Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano School District’s food services provider is trying to develop new ways to get students to eat school meals while keeping within the strict guidelines laid out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The district saw a decrease in the number of lunches served by Taher Inc. According to a report presented to the Shawano School Board this week, Taher served 32,525 lunches in September, compared with 33,850 for September 2013.
Most of the decrease was in the number of free and reduced meals. Paid meals were almost flat with 12,752 in September and 12,820 in September 2013.
Breakfast counts, however, were up; the number of paid meals decreased.
Breakfast numbers were up at every school except Shawano Community Middle School. The biggest leap was at Shawano Community High School, where a daily average of 104 breakfasts were served, compared with 25 in September 2013.
Food services director Sarah Moesch attributed the 300-percent jump to two main factors. The school started providing four breakfast choices for high school students, and breakfast is no longer limited to before school, which starts at 7:30 a.m.
“Breakfast is now served from 7:15 in the morning to 10:15, which allows kids to eat breakfast a little later, when they’re hungry,” Moesch said.
New guidelines were put into place this year for sodium content in school meals, which required Taher to re-examine the entrees served at the schools. Moesch said the middle school used to offer pizza five days a week. To meet sodium guidelines, pizza is now available twice a week. Instead, the school is offering options such as made-to-order sub sandwiches, chicken wings, baked potatoes and pasta.
“Those were things that were never offered before at the middle school; they were just offered at the high school,” Moesch said.
More salad and wrap options also are being offered at the high school, Moesch said.
School Board member and physician Derek Johnson expressed concerns last year and reiterated them this week that parents and students, especially athletes, want larger portions because they’re still hungry after meals.
Moesch said options are available for students who are not getting enough to eat from the entrees. They can take as many fruits and vegetables as they like, and more grains are offered, she said.
“Some meals are bigger than others. It all depends on the caloric totals,” Moesch said.
The guidelines are weekly, not daily, totals, so Taher can squeeze more into meals during shorter weeks.
“I don’t really have a lot of control over the menus. They’re put together by our corporate dietitians, with approval from the USDA,” Moesch said.
The district tries to purchase food locally whenever possible, she said, including buying crates of apples from Everflow Farms and Orchards in Bonduel and heirloom tomatoes and sweet potatoes through Reinhart Food Services in Shawano.
Taher also provides opportunities for students to prepare and learn about food. A Cooking with Kids program is offered at Hillcrest Primary School for students and their families, while high school students are participating with Taher officials to plan and seek healthy snack options for their peers.
Taher served 13,837 free breakfasts and 18,272 free lunches during the 24-day summer school, according to Moesch. The meals were available to all students, regardless of whether they qualified for the free/reduced meal program or were enrolled in summer school.