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Pinellas Elementary School Lunches Get Rave Review

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Melrose Elementary kindergartner Jonte Glenn peels an orange during lunch. Fresh fruit and other healthful offerings helped Pinellas County schools win recognition for serving nutritious lunches.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2008

Updated: 09/10/2008 02:28 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - For the second year in a row, Pinellas County elementary school lunch programs have scored the highest marks in the nation for nutrition.

With menus full of fruit, vegetable and high-fiber choices, the district scored a 98 on the annual School Lunch Report Card, as graded by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Last year, the district won outright with a 94. This year, it tied with a school district in Maryland. In 2006, Pinellas was the runner-up.

"I can tell you that we are proud of the effort our food services division has made toward offering healthy choices for children," Pinellas school district spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said.

The report card has been handed out for four years, said Susan Levin, staff dietitian with the physician's committee, headquartered in Washington, D.C. About 100 of the nation's larger school districts compete.

Surveys are sent out and the committee checks online menus to see what's for lunch during the school year, she said.

All the schools pretty much follow the basic requirements, she said.

"We're looking for the ones that go above and beyond that," Levin said. "Do they provide foods to prevent childhood obesity and all the diseases that come with that?"

She said Pinellas is no stranger to the committee.

"Pinellas usually does a very good job," Levin said. "They serve low-fat fiber-rich foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, and grain.

Levin said the committee is trying to give kudos to food service directors doing good jobs.

"Low-fat diets show the best benefits for preventing diseases, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, she said.

"It is absolutely critical to have good diet as a child. It not only teaches good habits later in life, but is a preventative measure for obesity-related diseases."

Just before 11 a.m. at Melrose Elementary in south St. Petersburg, kindergartners lined up for lunch. They could choose cheeseburgers or vegetarian burritos as entrees; Tater Tots that are baked, not fried; and an assortment of fresh fruit including apples, oranges and bananas. There was wheat bread and low-fat milk, juices and salads.

Jaden Cantrell, 5, picked a salad with pieces of chicken in it. On top of the greens was a jalapeno.

"I don't like peppers," he said, plucking it out of the dish and tossing it onto his tray. "Look, I got chicken in it."

Beside him was Emmanuel Brown, also 5. He chomped on his veggie burrito before dipping a Tater Tot into a flavored slush cup. He nodded when asked whether he is a vegetarian but shrugged when asked how long he has been one.

"I don't know," he said.

Students have options, unlike the old days, said Melrose cook Ernestine Foster, who has been slinging lunch at the school for 20 years.

"We give them a choice now," she said. "There are so many vegetarians out there."

She serves almost 400 meals a day, she said.

Gray Miller, director of food services for Pinellas schools, is behind the push for healthy lunches. She said the district has done well on the report card for a number of years.

"Each time," she said this morning, "we've done a little better.

"Our emphasis is to put more fiber into our menus across the board," Miller said, "into food that is acceptable to our children."

That's not to say there isn't stuff on the menu that some would label junk: a cheeseburger here or burrito there. But sometimes, there's a twist, she said.

Like pizza. "In our pizza crust," she said, "we have extra fiber."

She first started "getting serious" about improving lunch menus about eight years ago, when she took the director's job.

"Our big thing then was to take french fries off the menu," she said, "the deep-fat-fried french fries."

The results, she said, are healthier kids who may develop eating habits that will benefit them later in life.

"Eating patterns," she said, "are set when you're young."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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