New study supports menu direction at RCS

A new University of Minnesota study supports the findings of RCS – students will eat healthier foods when they are offered.

The study, which appears in the December issue of the Review of Agricultural Economics and was reported by the Associated Press - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ghVCEwfjtgdKUtdfmq_K8igYJA1wD8T5L9PO0 - analyzed five years of data for 330 Minnesota public school districts. It looked at compliance with federal standards for calories, nutrients and fats. When the researchers crunched all the numbers they found that schools serving the healthiest lunches did not see a falloff in demand. It also found that costs for serving the meals did not dramatically increase.

Responding to a request and petition from parents, the district approximately three years ago began switching to lower carbohydrate, lower calorie menu items and replaced many snacks items with healthier alternatives such as baked chips. The district also offers fruit and salad platters, which have proven so popular with students that students often reserve a platter at the start of the school day so that they are sure can purchase one for they run out.

Additionally, Dardani attempts to purchase as much food from local farms as possible, focusing on organic offerings.

Dardani said that overall, he has seen an approximate 10 percent increase in meal purchases in recent years, up to an average of more than 1,300 meals a day. (Some of that increase is also attributed to an increase in the number of students registered for free and reduced meals which is the result of a new student ID system that makes participation in the free and reduced meal program anonymous).

“When we first started the health kick, some of the students said they were not on board, but they have accepted the baked chips, the fruit snack and the smaller packages, just like we have as a society,” said Food Services Director George Dardani.