Taming hunger ... in a healthier way

COEUR d'ALENE - The 100 employees who provide meals to approximately 10,000 students in the Coeur d'Alene School District are readying for the start of school next week.

"We're up and we're ready to go," said Ed Ducar, director of nutrition services.

At the same time, in Washington, D.C., legislators will be debating just what those school meals should look like, as part of the discussion on reauthorizing the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act. The act, which was signed into law in 2010 by President Barack Obama, allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make significant changes to the school lunch program for the first time in more than 30 years.

"Bottom line is that the standards are being embraced," said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press release. "They are making a difference. And, given an opportunity to work over a long period of time, they will result in healthier youngsters, better achievement in school, a stronger economy, and more young people to draw from for public service, military, and other opportunities that national service can provide."

Fighting growing obesity rates among children is a cornerstone of the act, which sets nutritional standards for every federally-subsidized school meal. In addition to nutritional standards, the act also made 115,000 more students across the nation eligible for school meal programs.

Under the act, school districts have a required audit every three years to ensure they are meeting the nutritional standards.

The decision on reauthorizing the act won't make much of an impact on meals in the district because Ducar said his department was complying with 90 percent of the guidelines before there were guidelines to comply with.

According to Ducar, one of the major components of the extra 10 percent was the inclusion of whole grain items. Prior to the guidelines, Ducar said there was no requirement for making items like rolls or buns with whole grain.

"Now a bread we serve has to be 50 percent whole wheat bread," he added.

Regardless of their preferences, students are now required to select one half-cup serving of a fruit or vegetable. Ducar said the district gives students a myriad of options when it comes to fruits and vegetables, and prefers to select locally sourced produce for their kitchens.

Feedback from schools in the district suggests that students enjoy having a choice in what kind of fruit or vegetable they will take, Ducar said. But, forcing even the pickiest of eaters to take a serving does create some additional food waste.

"It's a good thing that they're making some of these nutrition requirements," Ducar said of the act as a whole. "But with that comes a lot of different pieces. All the meals have different requirements, so we're trying to coordinate things together with that and keep things consistent."