Posted on 09/07/2014 3:48:36 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
CHICAGO (CBS) – The state’s second largest school district has started the school year with a new look for its lunch menu, after opting out of the National School Lunch Program and forfeiting nearly $1 million in federal funding, to gain more freedom in the food it serves students.
In May, the board for Township High School District 214 voted to drop out of the federal program, after deciding its guidelines were too restrictive. For instance, kids would not have been able to buy hard-boiled eggs or certain types of yogurt. School officials also have noted new guidelines consider hummus to be too high in fat, and pretzels to be too high in salt; non-fat milk containers larger than 12 ounces could not be sold either.
CBS 2’s Susanna Song visited Hersey High School in Arlington Heights on Wednesday to check out the new menu, including grilled chicken spritzed with lemon was offered in a salad, in pasta, or as a sandwich.
District 214 Associate Supt. Cathy Johnson said school officials have no regrets so far, despite giving up nearly $1 million in federal funding.
“So far so good. The meals, as you’ve seen, look fantastic, and there’s a lot of excitement,” she said.
It’s been a week since District 214 schools started selling school lunches after opting out of the National School Lunch Program, a move that meant giving up $900,000 in federal aid.
School officials said staying in the program meant following unreasonable restrictions on protein, sodium and fat. Without the newfound freedom from those guidelines, “the meals would be far simpler,” Johnson said.
At least two of the three healthy choices on school menus – crispy falafel with flatread and rice pilaf, and pasta primavera with roasted vegetables and olive oil – would not have made the cut for the federal program, as being too low in protein.
Johnson said, the concern was, in addition to the federal guidelines being too restrictive on menu choices, sales of the food they could offer wouldn’t be high enough to receive federal aid.
“What would happen is the sales simply wouldn’t be there, and the offerings that we would currently have wouldn’t be available,” Johnson said.
The bottom line, according to Johnson, is if schools can’t sell the healthy meals allowed under the federal program, they also wouldn’t receive any federal funding, so District 214 opted for healthy options kids would eat.
“It’s a reimbursement, so if we don’t sell food, we won’t receive that $900,000 anyways,” Johnson said.
Vending machines at District 214 schools remained the same, offering some healthy snacks alongside the traditional candy bars and chips.
In the cafeteria, grab-and-go pizzas and hot dogs weren’t going anywhere, either.
“There are some à la carte items that are more or less the tried and true, and our students and our staff will certainly be continuing to partake in those,” Johnson said.
The current school year is a trial run for the new school lunches. The district will evaluate the program quarterly, but believe with strong à la carte sales and the new menu options, they’ll do fine without federal aid.
Opt-out-of-the-Nanny-State PING!
Does the pep squad still sell ammo at the games?
***The bottom line, according to Johnson, is if schools can’t sell the healthy meals allowed under the federal program, they also wouldn’t receive any federal funding, so District 214 opted for healthy options kids would eat.***
And i was all excited that a state school would forego taxpayer $$$$ for some freedom. Silly me.
They figured, probably correctly, they would never end up getting it anyway. Wow! Lot of guts there!
Children have parents. Is it not the parents job to feed their children? Sorry if I am missing something.
No to falafel
Yes to Chicken
There is a rather odd cartoon show called Adventure Time, in which a character, the Earl of Lemongrab, is a tyrannical, humorless, hysteric. His catchword is “Unacceptable!”
Which is why calling her Michelle “Lemongrab” Obama seems so very appropriate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcfkEA2INMw
Pick a finger Moochelle!
Moochelle hometown telling her to shove her program...
She will not be a happy wookie....
My school district never participated in the national program and self funded. They always had decent daily offerings and twice a week specials. From what I have heard, they joined he program recently and the quality and sales of food have gone down.
Heh! My younger son loves that show.
I loved the cartoon that had the character ‘Dr. Barber’ in it. He was creepily hilarious.
All my kids love that show. I know grownups who watch it.
It is nothing short of financial blackmail for the government to Rob money from parents of the school district and then give them back part of it only if they meet the “Ransom” demands of the government.
Since the school district is not participating then at the very least the part of their federal tax going to lunch programs should not be collected in the first place.
“So far so good. The meals, as you’ve seen, look fantastic, and there’s a lot of excitement,” she said.
When the lunch is the most important thing at the school, there’s a big problem.
Geez, don’t think I could have survived without hard boiled eggs, yogurt and hummus when I was in school....always wondered what was in the “mystery meat” over mashed potatoes (a.k.a gravy train & library paste) that my school regularly served.
Thanks for the ping!
the more people that tell the feds to GTH the better...and How can the feds deny funds...wouldn’t that be discrimination??
The queen will not be pleased.
So half the kids WILL DIE of a heart attack before graduating, and the other half will be lucky to make it to Age 25. And why? Because the TEA PARTY is running that school district and has decided to KILL those children with junk food, just because they’re mostly minority.
(what I would say on their site, if I were to post to it...spit liberalism right back in their faces)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.