PARIS — Mandatory changes in national school meal guidelines could mean major financial challenges for the food service budget, SAD 17 Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy Coffey told directors Monday night.

Among the problems, according to Coffey and food service co-directors Martha O’Leary and Jodi Truman, is finding tasty foods that meet the new nutrition guidelines. The goal, they said, is to provide healthy food for students that they will want to eat.

The food service department’s $1.5 million budget is self-sustaining and relies heavily on federal reimbursement for students who receive free or reduced-price lunches, Coffey said. The number of free and reduced-cost meals has decreased from 70 percent last year to 68 percent this year, she said.

If students don’t like the food, they will not purchase it and the food service budget will suffer, she said.

For example, between Aug. 28 and Oct. 31, the number of muffins sold decreased from 5,588 last year to 3,118 this year. Food workers were forced to change the type of muffins this year to banana and zucchini and others comprised of at least 51 percent whole-grain material.

Coffey said participation in the food service program is a concern because staff are receiving many complaints from students about the taste of the new foods. Every school in the eight-town district, except two, have shown reduced participation in the lunch program, she said.

The changes have been ongoing over the past five years, but this summer the majority of the guideline changes were implemented and applied to food being served during the school day only, including snacks, food in school stores, snack bars and vending machines.

In part, the guidelines limit the amount of sodium and calories served and mandate that items such as muffins and breads be at least 51 percent whole grain.

The new guidelines also changed the serving size by prohibiting the popular 16-ounce milk containers and requiring bigger serving sizes for fruits and vegetables that result in a higher cost per meal to produce, O’Leary and Truman said. Additionally, each breakfast tray must have at least one-half cup of fruit to count as a reimbursable meal.

Other problems include suppliers who are slow in offering new items that meet the guidelines.

Food services, one of the few self-sustaining services in the district, already showed a decrease of almost $59,000 in the past school year in large part due to investment in major equipment this year. The equipment is paid for through the self-sustaining budget, O’Leary said.

Coffey said more accurate numbers will begin to emerge in the next month.

“It will be harder to be self-supporting but that will be our goal,” she said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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