School districts stir up creativity for the cafeteria

LORAIN, Ohio — Blueberry Bash Mini Waffles and a 220-foot-long submarine sandwich add dollops of fun to school lunch menus in Lorain and Elyria.

A challenge in schools across the country is to package new federal nutrition requirements in lunchroom meals but yet taste good and appeal to children.

The Healthy Hungry Free Kids Act will remain an issue until school lunchrooms and children’s palates adapt to it.

“The hardest thing about this law was it was instant impact,” said Scott Teaman, director of food services for Sodexo, to the Elyria City School Board. “This generation was fast-fooded out. They’re not used to these things. We had to do some menu changes.”

While increasing fruits, vegetables and whole grains, the menus lowered fat and sodium and added fun choices.

The result is not your same old school lunchroom fare. When necessary, what looks like an old familiar chicken patty, isn’t.

“It’s been a challenge,” said Frank Horvatich, director of food service for Aramark Education at Lorain City Schools with a food service budget of $4.3 million a year. “A lot of the companies we buy from, like Tyson, came up with a chicken patty or nugget with a whole grain breading. It doesn’t look different to a kid.”

In October at Lorain High School, Aramark will field test burgers with an ethnic twist, Horvatich said.

“We’ll offer samples the day before to encourage kids to try it,” Horvatich said. “Our kids are our customers.”

On the first day of school at Frank Jacinto Elementary in Lorain, Horvatich’s team served six-inch sub sandwiches on a white, whole-grain bun that looked like a regular hot dog bun, but the nutrition was in there, he said. They added chicken pepperoni with less salt and fat, turkey ham with less fat, grated reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Students could choose a sub, a chicken patty, or a chicken chef salad. Since each student must place a fruit and a vegetable on the lunch tray to count as a meal, extra choices included corn, cucumber slices, apples, oranges, 100 percent fruit juice and milk, Horvatich said.

While food names such as Blueberry Bash Mini Waffles, Meatball Pizza Sub, and Wing Wednesday with Campfire Beans pique the curiosity, each meal runs through a nutrition analysis in a computer program, NUTRIKIDS, to make sure the combinations fit within USDA guidelines, Horvatich said.