Willow Glen Resident

Education

More fruits and veggies could be on the menu at San Jose schools

By Anne Gelhaus

As the San Jose Unified School District prepares to roll out a new lunch program, a survey shows a majority of parents think what schools are currently dishing out in their cafeterias is unhealthy for their children.

Almost 63 percent of the 163 parents surveyed by Tierra Viva, a health and environmental justice project of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, deem the district's lunch menus unhealthy. The survey was conducted at various schools throughout the district.

Parents said they'd like to see fewer pizza and burger days on the school lunch calendar and more fresh fruits and vegetables offered. Many survey respondents were concerned their children had gained weight since they started participating in the lunch program, and they now favor fast food over meals prepared for them at home.

"We want to work with the district because kids need to learn healthy eating habits in school," parent Yolanda Gutierrez said at a June 7 community forum sponsored by Tierra Viva.

Chuck Davis, the district's manager of student nutrition services, agreed that children need to be taught to eat the fresh garden salad that comes with their Sloppy Joes. If it weren't for pizza and burgers, he added, some students wouldn't eat at all, and state and federal law mandates that school lunches provide students with a third of their daily calorie intake.

Once the district opens its central kitchen next January, Davis said, his department will be able to better control the freshness and nutritional value of the food it provides to students. In the meantime, he added, "We do try to serve fresh [foods] as much as possible. We made changes in our menu this year."

Some of these changes were made in anticipation of a state law, set to go into effect in July 2007, prohibiting the sale of high-sugar, high-fat and high-calorie foods on middle and high school campuses. The district has already pulled soda-vending machines from its middle school campuses and is set to do the same at its high schools next fall.

Banning soft-drink sales is just the first step in the district's bid to change students' eating habits.

"Some major policy changes are coming down the road," said Rose Bedard, the district's director of auxiliary services. "One is a universal wellness policy."

Bedard said this policy will address students' nutritional and exercise habits, and how to teach them ways to improve both. Each campus will develop an educational plan to address the needs of its students, she added.

"It's a difficult task because we're changing a culture," Bedard said, adding that food tends to be the center of many social functions. "How do you move the table to the side and still have conversations?"

Parents who attended the Tierra Viva forum at Washington Elementary School said conversations about healthy eating habits need to happen both at home and at school.

"I'd like to ask schools to have more fruits and vegetables on their menu to reinforce the healthy food we're trying to give our children at home," said Erit Moja.

Such reinforcement would lead to healthier grades for some students, said parent Ana Maria Ramirez.

"When kids haven't eaten properly, they're not going to learn as well," Ramirez added. "Kids should have information on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.