The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is designed to get kids to eat more fruits, more vegetables, smaller portions, less salt, fewer calories.
Tammy Bragga, cafeteria manager at West Springfield High School, holds examples of healthy food: a salad and a veggie burger.Patrick Daggett, 17, is working on his crinkle-cut fries. They are in fact not fried, but baked. The salt has also been reduced.
Welcome to the new school lunch at West Springfield High School and schools across the nation – healthier, but not without controversy. “Bland,” said Daggett of his spuds.
This fall schools began a three-year process of phasing in new school lunch and breakfast regulations set by the federal government.
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is designed to get kids to eat more fruits, more vegetables, smaller portions, less salt, fewer calories.
“There are very specific requirements,” said Julie Dougal, food service director at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham. “They tell us how many green vegetables, orange vegetables, how many legumes.”
Most schools have long anticipated the changes. “We haven’t had soda in the schools for years,” said Matthew Hoagland, food services director at the South Hadley public schools.
“A lot of the manufacturers were already coming out with whole-grain items,” said food services director Joseph Lecuyer of the Agawam schools.
Reception has been mixed. For younger children, the transition is easier. For older students, it can be a problem.
Some of the complaints are of the can’t-tell-me-what-to-do variety, in line with the abuse heaped on New York Governor Michael Bloomberg for his proposal to ban sales of sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces.
Kids miss their desserts and nacho chips.
But some criticism is gaining support. Kieran Moriarty, 17, of West Springfield, has a problem with the smaller portions. He has “practice and games after school,” and the current portions are just not enough. “Last year we had 12-inch wraps,” he said. “This year they’re 10 inches.”
Teen-age boys consume huge amounts of calories not only for energy, but to support the long bones that are growing in.
“They need to feel they are full,” said Joanne Lennon, director of food services at the Chicopee public schools, who agrees that it’s hardest for kids who play sports.
YouTube is running a protest video called “We Are Hungry,” made by Kansas students.
It’s not always the portions. Some kids are wasting food because they don’t like the taste.
In West Springfield, Jackson Tiansy, 17, pushed a small plate of chopped chicken across the cafeteria table. He had eaten the “wrap” on the outside, but left the chicken.
“I always try to eat healthy,” said Ashley Bieg, 15, of Holyoke High School, “but I think that’s one thing that could be worked on more – making food healthy and good tastewise.”
Lennon said students sent back for a mandatory component of their meal will sometimes argue that they will just throw it away. She has heard that in other parts of the country schools have set up tables where kids can leave their unwanted fruit for food pantries.
“We try to educate students and staff to eat nutritiously,” she said, “but you can lead a horse to water ...” The old adage ends: “ ... but you can’t make him drink.”
Lennon said another problem is that the kids have so little time to eat – in her schools, only 15 minutes – and good food takes longer to eat than fast food.
She tells adults: “You’re in your car and you only have a certain amount of time. Are you going to have a sandwich or a salad?”
The government can mandate what goes into a school lunch if the government is paying for it. Most schools are in the National School Lunch Program. Even kids who are not low-income have some small percentage of their meal subsidized.
If children bring their lunches from home, they can eat whatever they want. Some say they supplement school lunches with sandwiches and snacks from home during the day.
Even the ones who complain say they agree in principle with healthy nutrition. “I do approve of it,” said Darriel Alicea, 17, of Chicopee, “but it shouldn’t be a no-choice thing.”
“I definitely think the regulations are good,” said his classmate Delmarina Lopez, 16, “but they’re going to take some getting used to.”