Austintown schools offering nutritious options

By Robert Connelly | October 7, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

By ROBERT CONNELLY

AUSTINTOWN

School lunches continue to change and become healthier, putting school districts in an interesting place to appeal to children while providing healthy meals.

“Everyone still thinks it’s the 1960s and 1970s where it’s just a glob on a tray,” said Tascin Brooks, Austintown schools’ food-service director. “If we think it’s not working, we change it out.”

Brooks said her staff continuously evaluates what food is in front of students, kindergarten through senior year at Fitch High School. That includes vending machines as well.

She explained the state passed Senate Bill 210, which then a few years later was overruled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

The federal law sets nutrient requirements, such as snack items being 200 calories or less and entrees at 350 calories or less.

It also sets limits on sodium and sugar intake.

The reason Austintown schools are mandated to follow these rules is because they participate in the National School Lunch Program.

“Kids can’t take two ketchup packets [for burgers] because that would set them over on calories” for that item, said Natalie Winkle, district food-service secretary and assistant. Brooks added, “It’s science; it’s really what food service is. ... You have to constantly re-invent.”

But the switch to healthier options has led to increased costs for the food-service department. Brooks said they made more money with Hostess snacks and soda in the vending machines. She also said they serve 3,000 meals a day to about 5,500 students.

“Costs are up about 20 percent, and they’re going to go up more. ... In the long run, hopefully, we’ll make our kids healthier,” she said. “When it comes to school food service, we’re self-funded. We’re our own entity. We get no money from the general fund. We don’t get any of those tax dollars, so we have to be profitable; so we constantly have to be thinking outside of the box, and all food-service departments face this issue.”

Food items go through a series of questions to see if they qualify, which one can do using the Smart Snack Calculator link on www.affoodservices.com. The district is responsible for meals (breakfast and lunch) and snacks during the school day.

“Nothing can be sold to students that doesn’t meet the Smart Snack guidelines on our district campus,” Brooks said.

This also affects fundraisers in the school, but Brooks said the food-service department works with the Parent Teacher Organization and other groups to help them meet these requirements to continue fundraising within the schools.