TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Pinellas School Lunches Graded High For Health

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

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 only other Florida school districts mentioned were Broward County, which scored 91, and Volusia, which scored 85.

Hillsborough and Pasco school lunch programs were not among the districts surveyed this year.

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

All the schools 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?"

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.

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.

"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. Sometimes, however, 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.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT