| Student committee seeks to change school food policies (11/07) | | Print | |
| Written by Lydia O'Connor | |
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A newly formed nutrition committee at Lowell hopes to bring about changes in school food offerings. Nurse Maryann Rainey, Dana Woldow — the co-chair of the district Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee — and seven student members form the committee, which attended a first monthly meeting on Nov. 7. “We’re looking at food in the cafeteria and vending machines and thinking of ways to improve it,” committee member sophomore Lyrics Rabino said. Members discussed raising students’ awareness of healthy food choices by putting up signs in the cafeteria, as well as ensuring that all vending machine offerings are healthy and comply with regulations. “Some of the food products in vending machines are high in sugar and low in nutrients,” committee member junior Dyne Suh said. Students joined the committee because of their interest in nutrition. “I think nutrition is such a core aspect of our lives,” Suh said. “I just feel like the food in schools should be the best. I’m not looking for a revolutionary change, just subtle improvements with healthy options being more represented and encouraged.” Woldow has been working with a similar committee at Balboa High School, which succeeded in making changes in food choices. Balboa “has been able to pilot different food programs like salad bars and ‘grab and go’ breakfasts,” Woldow said. Students at Balboa said they noticed a positive change in the food. “The breakfast has gotten … better and healthier,” Balboa junior Michael Ramos said. “In the morning they give out food. They really improved from last year.” According to Woldow, the Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee, which works to create nutrition committees and regulate nutrition policies in schools, is waiting to hear whether the Proposition H Community Advisory Committee will approve a grant on Dec. 1 to install swipe card systems in district schools. “In order to have a grab-and-go breakfast (and salad bars), we need swipe cards, which cost $1 million to install,” Woldow said. Balboa, Carmichael Elementary School and Tenderloin Elementary School have already installed the system using funding from 18 months ago. The Proposition H funds would enable all schools in the district without swipe card systems to install the necessary technology, beginning in the next school year and completing installation four years later. Committee members also expressed concern over unhealthy foods sold by clubs at school events, and Woldow noted that the district loses money because of such sales. The district “loses $2,000 every time there is a student sale,” Woldow said. She attributed this loss to a lack of communication. “Schools are supposed to know in advance so that they can prepare less food,” she said, adding that they would like to have all school sale days on the same day district-wide. Rainey said she started the nutrition committee at Lowell because of her successful experience with the 2003-2004 Linking Education and Food grant and support for such committees from attendees at the California School Board Association meeting in Anaheim this past October. The 2003-2004 LEAF grant enabled Lowell to start the annual Food and Fitness Fair, according to Rainey. The changes the committee hopes to make would build upon the Wellness Policy, instituted in 2003, which eliminated all junk foods from district schools. Initially, the district had difficulty adapting. “It was really hard to find food that could fit this (new) rubric,” Rainey said. However, increased national attention toward the obesity problem has made food supplying easier. “More and more foods have become available,” Rainey said. |
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