COAL TOWNSHIP - The look of school lunches will change next school year - and so might the price.
New federal guidelines require students' plates include more fruits and vegetables and more whole grain breads and pastas.
The standards set in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act could boost food costs at Shamokin Area School District as much as $80,000 or more, Nancy Kohl of the district's food service contractor, The Nutrition Group, told the school board at its Tuesday meeting.
The district spent $428,174.01 on food and milk in 2010-11, according to an expenditure report.
The federal government will offer some relief, Kohl said, by providing 6 cents a plate toward the increased costs. That help could top out at more than $20,000, leaving the overall maximum increase to food costs at $60,000.
School lunches are subsidized in part by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), with the remainder paid through state or local sources - student payments, state subsidies and tax revenue.
The school board decides how to cover the increase: Either raise lunch prices or find money within next year's budget, which has a estimated $4.6 million deficit.
Lunch revenue
According to the district, nearly 64 percent of students receive either a free or reduced lunch - 1,336 free and 286 reduced. There are 921 students who pay regular price for a lunch.
Current lunch prices are $2.05 at the elementary schools and $2.30 at the middle/high school. A reduced lunch for all district students costs 40 cents.
School directors didn't discuss Tuesday how much prices could potentially be increased.
Apart from the expected hike in food costs, meal prices could also be driven higher after a USDA report found that schools are not creating enough revenue on student lunches.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, schools are not charging enough to cover the cost of meals.
The average cost to produce a school lunch in 2005-06 was $2.28, less than the $2.50 reimbursed to schools for each free lunch. The USDA says total revenue from a paid meal accounted for 80 percent of the value of federal support for a free meal.
"Funding paid meals below the cost of their production effectively shifts federal subsidies designed for the lowest-income children to others," the report says. "It can negatively affect all children by limiting the funds available to provide nutritious meals."
That the federal government is mandating lunch menus and meal costs didn't sit well with at least one school director at Shamokin Area. Charles Shuey said such mandates are exactly the reason citizens must exercise their right to vote.
"Stuff like this happens because people don't vote," he said at Tuesday's meeting. "And the federal government can come in here and mandate our food prices."
"The problem," said Tracy Witmer, board president, "is that this effects people who pay for lunch. Free lunch people are not affected."
Eat up
Students from kindergarten to 12th grade are currently required to be served between 1/2 and 3/4 cup of fruits and vegetables with each lunch.
A breakdown of new requirements on the USDA website shows that servings of fruits and vegetables will essentially double - 3/4 to 1 cup vegetables plus 1/2 to 1 cup fruit.
Half of breads and pastas served must be whole grain. By 2014-15, all breads and pasta must be whole grain.
Flavored milk must be non-fat while unflavored milk must be 1 percent, according to the USDA.
Imagine a school lunch tray with five components on it: a main entree, bread, fruit, vegetable and milk. Students at the main elementary building and middle/high school can choose no less than three of the components. New standards mean all five components must be represented.
In an effort to reduce sodium intake, salt shakers will become a thing of the past and won't be found in cafeterias beginning next school year, Kohl said.
Sodium levels within foods served are currently unregulated. Within the next year, however, restrictions will be in place to greatly reduce the amount of salt within prepared foods.
Caloric intake, too, will be regulated.
The minimum and maximum calorie counts under the new standards are as follows: 550 to 650 calories, grades kindergarten to 5; 600-700, grades 6 to 8; 750 to 850, grades 9 to 12.
Food type, serving size and caloric and nutrient intake for school breakfasts will also face new standards.
Breakfast costs $1.15 at the elementary buildings, $1.55 at the middle/high school and 30 cents for reduced.