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Lunch ladies lobbying lawmakers over school lunch

Staff file photo by JIM REED

Your child's slice of cheese pizza and carton of milk are at the heart of a $12 billion debate going on right now in Washington, right alongside those on war appropriations and health care reform.

By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2009

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The next time you doubt all things are political, take a look at your kid's school lunch.

Yes, that slice of cheese pizza and carton of milk are at the heart of a $12 billion debate going on right now in Washington, right alongside those on war appropriations and health care reform.

Every five years, Congress is asked to reconsider its Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. It's the law that includes the national school breakfast and lunch programs and related subsidies for as many as 26 million poor and low-income American children.

That includes a lot of school lunches in the Tampa Bay area, where meals cost between $1.75 and $2 for families who don't apply or fall under federal guidelines for free and reduced meals. In Hillsborough County, more than 56 percent of students are part of free and reduced lunch programs. That number is 60 percent in Polk County.

This school year, schools are reimbursed $2.68 for each student eligible for a free lunch, and $2.28 for a reduced-rate lunch, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The federal government also subsidizes 25 cents for each full-price student lunch sold.

But the School Nutrition Association argues that it costs $2.92 to produce a school lunch. So that $12 billion figure being discussed up in Washington falls far short of covering existing attempts at providing lunches that taste good and offer legitimate nutrition, say advocates with several new proposals.

The Washington Post reports that a New York congresswoman has pitched a 70-cent raise to the support for each school lunch. A California natural food advocate wants the government to invest $5 per meal. The School Nutrition Association advocates a 35-cent increase. President Obama backs a proposal boosting the program's budget by $1 billion.

Yes, these massive figures are hard to relate to that plate of food in front of your kindergartner, but that's exactly what the food service director at Polk County schools wants you to do. Marcia Smith, a member of the School Nutrition Association, says she hopes parents join in the lobbying efforts alongside their local lunch ladies.

"If they see what we're doing, we're hoping they will call their congressman," says Smith, who oversees a $42 million annual food service budget serving 92,000 Polk County children.

She points to what she already has done to make meals healthier: Pizza served at Polk schools has a whole-grain crust and low-fat cheese; chicken patties and other popular fried foods get baked. Hot dogs and dishes with ground meat use turkey more often than higher-fat beef.

Smith says she wants to use the additional money to up the quality of fruits and vegetables offered by ordering fresh foods from local farmers and not warehouses where the foods come in No. 10 cans. However, dollars add up "anytime you look at something fresh," she says.

Smith points to green beans as a perfect example of growing costs. Canned green beans run 11 cents a serving; a fresh alternative runs 17 cents a serving. Multiply that 6-cent difference by 92,000 and there's an additional $5,520 spent on a side dish, for just one day.

"We're trying to provide more fruits and vegetables, but we need more money," she says.

Smith and others like her admit this nickel-and-dime argument can get lost in the bigger bureaucratic battles going on in Washington. But she's optimistic that parents will stop and think about the issue from the perspective of their child, their family and the investment being made in the midday meal.

It may not work, but at the very least, it's food for thought.

Want to share your health and fitness idea? Contact me at (813) 259-7365 or mshedden@tampatrib.com.

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