Thousands of students stand in line every day waiting to choose from a variety of foods. Some might complain that the food isn’t tasty, but the Columbia Public Schools (CPS) Nutrition Services Department tries to ensure they supply all schools in the CPS system with a plethora of healthy options that appear kid-friendly.
Laina Fullum, Director of the CPS Nutrition Services said the CPS system is under the National School Lunch Program, which is “[heavily] regulated and heavily [researched].” Fullum says those guidelines alone dictate that the Nutrition Services Department must serve a number of healthy options to all students.
All the meals, such as pizza crust, rice, bread, buns, crackers and crust on the chicken bites use whole grains. The garden bar is mandated to serve a range of colorful vegetables from broccoli and romaine lettuce to tomatoes and red peppers.
This requires students to take a fruit or a vegetable with all meals, and this gives students a variety of fat free, high fiber, nutrient dense produce.
The Nutrition Services Department limits salt/sodium along with supplying fat free and low fat milk with no high fructose corn syrup. There are no trans fats in any of the meals, while fat and sugar are monitored for compliance.
Fullum’s enforcement of these rules assures variety. The hot meals feature either chicken or beef, so there are always at least two protein options. A typical meal with chicken nuggets, green beans and bread already supplies a student with protein, vegetables and carbohydrates.
The lunch program also ensures that we get a good supply of fruits and vegetables both vital to giving the body a supply of dietary fiber or vitamins.
Don’t like the hot meals? There is always the option for students to purchase pre-made food like the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. On top of that, the meals vary every day, and the price of each food item costs at most $3.
Of course, there is room for improvement. There could be more variety and larger portion size.
I also think there should be an updated schedule of the food menu because often times the same meal seems to be served twice a week, every week. A wider variety of meals could positively appeal more to students, but understand that it would probably take time for the Nutrition Department to find out how to balance in a healthy diet with a new lunch meal.
I continue to look for preservative free foods that are following market taste trends. As an example, it would be nice to see a fish taco and a spicy buffalo chicken with a clean label.
The lunch program often doesn’t get the credit it deserves because there are always complaints, but Fullum and the Nutrition Department should be commended for their efforts to supply the thousands of CPS students with healthy-diet meals, while making it as appealing as possible.
In all, the food might not always compare to that of a five-starred restaurant, but we should be more grateful about what we are given to eat at a school focused on providing a healthy and appealing lunch menu.