Schools junk the junk food

Changes, before mandate, met with mixed reviews

By: Cara Latham
   HIGHTSTOWN — Cheese sticks are Dalton Cupples’ favorite snack. But he won’t be eating them anymore — at least not during lunch at Hightstown High School.
   The Hightstown High School freshman said he isn’t too happy with a new state law signed by Gov. Jon Corzine in February that will prohibit junk food from being sold or distributed in public elementary and high schools starting next school year.
   Under the new law, food "of minimal nutritional value" — defined by federal regulations as having less than 5 percent of the Reference Daily Intake for each of eight specified nutrients per serving — will be prohibited from being sold or distributed before and during school hours.
   Vending machines will be prohibited from containing any food or beverage listing sugar in any form as the first ingredient or containing more than 8 total grams of fat, or 2 grams of saturated fat per serving. Nuts and seeds are exempt from the law.
   In anticipation of the new law, East Windsor Regional School District’s food services provider — Chartwells Educational Dining Services, a division of Compass Group USA — began making changes to the food it provides to students and started offering healthier options in the beginning of this school year.
   Elizabeth Jemmotte, Chartwells’ dietician for the Mid-Atlantic region, said the company cannot serve soda, gum or hard candy, or any food that has high sugar levels.
   However, she said, Chartwells had already been proactive in promoting healthy eating before the law went into effect, with a program called Balanced Choices, which offered healthier food that was lower in sodium and saturated fats.
   "In general, since the beginning of the school year, we had been kind of proactive in that school district, and they are moving forward with healthy choices," she said, referring to East Windsor Regional. "We knew by next school year, this basically had to be a done deal. We didn’t want it to be too much of a shock, and (we wanted to) wean them in gradually."
   The company still provides the type of food that students enjoy, and the company hasn’t seen a drop in meals purchased by students, she said.
   "For example, we would use a whole grain flour or a whole grain crust instead of the white flour," she said.
   Bessie Karamarkou, food services manager for the district, said Thursday that an average of 1,800 student lunch meals are purchased each day in the district’s schools, actually a slight increase over last year’s averages, she said.
   "I just think the kids like what we’re serving," she said. "For example, on Monday, I have either chicken nuggets or chicken patties. What we’re doing now, is using wheat bread instead of white bread (for the patties), and they’re still buying it."
   Chartwells is still providing french fries and potato chips in the district, but they are baked. Students are now offered lean burgers, chicken nuggets and all their usual favorites, just with lower sodium, she added. Sodas, she said, hadn’t been in Chartwells’ school districts for years.
   "We want the kids to eat their food, but in more of a healthier way," Ms. Jemmotte said. "That’s kind of the whole thing behind the regulations."
   However, Dalton said he is not happy with how the food in the cafeteria tastes. The french fries taste "like the (frozen) ones you get in a bag from ShopRite," he said.
   And he’s not the only student upset with food options in the cafeteria.
   Senior Brittany O’Brien said the "chicken tastes worse than McDonalds’."
   She also said the pizza offered is still very greasy, and breakfast muffins are no longer served.
   Both Dalton and Brittany said they don’t think the law will have that much of an impact because they will just eat what they like at home.
   Ms. Jemmotte said that in the beginning, "all the kids were asking where the regular things are, but in general because we’re still kind of serving the burgers and pizzas and wraps, they’re getting used to it," she said. "Hopefully, it’s something that they will take away from them outside of schools."
   Senior Corey Glackin said he’s on the fence about the changes.
   "I think it’s a good idea to promote healthier eating," he said, but added that the new law is "annoying" because students, especially upperclassmen, had been used to eating the old food served, and they no longer get to choose exactly what they eat.
   He also said that certain things he doesn’t think are healthy, such as cappuccino, are still served. And some students buy three bags of the baked potato chips to account for the candy and other sweets they can’t buy, he added.
   Sometimes students need sugar, he said. For example, if a student is staying after school to go to football practice, he should be able to eat a Snickers bar to give him energy, Corey said.
   Freshman William Dumanski also expressed mixed feelings.
   "It isn’t quite as good, but it’s better for us," he said of the food. "They have a lot of options that are better for you."
   While Chartwells is finding that prices to purchase the healthier options are sometimes a little higher than the food they used to serve, many manufacturers are "getting on board" and will hopefully "have some new things coming out," she said. The higher prices are not being passed along to students, she added.
   Ms. Karamarkou said prices are determined by the state and are $2.50 for full lunches in the high school, $2.25 for the middle school and $2.10 for the elementary schools. Those prices have not changed from last year, she said.
   With her experience as a dietician for the company’s school districts in the Long Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania regions, Ms. Jemmotte said the new law has become a trend.
   "All the states are getting into it," she said. "I see this all over, so it’s not going to be too strange for much longer."
   Freshman Chloe Rothbloom said her friends who are upperclassmen have told her she "really missed out on those fries" that used to be fried, but she still is not completely opposed to the changes put into place by the current law.
   "The food choices aren’t that bad, but if they go further and ban chips, I’ll be really upset," she added.