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West Geauga cafeterias go an health-food kick
(by Sue Hoffman - July 28, 2010)
West Geauga cafeterias go an health-food kick
By SUE HOFFMAN
The fryers will be gone, "smart pizza" will be on the elementary school menu, and lunch prices for secondary students will be a quarter less when the West Geauga School District opens for the 2010-2011 school year.
The changes occur as the district and food-service provider Nutrition Inc., of Conneaut Lake, Pa., strive to provide healthy foods that appeal to students, comply with state and federal regulations and reduce the operation's deficit, according to school and food service officials.
School Superintendent Anthony Podojil and Nutrition officials commented on the food service operation to the school board, which recently gave Nutrition a new five-year contract with yearly renewals. Nutrition, which has managed the district's food service for over a dozen years, and Sodexho were the two bidders.
Nutrition, which had the low bid, will receive $85,571 annually for management, supervisory and procurement services, as well as $1.89 per lunch, according to school Treasurer Michele Tullai.
The price for a basic lunch was $3.25 at the high school last year, School Superintendent Anthony Podojil said. "We're going back to $3."
Elementary school lunches will remain at $2.75 and middle school lunches remain $3, he said.
Nutrition officials said they believe the rise in the high school lunch from $3 to $3.25 a year ago reduced sales of the basic lunch.
"For every 1 percent increase in price," there's a corresponding 1 percent decrease in student participation in the lunch program, said Gary Bland, of Nutrition, Inc., who directs the district's food service. "Twenty-five cents is a lot in this economy."
A-la-carte sales at the high school have been good, Dr. Podojil said. Now that the number of students at the high school who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches is up to about 7 percent, the school will benefit from going on the National School Lunch Program, which provides subsidies, he said.
About 40 percent of students purchase lunch on a given day, Mr. Bland said.
The number of students purchasing lunch is important as the district faces an estimated annual deficit of $180,000 to $200,000 in the food service operation, Dr. Podojil said. Sharing food-service management for the last few years with the Cardinal School District in Middlefield has helped lower costs through volume discounts, but has not eliminated the deficit, he said.
School and Nutrition officials said the schools continue to provide healthier selections.
When the elementary school started offering salads and toppings, Dr. Podojil said, "We were all surprised" how popular they were.
Salad bars with low-fat dressing at the high school and middle school are also popular, Mr. Bland said.
Another new selection at the elementary schools this fall is "smart pizza," which has 30-percent less fat than regular school pizza, Mr. Bland said. The pizza will come in frozen, and "we'll bake it," he said.
High school and middle school students will continue to be offered pizza that Nutrition bakes fresh daily. The pizza is made with low-fat "commodity" cheese, Mr. Bland said. Commodities are food items offered at reduced prices by the government, he said. "Every district gets so much allotted. It helps the school district tremendously. We use all of our commodity dollars every year."
Panini sandwiches, made with low-fat meats, turkey and spray oil, will be offered this fall in the secondary schools, Mr. Bland said.
Among the many healthy-food offerings each day are five varieties of fresh or canned fruit, Mr. Bland said. "We go through a case of bananas a week," as well as two to three cases of apples and two cases of oranges.
"We also offer fresh vegetables and soup every day." For their beverage, the cafeterias offer 1 percent milk, plain or flavored, he said.
With the absence of fryers, foods will be baked rather than fried this year, he said.
The cafeterias will continue to offer a prepay system which has resulted in quicker lunch lines, Mr. Bland said. The system, in which pre-payments for lunch are given to schools and online, allows parents to see what foods their children are purchasing.
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