More flexibility with school lunches may mean more kids will actually eat them

For Renwick schools, the last straw was stromboli.

“It’s one of our signature dishes here,” said Lori Harder, food service director for the school district in western Sedgwick County, describing the Italian-style turnover made with pizza dough and filled with meat and cheese.

“We’ve been making it for years, and the kids love it. It’s right up there with chicken nuggets.”

A few years ago, when federal nutrition guidelines required schools to offer bread products rich in whole grains, Renwick cooks tried using whole-wheat flour in the stromboli recipe. It didn’t go over well.

“The kids just weren’t accepting it,” Harder said. “There was a different color and texture. We could tell right away that they just didn’t like it.”

In Renwick and elsewhere, kids also balked at whole-wheat pasta in macaroni and cheese, which “has a real funky orange color – and not the Kraft orange, either,” Harder said.

Over the past few years, dozens of Kansas school districts have applied for and received waivers from the Kansas Department of Education to forgo some of the nutrition guidelines championed by former first lady Michelle Obama as part of her healthy eating initiative.

This week, districts learned they may have more time to meet requirements to cut salt and switch to whole-grain bread products – if the regulations aren’t rolled back altogether. Cafeterias also could begin serving 1 percent flavored milk instead of the nonfat milk now required.

Some Wichita-area districts welcomed the news, though most said they can’t say precisely how or when it might affect school lunches until they see the details of the plan.

“What we’ve been hearing thus far has been quite positive,” said David Paul, director of nutrition services for Wichita schools. “But we’re in a wait-and-see mode. Until the final rules come down, some of those rules and timelines are uncertain.”

Wichita, the state’s largest school district, serves more than 32,000 lunches and 13,000 breakfasts each school day. In 2012 – when it began cutting fat and salt, limiting calories and serving more fruits, vegetables and whole grains – criticism ranged from complaints about kids going hungry to worries over wasted food.

“There’s a fine balance between offering healthier options and actual consumption,” Paul said.

Cheryl Johnson, director of child nutrition and wellness for the Kansas Department of Education, said school districts have done a good job of offering students healthier options and developing menus that meet the new federal requirements.

“I do think they are trying to provide tasty meals that are within the guidelines,” she said. “I think Kansas folks tend to want to do the right thing for kids.”

The major challenge, she said, has been finding products that meet the low-sodium targets and transitioning to whole-wheat breads, pastas and pizza crusts that kids will eat.

Several districts, like Renwick, received waivers to continue serving certain kid favorites that don’t meet the new guidelines. Goddard, for instance, serves regular pizza crust and tortillas. Mulvane still serves its blueberry and banana muffins. Magdalen Catholic School received a waiver for its egg noodles for chicken and noodles.

Others, including Wichita, meet all the current guidelines but kind of dread the ones – particularly the low-sodium rules – scheduled to take effect in 2018 or later.

“For some of the school districts that, because of their size, have to buy some of the ready-made entrees, it’s a real challenge,” said Johnson, the state nutrition director. “They really need the food industry to have time to do the research and develop those products.

“I mean, sure, you can decrease sodium, but they also need them to taste good. And that just takes some work.”

Paul said some schools abandoned Subway-style sandwich bars in lunchrooms because sodium levels in certain processed meats put their menus over accepted levels – even if the sandwich bar was one option of many.

School lunch menus in Wichita already are planned through the fall semester of next school year, Paul said. The district needs time to put out bids and order products.

Smaller districts that order less or make meals from scratch are more able to adjust to rolled-back regulations.

Johnson said most districts appreciate more time and flexibility with school meal menus, if that’s what the new message from Washington ends up being.

“I do appreciate the fact that they’re giving schools a little more breathing room,” she said.

“You’re going to have time to get some better-tasting products, in my opinion. Not just ‘Oh, well, it meets the sodium (limit) and tastes OK.’

“We want products the kids are really going to like.”

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 7:39 PM with the headline "More flexibility with school lunches may mean more kids will actually eat them."