Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409260030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At lunch, William Fleming High School students line up to buy pizza, subs, salads, baked potatoes, fruits and cookies.
Subs? Salads? Cookies?
You say that school cafeterias never offered such choices when you were a student? You remember the gravy-coated Salisbury steak that was the standard fare?
Menus at school cafeterias are changing rapidly. To ward off competition from pizza shops and fast-food restaurants - which have been pressuring school systems to let them set up shop in schools - food service directors are trying to provide food that students will eat.
"We have to offer items the kids will buy, or we're out of business," said Pauline Holloway, food service supervisor for Roanoke County schools.
Holloway said the county has installed potato and salad bars in some schools, including Cave Spring High. The county's menu has been expanded to include five or six entrees and four vegetables and fruits.
Thomas Powers, director of food service for Roanoke schools, said he expects schools to adopt ``food court'' cafeterias. Otherwise, Pizza Hut and other fast-food outlets will be operating in school lunchrooms, he said.
William Fleming High has six food courts, complete with awnings and decorative fronts. The food courts offer Italian, Mexican, all-American food, a delicatessen, a bakery and ice cream. The school also has a regular cafeteria lunch.
The students like both the food and the prices at the food courts.
Jessica Ferguson stood in line one day this week to buy a sub sandwich for 70 cents. "I come here often, rather than going through the regular line," said Ferguson, a sophomore.
A large chef's salad sells for $1.10. A chicken salad is 60 cents.
John Zackery believes that the large cookies, which cost 20 cents each, are one of the best bargains. Frequently, he buys five for dessert.
"They are providing us more choices," said Kim Chambers, a junior cheerleader who was eating with a friend.
A food court will open in Patrick Henry High in October and have the same offerings as William Fleming. The city has concentrated initially on the high schools, but it will also try to offer more food choices in middle and elementary schools.
In Salem, school administrators have discussed food courts, but no decision has been reached, said Ronald Wall, director of food services.
Powers said it is not hard to get Roanoke high school students to choose a full meal. "They eat well, and we just don't have that problem."
Some pizza companies and fast-food chains want to move into what they see as a profitable market. Powers has talked with them, but no agreement has been reached.
As school systems add meal choices and food courts, they must make sure they also meet federal standards for school lunches.
The government mandates a daily meal portion consisting of a 2-ounce protein-rich food (meat or cheese), a half-pint of milk, three-fourths cup of fruit or vegetable, plus eight servings of bread or pasta per week.
Holloway said the government also "strongly suggests" that fat be kept to 30 percent or less of total calories.
The 30 percent limit will be become law if Congress approves the Clinton administration's proposed changes in the national school lunch program.
Current law says each meal must include a meat or meat substitute, milk, fruit and vegetable portions and bread or substitute.
The new approach would require schools to analyze the nutritional content of their foods and make sure that during a week, students got no more than 30 percent of their calories from fat and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat. Sodium content also would be limited.
The Clinton proposal would help reduce cholesterol and increase vegetables, fruits and grains in school lunches.
To help save time in analyzing the nutritional content of food, Holloway said, she is ordering computer software that analyzes menus for fat content.
Ann Hertzler, a nutrition specialist at Virginia Tech, said having food choices in school cafeterias is good.
"Of course, we must teach students to ask questions and make healthy choices," she said.
Salad bars can be a good choice unless students add a lot of high-fat dressing, she said.
Without nutritional education, Hertzler said, students may choose only fast-food options that include fried foods, especially french fries, which are high in fat.
"Fast food is popular simply because of its familiarity," she said.
by CNB