View Article ] May 5, 2008, 07:29

School cafeterias face rising costs
The rising fuel and food costs crunch in everyday life has moved to the school cafeteria. Area school districts are preparing for the increased food prices as they begin accepting bids for milk, grains, meat and fruits and vegetables for next year's school breakfasts and lunches. And for the Beaumont Independent School District, the objective is to balance rising food costs with healthy meals - and not go broke in the process [ View Article ] May 1, 2008, 07:50

County hopes new bus plan will help school budget
The high cost of food is teaching school districts a few things about creative cafeteria planning. In Broward County, school district food managers have had to cut some items from the menu and substitute others. "Soaring corn, wheat and gas prices have driven food costs up especially in Florida" says Raymond Papa who is the coordinator of food and nutrition Services. "Diesel fuel is at an all time high and it impacts Florida in particular because everything has to be brought in either by train, boat, or truck." Milk is up almost 42 percent and that translates to an extra $2.4 million a year. Produce increases have been dramatic. Bananas cost 50 percent more while apples are up 20 percent. Whole wheat buns cost the district $200K more to serve than white buns. [ View Article ] Apr 30, 2008, 07:43

School cafeterias are getting a taste of high food prices
Leaders of Houston-area school districts expect hefty food price increases to hit school cafeterias in coming months. But as much as it might have pleased some youngsters, no one's talking about ditching costly broccoli or berries to offset the added expense. Rather, food managers are scrambling for creative ways to absorb millions of dollars in extra costs without sacrificing nutrition. They're considering adding more beans to the menu, substituting canned fruit for fresh and serving milk in paper cartons, instead of the more popular — and pricey — plastic bottles. In some cases, managers say they may need to raise meal prices, spend reserves or reduce the number of cafeteria workers to cover the double-digit percentage price increases for fruit, dairy and wheat products. The increases are fueled mostly by skyrocketing gas prices and the demand on corn for ethanol production, experts said. "This has been the biggest food price jump," said Melanie Konarik, director of child nutrition for the Spring school district and School Nutrition Association spokeswoman [ View Article ] Apr 28, 2008, 08:31

School milk prices rising
Costs rising by the gallon is more than just a gas problem. Costly gallons of milk may be something people are really concerned with these days, because they vitally effect our bodies, our children and even our school budgets. [ View Article ] Apr 24, 2008, 08:00

Carroll schools donate food instead of tossing it
Students at two Carroll district schools hope to help turn lunchroom leftovers into food for needy neighbors. During a six-week pilot program that began Friday, children at Old Union and Rockenbaugh elementary schools can donate unopened milk and untouched food from the cafeteria to charity. The Tarrant Area Food Bank picks up the food twice a week and will make it available to relief agencies such as food pantries, senior centers and after-school programs. [ View Article ] Apr 24, 2008, 07:46

Corpus Christi: CCISD may expand breakfast program
The Corpus Christi Independent School District beginning next year could be expanding a pilot program that brings breakfast to students in class. Jody Houston, the district's food services director, gave an update to Fiscal Management Committee and trustees Monday on the district's Breakfast in the Classroom pilot program underway at Moore Elementary School. [ View Article ] Apr 22, 2008, 07:45

Editorial: Moms, dads must help the fight against obesity
Elementary school students are often pint-sized scientists, conducting experiments to illustrate lessons in their textbooks. Rarely, however, are they the subjects of those experiments. Some Philadelphia kids ran against the grain during the last two years, immersing themselves in a project to see if they could lose weight. [ View Article ] Apr 21, 2008, 07:46

Don’t forget lunch money--Brenham district kicks off online meal deposit system
The Brenham school district’s cafeterias have implemented “Lunch Money Now,” a new way to deposit money into a student’s meal account. [ View Article ] Apr 21, 2008, 07:30

Editorial: Students pass healthy food test
By gaining knowledge, school children can lose weight. This encouraging finding came from a two-year experiment at five Philadelphia elementary schools that instructed students, parents and even their teachers about good nutrition. [ View Article ] Apr 16, 2008, 07:40

White Oak ISD raising meal rates
White Oak school students will pay more this fall for cafeteria meals, following the first meal price increase in seven years. White Oak Independent School District trustees raised all cafeteria prices for 2008-09 during their Monday night meeting. Trustees and school officials agreed that rising fuel and food costs contributed to their decision. [ View Article ] Apr 16, 2008, 07:15

Childhood Obesity Expert Dr. William Dietz Featured at the 2nd Annual Michael & Susan Dell Lectureship in Child Health
Dr. Bill Dietz's lecture is "What Can We Do to Address the Epidemic of Childhood Obesity?" Dr. Dietz will discuss key learnings from tobacco control that apply to tackling childhood obesity and the various levels of intervention, community involvement and evidence needed to be successful. In addition, Dr. Dietz will present the six levers that can help control the childhood obesity epidemic in our country. [ View Article ] Apr 8, 2008, 07:41

Tennessee: Program for schools serves locally grown veggies
Farmer Robin Verson served a simple squash bisque with homemade bread to a group of kids in a shed-like kitchen with metal roof and plastic walls. But for the students from Abintra Montessori School who were visiting her farm, it might as well have been the finest gourmet restaurant. [ View Article ] Apr 3, 2008, 07:30

Goose Creek disposes of tons of meat
Local school districts have destroyed potentially contaminated meat after the Department of Agriculture issued a recall last month. The recall included products that had been sold over the last two years. Goose Creek ISD alone had 4,880 pounds of raw and 2,280 pounds of processed ground beef that was affected. [ View Article ] Apr 1, 2008, 07:45

School lunch crunch
The cost of school meals is set for a meaty hike next fall, turning up the heat on already cash-strapped education chiefs and struggling moms and dads. “I’m worried. This is hitting all the families, especially those that have two or three kids in school. It is hitting them hard,” said Martha Jo Fritz, who heads Metro North, a collaborative of 16 North Shore school districts. Experts and food industry insiders say food prices are being inflated by rising fuel costs, increased wheat demand in China and India, and U.S. farmers turning to corn instead of wheat to meet a new demand for corn-derived ethanol. [ View Article ] Mar 31, 2008, 07:00

Commissioner Staples rewards students through fruit and vegetable competition
In an effort to encourage young students to eat more fruits and vegetables at school, the Texas Department of Agriculture has created a contest in conjunction with Fruit and Vegetable Month in April. The contest is open to schoolchildren statewide in grades K-2. [ View Article ] Mar 27, 2008, 08:03

Florida: Elementary schools in pilot to fight childhood obesity
Largo is one of just three cities nationwide picked to participate in a pilot program aimed at fighting childhood obesity. As part of the program, the Pinellas County Health Department received a $300,000 grant that will be used to help Largo's first- through third-graders battle obesity and become more aware of the value of healthy living. [ View Article ] Mar 27, 2008, 07:45

Preschool Intervention Curbed Trend Toward Obesity

A preschool-based weight control intervention program instilled healthy eating habits in children aged 2 to 5, a new study shows. The study, by researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, included children from ethnically diverse, low-income families who went to eight subsidized child-care centers in Miami Dade County. The children were assigned to either an intervention or a control group. [ View Article ] Mar 13, 2008, 08:11

Nutrition Directors Fault USDA’s Notice on Recall of Meat

School nutrition directors said last week they struggled to keep up to date with the frequently changing information released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as it handled the nation’s largest beef recall. [ View Article ] Mar 13, 2008, 07:50

Schools left in dark after beef recall
The massive recall of beef last month thrust school cafeterias into "uncharted territory" over food safety, prompting leading food service directors to question whether the federal government's alert system is adequate to keep unsafe food off cafeteria lines. [ View Article ] Mar 5, 2008, 08:00

Schools reliant on federal commodities count on government to keep food safe
Most of the ground beef schools serve to children doesn't get to the plate without extra precautions that go beyond those for beef served in restaurants. [ View Article ] Mar 5, 2008, 08:00

School Nutrition Experts Call for Child Nutrition Funding and Uniform Nutrition Standards
Early next month, more than 700 school nutrition professionals will discuss the crisis in funding for school meal programs and urge Congress to require science-based, yet practical, uniform national school nutrition standards to govern the sale of all foods and beverages available during the school day. The School Nutrition Association's (SNA) 36th annual Legislative Action Conference in Washington, DC, March 2-5, 2008, will bring together school nutrition directors and supervisors, nutritionists, state child nutrition directors and foodservice industry representatives. [ View Article ] Mar 5, 2008, 07:45

Ag Commissioner Preaches The Importance Of Breakfast
The state's Agriculture Commissioner munched on ham and biscuits alongside students during breakfast at Ramey Elementary Monday morning in an effort to promote National School Breakfast Week. [ View Article ] Mar 4, 2008, 08:31

Beef recall expanded
School lunch menus across the country continue to change as the U.S. Department of Agriculture has expanded its beef recall. This is uncharted territory for everyone in the United States, and local school districts are wasting no time pulling the meat to protect children. [ View Article ] Mar 3, 2008, 08:00

Nacogdoches: NISD helping students start day with good breakfast
Today kicks off National School Breakfast Appreciation Week, and Nacogdoches ISD is recognizing the event by introducing its students to the Breakfast Bunch Kid's Club, according to Vanessa Hooper, NISD director of student nutrition."We will be promoting the importance of breakfast as well as the ABCs on nutrition," Hooper said. "Our theme for this event encourages students to join the club and be healthy." [ View Article ] Mar 3, 2008, 07:50

For status-conscious teens, no free lunch
SAN FRANCISCO – Although Francisco Velazquez, a 14-year-old freshman with spiky hair and sunglasses, qualifies for a free lunch at Balboa High School here, he was not eating. He scanned the picnic table full of friends and asserted, "I'm not hungry." On another day, a group of classmates who also qualify for federally subsidized lunches sat on a bench. One ate a slice of pizza from the line where students pay for food; the rest went without. [ View Article ] Mar 3, 2008, 07:40

Our schools: Gadsden district discards ground beef
The Gadsden Independent School District's Student Nutrition Department destroyed 24,830 pounds of ground beef worth $90,000 Thursday at the Camino Real Landfill in Sunland Park. [ View Article ] Mar 3, 2008, 07:24

Nutritionists call for more money, better breakfasts

School kids should be given more information about the benefits of eating well - and especially at breakfast time - according to the Washington, DC-based School Nutrition Association (SNA). More than 700 school nutrition professionals will call on Congress to require science-based, yet practical, uniform national school nutrition standards to govern the sale of all foods and beverages available during the school day when they meet next week for the annual SNA conference.

[ View Article ] Feb 29, 2008, 08:00

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