| New cafeteria, beanery options promote healthier diet | | Print | |
| Written by Lydia O'Connor and Rachel Hwang | |
| Friday, 22 February 2008 | |
|
Committee co-leader and nurse Maryann Rainey took photos of the cafeteria staff to be posted around the cafeteria and asked workers to wear nametags while working to add a personal touch. Rainey explained that many students find the lunch line impersonal and hopes the photos will counter this perception. “A number of students said if they knew (the cafeteria server) it would make the food more appealing … and make it a bit more interactive,” she said. Committee members are also keeping tabs on the daily menu in the cafeteria and examining label contents on vending machine items to ensure that they correlate with the district’s nutrition standards. Some of their ideas for the future include displaying nutritional information about food served in the beanery and cafeteria, passing out brochures containing such information about cafeteria and beanery food to registries and hanging decorative posters around the beanery and cafeteria. While the committee has been making progress, members worry that schools may no longer be able to fund healthier options in the face of potential budget cuts. The district “is thinking of going to a menu of the 10 cheapest things, which means the possibility of eliminating all the beaneries,” said Dana Woldow, committee co-leader and co-chair of the district Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee, explaining that food choice would thus be limited to “an endless rotation” throughout the week of unhealthy foods within the district’s budget. The committee was partly responsible for two new healthy option: the beanery salads that arrived in January and the salad bar that debuted on Feb. 6. “Hopefully we have provided another healthy choice,” committee member junior Dyne Suh said of the beanery salads, which have replaced the all-lettuce salad shaker cups. “We want to introduce healthier alternatives that students can enjoy.” Featuring organic romaine lettuce and locally grown vegetables, the new salad bar may tempt students to make healthier diet choices, which is important, as American children are eating fewer and fewer vegetables, according to Rainey. “If you make something accessible, it is more likely to be used,” she said. “I’m quite pleased the director of student nutrition was able to pull this off.” Many students do seem to be enjoying the new salad bar, the 21st of 25 in the district. “I like it because it’s organic and only costs me two dollars,” freshman Alvin Ho said. The district-funded salad bar is already “pretty popular,” freshman Cynthia Gao said. “The students here, a lot of the time, (are getting) no vegetables. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.” Nutrition committee members are aiming to continue improving these new offerings. According to Woldow, some of the initial problems with the beanery salads included cafeteria workers not following instructions and putting meat and cheese on top of the salad instead of on the side. In addition, some students have been complaining that the salads were overfilled and spilled out of the container. The committee notified cafeteria workers in order to address these issues. Lowell earned the privilege of having a salad bar because of its “tradition of improving the food on campus,” Rainey said. The beanery introduced other new food items in early January, such as low-fat snack foods and Caesar salad wraps. The salad bar arrived after the Student Nutrition Committee’s student survey results clearly indicated that it was a popular idea. The new items are in accordance with the district’s Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee’s mission “to address the issues of childhood obesity…increase participation in the school’s National School Lunch Program…and increase the amount of nutrition education offered to students and families,” according to the district’s Web site (http://sfusd.org). Share this article:           |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
to listen.
