Food & Nutrition [Volume 6, Number 5]

              October 1976 • Volume 6 • Number 5
PROPERTY OF THE
LIBRARY
School lunch
"from top to bottom"
Why training is important
The people behind
the program
How can we get
kids to eat?
Involving the community
30 years-a proud record
NOV 15 1976
University of North Carolina
at Greensboro
RL
By Dianne D. jenkins
The night is black and cold
and the sun is still a good 2 hours
away. A few houselights flicker
on; then headlights begin to
weave their way through silent
city streets and down empty
country roads. Building lights
snap on, casting long patches of
light and shadow across the
playground. The school kitchen is
empty and very quiet.
Voices and the sounds of
people slowly fill the room:
spoons softly clinking against
metal bowls, the click clack of
racks crossing tiled floors, and
the smack of a refrigerator door
elbowed shut.'
2
On the 30th anniversary of the National School Lunch Program,
this special issue of FOOD AND NUTRITION focuses on the people
who make the program work. Who are they? What do they do? And
where are they going? To answer these questions, the issue takes a look
at the "big picture"-the school lunch program from top to bottom.
Some stories on training, for instance, shed light on the com­plexities
and demands of the cafeteria manager's job. Other articles
take a look at Federal, State, and local school lunch people-what they
do, and how they work together.
This issue also explores some of the big problems facing school
food service people today, such as plate waste and low participation.
How serious are these problems? And what are some solutions?
The National School Lunch Program has undergone many
changes in its 30-year history. And some of those changes are de­scribed
in a feature about a woman who has worked with school lunch
for more than 30 years. She's an outstanding woman, and she's typical
of the thousands of dedicated people who, working together, provide
lunch to more than 26 million children every school day.
The issue concludes with a section on school lunch and the
community. A city director explains why community support is essen­tial
to a successful program, and several stories show how food service
staffs are involving students, parents and others in their efforts to build
better programs.
As the smell of baking cookies
starts to penetrate the kitchen,
the pace quickens. Vegetables are
chopped; french fries are cut;
rolls are split. The baker whips
around the corner swinging a tray
of steaming breads. A hot oven
snaps open, and the smell of
baking chicken is everywhere.
With a sudden clank and whir, a
grater turns pounds of carrots
into mounds of salad topping.
And the pace grows faster.
The room is alive with sounds
and voices, flashing hands,
cutting, shaping, pulling. They are
moved by a sense of urgency. But
like musicians, they are well-orchestrated,
working in unison.
Gradually the pace slackens.
The clutter of sounds recedes as
spoons, beaters, pots and trays
are put down, put away. Gently,
the pieces drop into place,
revealing a colorful, aromatic
prize: bright steaming vege­tables,
hot breads, juicy meats.
Silence falls. The servers on
the line are waiting. Count to ten,
and the cafeteria ·door explodes,
releasin g a steady flow of hungry
children, pushing, shoving, then
settling, finding their places in
line. The cafeteria fills with
faces, and hundreds of children
are eating a very good meal.
food and nutrition
Every day of the school year,
this scene is acted out by
over 300,000 school food
service workers in the more than
85,000 schools across the country
which participate in the National
School Lunch Program. This year,
as the program celebrates its 30th
anniversary, 90 percent of all the
children in the United States have
access to nutritious, reasonably­priced
meals at school. That's a lot
of kids-almost 26 million. And
that's a lot of meals-over 4
billion. School lunch is big
business.
Having 26 million children in
for lunch every day is indeed a
big job-one that requires the
cooperation and dedication
of school food service workers,
district food service directors,
State school food service people
and Federal people in Washington
and the field .
But the effectiveness of the
National School Lunch Program
depends, most of all, on the efforts
of the women and men in school
cafeterias- school food service
workers. As one cafeteria
manager said, "It's the love in the
soup that makes it work."
The individual is the key
"The individual is really the
key to the success of this pro­gram,"
according to josephine
Martin, president of the American
School Food Service Association
and administrator of Georgia's
school food service programs.
"One individual who doesn't care
can put too much salt in the pot
of peas, and out it goes. One
individual who doesn't care can
cook the broccoli too long, and
instead of bright crisp green, it
turns out mushy and yellow. One
individual who doesn't care can
fail to read instructions on the
cake box and end up with a flat
soggy mess," she explained. "The
manager can buy the highest
quality food, but success depends
on the way it is lovingly handled
october 1976
by people who know they are
doing something important."
Whether a person fixes food,
serves food, collects money, or
cleans and washes, that person
and that job are important.
"We're all members of a team,"
Ms. Martin said, "and it's terribly
important for us all to take
responsibility for the success or
failure of this program."
jerry Boling, manager of the
child nutrition programs for the
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS),
echoed Ms. Martin's thoughts
with almost exactly the same
words, then added : "People are
the only thing that really matters.
And that's what makes this job
worth doing; the people we work
with and the children we're
working for ."
Manager plays important role
The success of a school's lunch
program depends, in many ways,
on the cafeteria manager. The
manager's job is a complex one,
requiring diverse skills and
training to do it right.
As jo Martin sees it, a manager
really has a four-fold responsi­bility:
to serve high quality
meals, to provide an attractive
setting, to be an efficient
and effective manager and run a
financially sound program, and
to facilitate nutrition education.
"The definition of a manager,"
said Ms. Martin, "is one who
knows what needs to be done,
how it is to be done, when it is
to be done, and just who is going
to do it.
"Frequently," she continued,
"the manager doesn't see her
role from a broad enough
point of view. The manager is not
just a food preparer or server,
and once she starts to assume that
job, it's difficult for her to stay
on top of the operation." While
few managers can afford to just
"manage," Ms. Martin admitted,
management needs to be the
focus of the job.
r .r
Isolation sometimes a problem
A big problem for cafeteria
managers and their assistants,
according to Ms. Martin, is that
they frequently feel isolated and
thrust outside the flow of the
education system.
"We tend to think ourselves
into that position too. We need to
remind ourselves that we are
indeed an integral part of the
whole education cycle," she said.
With nutrition education, for
instance : "Managers need to
make the food service depart­ments
available to instructors as
a nutrition education lab­oratory.
Food service people
are a resource for teachers and
can also put teachers in
touch with a variety of nutrition
education materials."
Need for training
In line with this, Ms. Martin
sees the need for school food ser­vice
workers to get additional
training, to upgrade their skills
and qualifications.
"This should include everyone­cooks,
salad makers, cashiers,
short order lines, food service
managers, and food service
directors. When we have no
specific qualifications established
for these jobs, it undermines the
way we see ourselves and the way
others see us," she contended.
One of the biggest problems
facing managers and assistants
today, however, is just keeping up
with the times.
"We find so many changes,"
Ms. Martin said . "Changes in
operating regulations, changes in
technology, changes in foods,
changes in children, changes in
education systems.
It requires constant effort to
keep up," she added .
Federal and State people,
however, are constantly working
with local school food service
people to help them keep up with
the changing times and the
changing program. *
3
4
TRAINING IS
IMPORTANT
By Dianne D. jenkins and Melanie Watts
WHY SEND A MANAGER
TO SCHOOL?
"A lot of people don't realize what's involved in
being a cafeteria manager. So, they tend to look
at training with somewhat of a jaundiced eye. Why
go to school for 2 weeks to learn cooking?"
District supervisor Carol Wolken was addressing
a group of South Dakota school food service
workers at a training session held this summer.
She looked around the room, then continued.
"We need to tell our story, to let people know
what's involved. We need to educate our children,
our teachers and administrators as to what this
job's all about, and just why we're sending our­selves
to school."
Why send a manager to school?
To learn about food preparation and food service
equipment. What's the most economical way to
make cookies-labor, or a machine that cuts 2,000
a minute? What food service equipment or
efficiency techniques can you use in your kitchen?
To learn about food specifications. How do you
know if the meat is 80-20 or 70-30, lean to fat? Did
you ever try to buy your own cattle? How do you
evaluate the economics of different meat cuts?
To learn about serving systems. Should you go to
pre-pack or stay on-site? Should you open another
serving area in the all-purpose room? How?
To learn about nutrition. What are water-soluble
vitamins? What's the value of vitamin E? Can we
get too many vitamins? How do you cook food to
preserve vitamins?
To learn about convenience foods. What's the
percentage of protein in the package? Does it fulfill
Type A requirements? Is it truly economical?
To learn about merchandising. How do you work
with student committees? How do you make your
food look good as well as taste good? What ideas
can you use to help fix up the cafeteria?
It's not a small job.
WORKSHOPS
PROVIDE SPECIAL
OPPORTUNITIES
Attending workshops is one
way to keep up with a
fast-moving field.
Summer is "back-to-school"
time for many people.
And every year, all across the
country, thousands of school food
service workers take part in
workshops to improve and de­velop
their professional skills.
Sponsored by State education
agencies in cooperation with FNS,
these workshops operate in a
variety of ways. Some are very
sophisticated, while others are
more informal. Some last as long
as 2 weeks-others might be just
1 day. Some have limited
participation, and others are open
to everyone who is interested. But
regardless of how a State's
workshop system operates, the
idea is always the same-to help
the school food service employee
do a better job.
Texas has several workshops
The Texas workshop system is
one of the largest around, every
summer featuring a number of
3-day sessions for cafeteria
managers and supervisors of
districtwide school food service
operations. This year, there were
8 scheduled in all parts of the
State, but in past years there
have been as many as 12
summer workshops.
An obvious reason for this
multiple approach is the size of
the State. Another reason is ad­ded
flexibility for participants.
This arrangement also reflects
the management system the
Texas education agency uses in
administering school feeding
programs. The State is divided
into eight differen~ areas, and
a supervisor is assigned to each
one. The supervisors visit schools
and provide regular supervisory
assistance, which includes help
with special problems.
In addition to their other duties,
area supervisors are responsible
. for having at least one workshop
in their areas every summer.
food and nutrition
Participation at these workshops
is limited to cafeteria managers
and supervisors, and the empha­sis
is on supervisory problems.
"We are better able to deal with
supervisory problems," explains
Charles Cole, ·Texas school lunch
director. "And we hope these
people will share what they learn
with their staffs."
All plans for the workshops are
coordinated through the State
office, and staff dietician Sue
Goodson has spent several years
developing the six courses
regularly taught. These include: a
basic and an advanced course for
managers, money management,
nutrition, menu planning, and
food purchasing.
Not every course is offered at
every workshop, Ms. Goodson
explains. Enough people must
indicate an interest in a particular
course for it to be included. And
sometimes courses are added.
For the most part, the instruc­tors
at these workshops are
area supervisors. "Our supervisors
are well-qualified in all areas of
school food service," points out
Charles Cole. "So, they can teach
all the courses, filling in wherever
the need is."
But since each workshop takes
about six or seven instructors, the
State staff often enlists college
professors, outstanding school
lunch managers, and representa­tives
from FNS.
Everything managers should know
"We're going to cover a lot of
territory during the next 3 days,"
FNS representative Judy Snow
told the people enrolled in the
class she taught in Arlington,
Texas, this summer. Ms. Snow was
teaching the advanced course for
school lunch managers.
And as she had promised, they
covered a lot-from the Type A
meal pattern to purchasing,
nutrition, menu planning, sanita­tion,
and employee relations.
Like all of the other courses
offered in Texas workshops, the
course was designed to include
everything managers should
know. And, like the other courses,
it started with the basics, and then
moved into specialized areas.
october 1976
Participants help each other
In addition to what they learned
from instructors like judy Snow,
workshop participants learned a
lot from each other. Area
supervisors say that's one of the
values of the workshop system.
People from big city operations­where
everyone is a specialist­get
to talk with people from small­er
towns, who, with two- and three­person
staffs, must do everything.
Training and experience varies
Some participants at the Arling­ton
workshop were new­comers,
like a lady from Blum
who had just moved into the
manager's job last january. Other
newcomers were people who had
held manager jobs, but had just
never attended a workshop.
"We have managers who have
been working at it for 10 years
or more and don't know
everything they should," says
Pauline Mostiller, one of the area
supervisors. "They're doing a
good job, but they could be doing
it even better with less effort. No
one knows everything."
But there were also some
Arlington participants who are
workshop regulars. As one of
them explains, "In this business,
you can't afford to stand still.
Things are changing all the time,
sometimes it seems everyday."
LEARNING AT HOME
Food for Youth is a
10-part training course on
school food service.
Daytime television's perennial
favorites-soap operas and game
shows-had some competition
last winter in South Dakota,
from a series that was more edu­cational
than entertaining.
Good nutrition was the subject
of a serial that ran for 10 weeks,
November through January,
on the State's public television
network. And while it didn't
capture the entire television
audience, it did attract a good
portion of its intended viewers­the
people who work with school
breakfast and lunch programs.
"Food for You'th" is an intro­ductory
level course on nutrition
and food service management
designed to upgrade the skills
and knowledge of school food
service personnel.
The serial originated under the
terms of an FNS contract to the
New England States Educational
Council, Inc. The serial was
produced by WGBH Educational
Foundation of Boston in con­junction
with the Department
of Nutrition in the School of
Public Health, Harvard University.
The purpose is threefold: (1) To
motivate school food service
personnel to use their existing
knowledge and tools to upgrade
children's diets; (2) To increase
their knowledge and improve
their understanding of nutrition;
and (3) To illustrate the significance
of nutrition to growth, develop­ment,
health, and productiv-ity
of the individual.
Series of ten films
"Food for Youth" includes 10,
30-minute filmed segments that
cover a variety of topics-like
m1jor nutrients, balanced diets,
menu planning, food preparation,
eating environments, and the
effect of eating habits on the
individual-especially the child . A
study guide provides additional
information and features a short
quiz for each of the 10 programs.
Satisfactory completion of these
quizzes may contribute toward
course credit.
Arrangements for showing the
series in South Dakota were
the responsibility of Lois Hoffman,
dietitian for the State Depart­ment
of Education and Cultural
Affairs' school lunch section.
"We felt this would be an
excellent means for getting more
training to people in the field,"
Ms. Hoffman explains. "The
shows go to so many people at
once-people it would take ages
to reach otherwise."
Ms. Hoffman met with public
television officials at their head­quarters
in Brookings last fall.
She had hoped to have each
program aired twice a week, but
this couldn't be arranged . They
arranged to air the program every
5
Tuesday afternoon at 3:30. Ms.
Hoffman then sent every school a
study guide and a letter explaining
the course.
Course credit offered
Issuance of credit points for
each completed quiz is what
attracted most people to the
course. In order to maintain their
accreditation, South Dakota
school food service personnel
must complete a required amount
of training each year: supervisors,
45 points; managers, 30 points;
and cook-managers, 25 points.
South Dakota assigned 10 points
credit for completion of the entire
course. More than half of the
State's approximately 900 profes­sionals
completed the entire
course, while many others re­ceived
partial credit, at 1 point
per quiz completed .
Many cafeteria staffs worked on
the quizzes together, as Ms.
Hoffman had suggested. She felt
this would encourage more
discussion of the topics covered.
And apparently this theory
worked, because people are still
talking about the course and all
they learned. But even more
important is how these "graduates"
are using what they learned-in
carrying out their regular duties
of preparing and serving well­balanced
meals and in conducting
nutrition education activities in
classrooms and cafeterias. 1:.
The People Behind the Program
Getting the food and
the money to the
schools
Lorrie Heslig looks like the
type of person who could take
on almost anything and come out
on top. She's from the Midwest,
has lived there all her life, and
is willing to engage any avail­able
sparring partner in a battle
of words and wit over the ad­vantages
of country living. She's
got two small children, who go
to the local school.
Seven years ago, after her sec­ond
child was born, Lorrie de­cided
to take on a part-time job
and learn some new skills. Today,
she's got a full-time job on her
hands that demands all the moxie
she can deliver-she's a school
lunch manager. Every afternoon,
she and her two co-workers
put out a tempting meal for 165
bubbling elementary school­children
who squirm their way
through the school lunch line.
6
By Dianne D. jenkins
Lorrie, her co-workers and the
children are all participants in the
National School Lunch Program.
But what does that really mean
for Lorrie and the kids?
For Lorrie, it means she's re­quired
to serve well-balanced
and nutritious lunches that meet
requirements of USDA's Type A
pattern. In return, her school gets
money and some donated food
from the Federal Government.
For the kids, of course, it means
that they get a good meal at
very little cost, or free, if they're
from needy families.
Money for school lunches
Where does the money come
from? Ultimately, it comes from
all of us-the taxpayers. But
it must move through the miles
of red tape separating the Federal
Treasury building in Washington,
D.C. and Lorrie Heslig's kitchen.
It's really quite simple-in theory.
Every year, Congress sets asiqe
a certain amount of money for the_
National School Lunch Program.
The Treasury Department, in turn,
gives this money to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA),
the Federal agency administering
the lunch program. USDA's Food
and Nutrition Service takes this
money and hands it over to the
States, and each State's educa­tion
department makes sure
local school districts get paid
back for meals served to chil­dren
in district schools.
"Please reimburse"
The key to the whole process is
the school lunch manager. Every
day, after Lorrie Heslig has sent
the last of the kids scurrying
through the lunch line and the
clean-up process has begun, she
fills out a form-a daily food
service report. This report is
Lorrie's way of sending a message:
"I 've served the required meals,
please reimburse."
Schools receive set rates of
money depending on the type
of meal served-free, reduced­price,
or full price. The majority
of meals are served to students
" full price," but, actually, even
these meals are paid for in part
by the tax dollars that support
food and nutrition
)
r
the National School Lunch Program.
(The rates also allow for changes
in the cost of food, and are ad­justed
semi-annually to reflect any
changes in the cost of living.)
When Lorrie fills out her daily food
service report form, she notes the
number of meals served in each
of the three categories.
Once a month, Lorrie's school
district puts together .the daily
claim forms from all schools in
the district and sends them on to
the State department of education's
school food service director. Draw­ing
on the advance funding it has
received from the Federal Govern­ment,
the State sends out a check
to Lorrie's school district, which,
in turn, repays Lorrie's school.
Getting USDA-donated foods
The route for donated foods, or
commodities, is a little more
direct. "I certainly don't have to
fill out any forms to get commo­dities,"
says Lorrie. "They come
in regularly-sometimes I think
they've a mind of their own."
All commodities are purchases
the Department of Agriculture
has made on the open market.
Usually, the Government buys
these foods because of the sup­ply
situation. When there is
too much of any one crop on the
market, the price drops. If the
price gets too low, the returns
to the farmers may drop to the
point where they may be forced
out of business. To prevent
this, the Government buys some
of these foods and puts them to
use in the school lunch program.
FNS passes these foods on to
the States, who in turn dispatch
them to schools like Lorrie's.
The schools' only cost is a small
charge for handling and shipping
within the State.
So, the Federal Government,
working through the State
governments, delivers money and
food to Lorrie's school and to
some 90,000 other schools across
the country.
It all depends on people
However, "government" is a big
word and, at times, a misleading
word. Government is actually
people. Individuals in every sense
the word implies-every one
october 1976
unique, all with different back­grounds
and from various parts
of the country. But the people
in the Federal and State govern­ments
who work with child
nutrition programs all have one
thing in common. By accident,
or design, they have become in­volved
in a demanding job­feeding
children.
Who are these people? What do
they do? And how do they
work with each other and with
people in the schools?
The State people
State directors and their staffs
are the link between the National
School Lunch Program and the
people in the schools.
State directors' jobs are complex,
like the programs they administer.
Their principal task is managing
the lunch program in their States.
But in addition to the lunch
program, State people are also
responsible for four other child
feeding programs: the School
Breakfast Program; the Child
Care Food Program; the Sum­mer
Food Program for Children;
and the Special Milk Program.
Like hundreds of voices clamor­ing
together, the complex pro­grams
demand ceaseless attention.
"The reimbursement check for
school 280 was lost in the mail.
Can you issue us a new one?"
Memo: "State reimbursement
data is incomplete. Please file
again."
"Drop what you're doing. We
need you down here. There's
a meeting of school board mem­bers,
and one member is set on
convincing everyone that the
school lunch program has nothing to
do with education."
Staffing is important
State staffs number anywhere
from 3 to 40 people, depending
on the size of the State. "A big
problem for State staffs is
that they just don't have enough
people or money to do all the
things they're required to do,"
says Merle Hagerty. At the re­quest
of Congress, FNS has been
conducting a study of State
staffing needs, and its findings
go to Congress in the fall.
The Federal Government first
began giving money to States
to help them out with the
administration costs for ·child
nutrition programs in 1969. That
year, States received $1.3 million
in Federal money for adminis­trative
expenses. In 1976, States
received $11.1 million. But,
according to program admini­strators,
the programs have
become increasingly complex,
and increases in Federal and
State funds just haven't kept
pace with the rising costs of ad­ministering
the program. In 1969,
State costs for administering
the program were approximately
$7 million; today, they are up
to $45 million.
Experts in many areas
The management work of State
people extends over a number of
different areas. They provide
assistance to cafeteria managers
by coordinating workshops.
They give advice on equipment
purchases, menu planning, nu­trition
education, and serving
systems. They write food speci­fications
and help with personnel
management and job placements.
And they explain the program
to community groups, school
board members, parents and
school administrators. This means
that they must be expert not only
in money management, but also
in training, nutrition education,
evaluation and public relations.
The Federal people
One big part of the job of
Federal people is interpreting
child nutrition legislation and
turning it into national rules and
guidelines for running the pro­gram.
A second big part of this
job is money. How much mon­ey
will it take to run the pro­gram?
Is it available? How should
it be distributed to the States?
In order to get a handle on this
job and keep in touch with how
the lunch program is working,
people from FNS meet regularly
with State school food service
7
directors, nutritionists, school
food service workers, and mem­bers
of the American School
Food Service Association.
An important link between the
people in Washington and the
schools is the National Ad­visory
Council on Child Nutrition.
Made up of 15 people repre­senting
all aspects of child nutri­tion,
the Council meets several
times a year and takes a look
at how the programs are working.
The Council then suggests changes
and new directions.
Another link between Washing­ton
and the schools are the
FNS regional offices located all
around the country: Burlington,
Massachusetts; Princeton, New
jersey; Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas;
and San Francisco. A new FNS
Regional Office is opening in
Denver this fall. In each Regional
Office, FNS child nutrition staffs
work closely with the educa­tion
agencies in the various States
the Region serves.
Working with the States
In almost everything they do,
Federal people work through the
State school food service offices.
And, in many ways, the con­cerns
of these Federal people
mirror those of the State
people-management of money,
evaluating and monitoring pro­grams,
providing nutrition
education and technical assistance.
Federal people take part in
workshops sponsored by State
and local people, providing as­sistance
with program guidelines,
food service systems, equip­ment,
nutrition education and
food preparation.
The FNS Child Nutrition Division
in Washington has a staff of
seven people who are specialists
in food service systems, and
each of the six FNS Regional Of­fices
also has a food service
systems specialist. These people
crisscross the country, analyzing
schools' food service opera­tions
and teaching at workshops.
They fo'ok at such things as:
How well is the school's kitchen
laid out? What can be done to
improve it without spending more
money? If there is money avail-
8
able, what kind of equipment
would help? Or, if a new school
is being built, what food service
system would be best?
The specialists provide assistance
to cafeteria managers at work­shops,
where they offer tips
on preparing food quicker and
easier and on making the best
use of equipment and food
storage facilities. This kind of in­formation
also is included in FNS
publications designed to help
the cafeteria manager.
Other people in FNS who reach
out and work directly with cafe­teria
managers are members
of the Nutrition and Technical
Services Staff. As nutrition
specialists, they work primarily
with meal patterns for school
lunch and school breakfast, pro­viding
food service management
assistance for cafeteria managers
through publications such as
menu planning and food buying
guides. These people also de­velop
nutrition education materials
for use in training school food
service personnel.
A team approach
For the past 2 years, various
FNS people have been working
with cafeteria managers through
a program called MT A, or
Management and Technical Assist­ance.
MT A is a team project,
bringing together representatives
from the Federal and State
governments and local school food
service staffs.
These MT A teams have been
visiting large school systems in
157 cities to review every
aspect of their food service oper­ation.
The teams' main job is to
help schools identify their
problems and then work with them
to find solutions. Each MT A
team includes people who are
expert in three areas: money
management, program manage­ment,
and food preparation.
One of the most important
things about MT A's team effort
however, is that it is a two-way
street-Federal and State
people give advice to local
people, and local and State people
give Federal people a better pic­ture
of the problems they face.
The State-Federal
relationship--working
with regulations
At all levels, the people who
work with child nutrition programs
share one problem: adjusting
to the demands of growth and
change. In recent years, there have
been significant program changes
as a result of new laws.
And, as FNS child nutrition pro­grams
manager jerry Boling says,
"Considerable time over the past
few years has been taken up by
the demands of change as people
in Federal and State govern­ments
work together to carry out
these new laws."
After a new law is enacted, it's
up to FNS to put that law into
effect. While the statute may
require all schools to offer re­duced-
price lunches, for instance,
it doesn't spell out how to put
that order into operation.
That's the job of the people in
FNS who write up the rules or
regulations by which the program
operates. These become the
bible of school lunch operations.
"The best possible regulations"
This year, FNS tried something
new in writing regulations. In the
past, to help them prepare reg­ulations,
the FNS people would
meet several times a year with
State directors and others in­volved
in the lunch program to get
a feeling for their ideas and
their problems.
"Now what we're doing," says
Merle Hagerty, "is actually
involving these people in the
writing process."
As the first step this summer, FNS
invited the nutrition committee of
the American School Food Service
Associatior) to Washington to dis­cuss
proposed changes in the
Type A pattern. In welcoming the
committee, FNS Administrator
Edward j. Hekman said the meeting
was a good example of the
Department's effort to come up
with the best possible regulations.
"We want to get together with
groups like this one before we
even propose regulations," he ex-food
and nutrition
plained. "We want to know what
you think-1 hope you all are
free and frank.
"If you don't agree," he told the
group, "let's hear it. We came
here to learn. So let's get some of
our concerns out on the table
so we can have a common front to
attack our problems."
The people at FNS want that
common fr<;mt to extend to State
directors too. "Frequently,"
The Springfield
meeting
"These Federal-State meetings
may be slug fests, but we have
a common bond that holds
us together. The dedication we
share is much stronger than
the forces that pull us apart.
We are indeed very good friends."
-Merle Hagerty
The working session on pro­posed
regulations was held in a
conference room on the 16th
floor of the largest hotel in
Springfield, Illinois. While
Springfield houses 92,000 people,
at heart it's still a small town.
The people began settling in
around the conference table
while the sun was still burning
mist off the streets outside,
and people were hurrying to get
where they were going before
things began to bake. Inside, the
eight State directors from all
parts of the country were getting
ready to get down to some hard
talking. The eight were elected
representatives of all State
directors in the country.
One of the two women in the
group was Roberta Bosch, from
North Dakota. Recently elected
by all State directors as the
group's new chairperson, Ms.
Bosch has been working with
child feeding programs for over
15 years. The regard in which
she is held by her colleagues is
evidenced by her new position.
Massachusetts State director
John Stalker seated himself
with a few crisp hellos. The for­mer
chairperson of the State di­rectors
has been involved
october 1976
says Roberta Bosch, chairperson of
the State directors, "we are
frustrated because we feel we
don't have enough say-we don't
have enough authority."
Meeting with State directors
In july, FNS attacked this source
of frustration in another meeting.
Several FNS people met with a
group of State directors in Spring­field,
Illinois, and together
they worked on writing regulations
with school lunch since 1946.
As fresh pitchers of ice water
were being passed, and glasses
were being filled for the first
time, Gene Dickey, school
lunch program manager for FNS,
started the discussion. He focus­ed
on reviewing the major as­pects
of the child nutrition
legislation passed a year ago,
and how FNS was working with
the States to put the new
law into operation.
These were just preliminaries,
however. The meat of the meeting
was an eight-page proposed
regulatory amendment-"the re­imbursement
procedures docket."
As the docket spelled out, school
lunch programs are required
to be nonprofit. But what hap­pens
if a lunch program winds
up the year with what looks
to be a lot of extra money. Why
did it happen? Was the school
paid too much, or did the
school not accurately record
all expenses?
Gene Dickey's experience with
school food service includes 5
years at FNS' Southeast Regional
Office. "I have a personal
commitment to child nutrition
programs," he said later, on
his way back to Washington. "I
don't know exactly how or
where, but I expect I will always
be involved with these programs.
This is my life. This is what I
want to do." Because of his
regional experience, Gene Dickey
is especially sensitive to the
needs of the State directors,
and he was instrumental in bring­ing
about the meeting.
In an understatement of sorts,
Jerry Boling once said: "Regu­latory
debate is useful be-that
deal with the assignment of
reimbursement rates in school
lunch programs.
Federal people rely on State staffs
to make regulidions like this work­able
for the schools, points
out Merle Hagerty.
And it makes sense. The State
directors and their staffs have a
special understanding that
comes from working with people
in the schools.
cause it gives you an understand­ing
of the words." This was
evident as Gene Dickey and the
group moved slowly through
the proposed regulations.
"What's the meaning of this
phrase? ... What's your intention
here? .•• How can we possibly? .•. "
The discussion went on for 2
hours. The result was a dry water
pitcher, empty glasses, and full
ashtrays. The sun was bright, and
heat seemed to radiate in waves.
And the discussion continued.
The process continued. Like
people struggling with giant
pieces of a national jig-saw puz­zle,
they struggled with the words,
cutting, reshaping, trying to
work around the angles that just
wouldn't fit. On to page four.
Finally, the intensity gave way
to frustration, tempers and
laughter. With a wide grin, Joe
Stewart, school food service
director in Washington, D.C.,
started laughing at the enemy­the
words "variables," "justifies,"
"zero family rates." His laugh
eased around the room, break­ing
the tension, like rain
breaking heat. Then silence,
shuffling papers and a sudden
swell of voices as the debate
took off again. Gradually, through
the debris of words they left
behind, the real cause of the
conflict became dear. How do
we write rules that are always
fair? How do we write rules to
make the program consistent
and still adjust to the needs of
individuals?
A half day later, they all left
Springfield. They had hag-gled
and hassled. But they had
written the proposed rules of the
program together. 1:r
9
10
''Half the job of the cafeteria manager is in the
dish room checking what's in the garbage."
The man who said that was Gary Reed, city
director of food service in Huron, South Dakota.
Speaking before a group of school food service
workers, city director Reed said, "We've got to
prove that the lunch program can be number one
in the food industry. We can't be complacent. We
can't sit back thinking, well, we've got nutritious
food and it's cheap-take it or leave it. The food has
got to be appealing and the lunch program has got
to stand on its own."
There are a lot of ways to see the problem of food
waste in the school lunch program. The issue is
volatile, complex, and as many-sided as the number
of people involved.
A few days after Gary Reed spoke to the school
PLATE
WASTE-views
on
a complex issue
By Dianne D. jenkins
food service workers in South Dakota, FNS Ad- f----------------------~"'­ministrator
Edward ). Hekman spoke on the same
subject to the nutrition committee of the American
School Food Service Association in Washington,
D.C. And, despite the distances separating the
South Dakota city director and the national ad­ministrator,
their views were remarkably similar.
"It's apparent that plate waste is an issue that is of
great concern," Administrator Hekman said. "It's
an issue for which we have no easy answer. But it is
an issue we can help each other with. We can see
that we do all we can to get at the causes of plate
waste and still keep the nutritional values of the
lunch. It's not going to be easy," he said. "But if we
work together, we can do it."
Looking at the problem
Food waste is one of the most crucial issues fac­ing
the lunch program and school food service
workers today. Many people see it as a problem
that will simply disappear. Others see it as a threat
to the nutritional promises of the lunch program.
And, still others see it as an issue whose time is long
overdue; an issue with which we must deal. How
can we be pledged to nutrition standards, they say,
if the nutrition is ending up in the garbage instead
of children's stomachs?
So, what can we do about plate waste, and how
are we trying to deal with it? To get a more accurate
picture of the plate waste problem, FNS is conduc­ting
studies in a number of areas:
• Food acceptability. One hundred and four
schools are included in this study, which tries to
zero in on foods children usually throw away. The
study also looks for answers to questions like: How
much food is served? What is the nutritional value
of the lunch as it is served and eaten? Results will be
part of a comprehensive report on food waste
which FNS will deliver to Congress this fall.
• Food service systems. This study examines the
difference between: (1) meals prepared and served
at school; (2) meals prepared in a central kitchen
and transported to the serving school in bulk con­tainers;
(3i meals prepared in a central kitchen,
then preportioned for individual students and
transported to the serving school in hot and cold
packs, and (4) meals prepared and frozen ahead of
time in individual portions, and reheated in the
serving school.
• High school meal patterns. FNS expects to let a
contract this fall for a study that will explore
different meal patterns for high school students.
Key elements in the study will be the nutritional
value of foods students choose and eat, student
satisfaction, and labor and food costs per meal.
Varied portion sizes
In addition to these studies, FNS is also working
with the National Advisory Council on Child Nutri­tion
and the nutrition committee of the American
School Food Service Association to revise current
meal pattern requirements. This will allow schools
to vary portion sizes for various age groups. The
food pattern now in use specifies minimum
amounts of foods based on the needs of 10- to 12-
year old children.
New rule for high schools
Another key tool for getting at food waste is a
legislative provision dubbed "offer vs. serve."
"Offer vs. serve" means that students of a senior
high school grade level are no longer required to
take all five food items included in the Type A
lunch. Before, all schools taking part in the Nationa
School Lunch Program had to serve each student a
portion of meat, or a meat alternate like fish or
cheese, two or more vegetables or fruits, bread,
and milk. Now, schools "offer" students of senior
high grade levels all five items, but the students can
choose as few as three, if they wish. Schools will still
receive full reimbursement for the meals served.
However, students still must pay for a complete
Type A lunch.
Why this change? Because of food waste. When
new child nutrition legislation was written last fall,
considerable concern was expressed about the
pr.oblem of food waste in the lunch program. Along
with that concern was the realization that high
school students are too old to be told what to eat
and should choose their own food. So, the law re-qt
se
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ill,
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ng
gh
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e-overall
purpose of this legislation-to get rid of
food waste," he added. "Obviously, we want to use
menu forecasting techniques to make 'sure we
don't fix more food than the kids will take. But we
also need to use common sense. If I'm a manager,
for instance, and I make spinach for 100 kids and
only 5 kids take it, I don't need to be using menu
forecasting. I need to be asking a much more
fundamental question: Why aren't the kids eating
spinach, and what can I serve that they will eat?"
Solutions are not simple
While offer vs. serve should help reduce food
waste in high school lunch programs, the causes of
food waste remain a controversial issue.
Some people are eyeing the program's nutrition
standards, the Type A lunch requirements. Are we
llllllf~~~~!l!Ji]/m~Jiii[Il- trying to do too much with school lunch? Are we
aiming too high by trying to provide 1/3 of the
quires schools to simply offer, rather than serve, all recommended dietary allowance of vitamins and
the foods in the Type A lunch pattern to high
school students.
What does this change mean for cafeteria
managers and school lunch programs? Views vary.
Some say this change in the lunch program under­mines
the nutrition standards represented by the
Type A meal requirements. Others view the change
as an opportunity for cafeteria managers to have
more flexibility and responsibility.
However, even those who are concerned by this
change agree on the importance of reducing plate
waste. For example, Roberta Bosch, chairperson of
State school food service directors said, "For too
long we've sat back believing we had a captive
audience. The time certainly has come when we
have to merchandise our food."
ASFSA President jo Martin also expressed con­cern
with the "offer vs. serve" provision but agreed
that it's important to make lunches appealing. "We
have a real, with a capitai'R,' need to work toward
serving quality food," she said. "I just don't believe
that if we serve quality food and use portion con­trol
we'll have a significant plate waste problem."
The success of this new law, according to Ms.
Martin, "really depends on what kind of commit­ment
we, as individuals, have to the lunch
program's nutritional standards. This new provision
can be a cop-out; an opportunity to just serve food
a Ia carte. It's really up to us to turn this thing
around and serve food that's so good, kids won't be
able to turn it down."
Making it work
jerry Boling, manager of child nutrition programs
for FNS, emphasizes that in order for offer vs. serve
to work, it's necessary for everyone "up and down
the line" to take responsibility for the lunch
program's success or failure. "We've all got to
think, to question, to use our common sense, and
get away from the philosophy that encourages us to
sign on the dotted line but pass the responsibility
on to someone else," he said.
"We need to keep our eyes focused on the
minerals at lunch?
For jerry Boling, the answer is no. "The thing you
have to remember, and a lot of people seem to
forget, is that this isn't just a food program. The
thing that makes this program different is: it's con­cerned
with nutrition.
"The national nutrition standards are our way of
demonstrating that school lunch money is being
well spent," he continued. But jerry Boling doesn't
believe the program's nutrition standards are the
primary cause of food waste. "The real causes are
tied up in the complexities of children's wants and
needs, poor preparation and serving technigues,
and management skills and attitudes. And obvious­ly
these complexities don't exist just because we
have nutrition standards for lunch," he said.
jo Martin sees it pretty much the same way. She
doesn't believe that the lunch program's problem
with food waste can simply be tied to the program's
Type A lunch requirements. "To really solve the
problem of plate waste, we need to have better
trained school food service workers. We need our
managers to manage and not get sidetracked cook­ing.
We need to improve our procurement stan­dards
so we can be sure we are buying the best
foods possible. And, we need to make sure our
children are getting the nutrition education they
need to be able to make sound decisions."
While people see many causes and solutions to
the problem of food waste in the school lunch
program, there is a solid bottom line-if children
are throwing away food, the nutrition standards are
simply words on paper.
There's a lot at stake
"If we are to live up to the promises of the
program's nutrition standards, we must solve the
food waste problem," said jerry Boling. "And if we
succeed in producing and merchandising appetiz­ing,
nutritious food, we will not only be attacking
the food waste problem, we will be making the
program more successful financially. We will again
rove that the can stand on its own." *
11
HOW CAN WE
GET KIDS
TO EAT?
That's the question for
many school lunch
people these days. And
they've come up with
some. interesting
answers. Add more
choice ... involve
students ... develop new
serving systems ... use
better merchandising ...
these are just a few.
12
Buffet style meals
In Kentucky, about 100 junior and senior high
schools have adopted a "smorgasboard" system, in
which students walk down both sides of a serving
counter, dishing up their own lunches from a vari­ety
of available foods.
At the beginning of the school year, someone
from the State or local school food service staff ex­plains
the system to the students. And each day an
adult monitors activity at the serving line, en­couraging
students to choose well-balanced meals.
A variation of this system is used in some elemen­tary
schools-especially with the upper grades-ex­cept
there the children make their selections from
pre-portioned servings.
As C.E. Bevins, Kentucky's director of school
food service noted, this system increases accep­tability
of the lunches and improves participation.
A build-your -own-sandwich-line
At Wheeler High School in Cobb County,
Georgia, a Build-Your-Own-Sandwich line proved
so successful last year that a number of other coun­ty
schools adopted the idea.
Mary Nix, school food service supervisor for
Cobb County, said students going through this line
choose from four or five different breads, as well as
any 3-ounce combination of four or five sandwich
fillings. Cafeteria personnel standing behind the
counter serve, but do not assemble, the in­gredients.
Mustard and ketchup are available in the
dining room, and other condiments and sandwich
ingredients may be requested at the counter.
In addition to the sandwich line, most county
senior high schools have a traditional hot lunch
line, a salad bar, and a short-order counter, where
students can get hamburgers and hot dogs.
As Ms. Nix explained, "We're meeting the nutri­tional
needs of our students with a minimum
amount of waste by serving food students accept."
Getting students involved
At Rockbridge Elementary School in Stone
Mountain, Georgia, cafeteria manager Miriam
Dameron has organized a student "taste panel" to
build interest in the lunch program and help
eliminate plate waste.
Two children in each class in grades four through
seven serve on this panel. Their job is to taste un­usual
foods or new recipes-such as sweet and sour
pork or California tamale pie-and then discuss the
dishes in their classes and encourage their
classmates to taste the foods at lunchtime.
The panel changes every 6 weeks, giving more
people a chance to be involved. "This helps chil­dren
feel that the lunch program is not for them
but that it's their program," Ms. Dameron said.
food and nutrition
Type A--the Gary wa.y
"Build an A the Gary Way" is a new system
schools in Gary, Indiana, use to identify com­ponents
of the Type A lunch. "G" is for meat, or
meat alternate. " A" is for fruit and vegetable. "R" is
for bread. And "Y" is for milk. Students take two
"A's", since the Type A lunch includes two servings
of fruits and/or vegetables, and one each of
everything else.
As a result of this system, city officials report the
best decrease in plate waste in several years. This
promotion, they say, has been very successful in
merchandising the Type A lunch and has greatly
reduced the number of a Ia carte sales.
Color-coded lunches
Inspired by the American Revolution Bicenten­nial-
or her own color preferences-food service
director Mary Prager is using a red, white and blue
motif in her school's lunch line.
The Fullerton, California, food service director
has designed a system that uses color to encourage
students to choose balanced Type A lunches.
Different colors are assigned to the various food
items. Red is for the entree, white is for milk, and
blue is for fruit and vegetable items. If a child
comes through the line with one "red," one
"white" and two "blues," he gets the meals for 55
cents and a free cookie, too.
Ms. Prager reports that response has been ex­cellent.
The average number of meals served is
120-up from the 1974 average of 40 to 60.
Trying something new
Menu plans are a regular part of a school food
service director's job. But what about 3-year plans
to end deficit spending-sound more like the
world of economists?
That's just what New Haven school food service
director Marjorie Holgate is working on. With the
help of FNS food service systems specialists, Ms.
Holgate has developed a 3-year plan to cut costs
and make the best use of equipment.
Over the years, the New Haven lunch program
had evolved into a centralized system serving com­plete
hot and cold pack lunches from vendors.
While oven, kettles, and other equipment in
schools fell into disuse or were underutilized, costs
mounted and the sytem required subsidy from the
city. Following a Management and Technical
Assistance study, the food service staff decided to
change to a newer, less costly food production and
delivery system.
New Haven is now in the first stage of the 3-year
plan, which initially calls for preparation of all cold
pack lunches. The plan also includes preparation of
some portions of hot meals in bulk. The addition of
october 1976
griddles and deep fryers will allow for more flex­ibility
in menu planning and better. merchandising.
Savings of $90,000 are expected in the first year.
A giant testing p:rty
When Rudy Francis, director of the Santa Ana
Unified School District in southern California,
promised students they would have a greater voice
in the school's lunch program, he wasn't joking.
Santa Ana Valley High School switched from a
menu featuring one lunch a day to one offering as
many as 10 different combination meals, and Mr.
Francis made sure the food catered to students'
tastes. For example, monthly meetings with
students brought to light complaints about the
burritos being served by the school's food service.
In response, Mr. Francis planned a giant tasting par­ty,
assembling 100 students in the gymnasium to
sample every kind of burrito he could find.
The result? The students chose the one the
cafeteria had been using all along!
Lunch in a resta~rant
The school lunch program feeds the mind as well
as the body, as operations at a high school in Vic­torville,
California, demonstrate. The school's
lunch program provides an inexpensive, nutritious
meal and also offers students an excellent chance
to learn valuable job skills.
The service section of the Victorville High School
cafeteria has been set up to resemble a short-order
restaurant. Some student workers call orders back
to the kitchen from a service counter, while others
pick up and serve the completed orders. Another
student works as cashier.
Food service director Thelma Zimmerman
reports a very small loss of money and says she feels
the program is excellent practical training. De­signed
to resemble the kinds of eating places
students patronize near campus, the lunchroom
set-up has been so successful that other district
schools want to copy it.
Serving french fry lovers
When Barstow schools began serving sandwiches
and french fries in the lunch program, food service
director Ruth Hart went to the "experts" to learn
serving techniques. After finding out where to
order the parchment bags used by local drive-ins,
Ms. Hart ordered bags which would hold larger
portions than those dished out by restaurants.
French fry "baggers," also used in drive-ins, allow
lunchroom workers to fill french fry bags quickly
and neatly.
Another handy technique Ms. Hart picked up
from the drive-ins and fast food outlets was wrap­ping
hot sandwiches in color-coded foil to make
them easy to locate and identify. i::r
13
A PROUD RECORD
By Melanie Watts
Over 1 ,200 people received special
recognition this year for their work with
child nutrition programs. They are the
pioneers who helped begin the National
School Lunch Program 30 years ago and
who have worked with school food
service ever since. Some are Federal
and State people, but most are people
who are in the schools--school food
service supervisors, cafeteria managers,
school administrators, and others.
The following story is about one of
these people--a woman who has served
with child nutrition programs in a number
of capacities. Like the many dedicated
men and women who have devoted
their careers to school lunch, she has
seen lots of changes in the program, and
she's contributed greatly to its success.
The National School Lunch
Program has undergone many
changes since it first started 30
years ago. Few people know this
better than Mildred Stringfield,
food service director for the
schools in East Baton Rouge
Parish, Louisiana. Ms. Stringfield
has been involved in feeding
kids since even before school
lunch became a permanent pro­gram
in 1946.
Her school food service career
started, in an indirect way,
while she was a home economics
teacher in two Arkansas com­munities,
between 1932 and
1946. And in those days, that
job automatically carried the
added responsibility of directing
14
whatever lunch program the
school operated.
Working with early programs
"In the 1930's, most programs
were supplemental in nature,"
Ms. Stringfield explains. "We
served hot soup to children
whose parents were out of work.
This was supposed to supplement
the lunches they brought from
home, but it was very often
the only thing some kids had."
At that time, PTA and other
local interest groups were
largely responsible for starting
school feeding programs. About
the only assistance available
was in the form of commodity
foods supplied by the Works
Progress Administration.
"We had a makeshift kitchen
behind the stage," recalls
Ms. Stringfield, "and our equip­ment
consisted of one hot plate.
The kids ate in the gym, an ar­rangement
that lasted until years
later, when the community cen­ter
was turned into a cafeteria."
The change to complete meals
By the 1940's, the program had
basically changed shape. Lunches
were more complete meals and
were available to all students.
The U.S. Department of Agri­culture
was now involved, work­ing
directly with participating
schools and providing commodity
foods as well as a cash reim­bursement
of about 7 cents for
each meal served.
And under Ms. Stringfield's
direction, the Greenwood school
converted two classrooms into
a kitchen, large enough to
accomodate a new institution
size range and oven. The PTA
took out the loan for the
new equipment, and then paid
it off with profits from the
lunch program operation .
A lunch sold for 15 cents and
consisted of "the basic
seven"-essentially the same
nutritional standard used for
today's lunch program.
"We fed about 100 to 150
kids every day," Ms. Stringfield
says of her four-person
staff, who prepared all menu
items from scratch. "This was
most of the enrollment but even
then, we had to compete with
neighborhood snack bars."
She also directed the lunch
program at a nearby rural school­with
a daily business of about
100 students-in addition to teach-food
and nutrition
ing eight classes and running
the vocational home economics
program 12 months a year.
Some special difficulties
There were unique problems
in putting food on the table
in those days. Many food items,
like sugar, were rationed during
the war years and could only
be purchased with stamps. "We
used those stamps very care­fully,"
smiles Mildred Stringfield,
"and we were always on
the lookout for any stamps
that people in the community
weren't using ."
Local farmers sometimes would
donate corn for use in the
lunch program. Ms. Stringfield
always appreciated the donations,
but they did mean more work.
"I'd get my home-ec girls to
help," she explains, "and
we would use the community
canning center to put up the
corn. The contributing farmer
always got a good share of the
finished product, as a reward
for his generosity."
Problems with commodities
presented special difficulties.
Deliveries, which consisted mostly
of fresh and canned vegetables,
were irregular, and this made
advanced menu planning nearly
impossible. Also, delays in
transporting sometimes resulted in
spoilage problems with fresh
items. Most deliveries contained
a variety of easy-to-use foods,
such as cabbage and carrots,
but some shipments arrived with
just one item . "And inevitably,"
smiles Ms. Stringfield, "those
one-item deliveries would be
some hard-to-use product."
Helping the program expand
In 1946, the National School
Lunch Act made school food
service a permanent part of the
educational system, and gave
USDA national responsibility
for administering the program.
That same year, Mildred String­field
joined the Arkansas State
Department of Education as a
district supervisor for a 20-
county area. It was her job to
travel this territory, consisting of
310 school districts, and to
encourage expansion of the
october 1976
school lunch program.
"Most schools had some
kind of program by then," she
recalls; "but lots of people
still weren't sold on the idea.
So I met with school boards and
town people, stressing the good
points of the program-which
included added nutritional
benefits for students and increas­ed
job opportunities for people in
the community."
For 7 years she did this,
traveling mostly unpaved roads
and working around the clock.
Somehow, in her spare time,
she initiated and taught a
course about school lunch and
family nutrition for 2 years
at the University of Arkansas.
In 1953, after much persuasion
from folks she had worked with
on summer workshops in
Louisiana, Ms. Stringfield moved
to East Baton Rouge Parish to
become food service director.
Since then, the program has
doubled in size: schools in East
Baton Rouge Parish now serve
18,000 breakfasts and 26,000
lunches daily.
"I was reluctant to leave
Arkansas, since it is my home,"
the food service director
remembers, "but saw the offer
as just too good an opportunity
to turn down. Louisiana has
always been progressive in
school lunch."
An impressive record
Louisiana is still progressive
in school lunch, and Ms.
Stringfield helps to maintain
that reputation. For example, all
but a third of the managers in
the 112 schools in her district
hold college degrees in home
economics and have 23 hours in
food and nutrition and insti­tutional
management. Many
are registered dietitians.
"We don't arbitrarily require
a degree," she explains. "It's
just that there are many obvious
advantages in employing people
with this background. They are
considered more a part of
the faculty, they can make menu
changes when necessary without
altering the nutritional bal-ance,
and they need less train-ing
to prepare them for the job."
One big plus is that more and
more teachers are using these
managers to teach nutrition
in the classroom. "After all ," as
one teacher points out, " this
is their specialty. They know
a lot more about it than I do."
But to get people like this,
salaries and benefits have to be
made attractive. Ms. Stringfield
worked long and hard to explain
this to the parish school board.
Emphasis on professionalism
"Mildred spent many hours, in
board meetings and on her own
time, convincing top adminis­trators
that food service is a
profession and as such, is an
integral part of the educational
process," says Nell Brouillette,
school lunch consultant for
the Louisiana State Department
of Education and former employ­ee
in Ms. Stringfield's parish.
And to insure that this
professional reputation is main­tained,
Ms. Stringfield emphasizes
continual training for her staff.
For instance, she initiated a
4-week course to prepare
qualified employees for head
cook jobs.
"We started this 2 years ago,"
says the food service director,
who feels such a course increases
staff proficiency and profession­alism.
"Some topics we cover
include cleaning, sanitation, work
methods, safety, food storage,
inventory, and getting along with
co-workers and faculty."
All in all, Ms. Stringfield
has worked hard to upgrade the
image of school food services in
East Baton Rouge Parish. And,
in doing so, she has enhanced
the integrity of school food
service personnel everywhere.
She's seen a lot in her near
half-century in the business.
What started out as a temporary
feeding program to help out
during the depression years has
since developed into an ongoing,
multi-million-dollar business.
But the thing she's proudest of
is that food service today is
concerned with nutrition and is
so much more than "just a feeding
program." 1:r
15
SCHOOL LUNCH
AND THE COMMUNITY
By Dianne D. jenkins, Dianne Killmer, Linda Klein, and Catherine Tim jensen
Schools are an important part of a community,
and so is the school lunch program. More and
more people are recognizing the importance
of school lunch, thanks to efforts of
imaginative school food service staffs.
They've taken time to get students, parents,
and community groups interested and
involved--and the results are impressive.
"SELLING" THE
PROGRAM
Building a successful school
lunch program requires not only
the energy and dedication of
school food service workers
but the backing of the community.
Getting that backing is one of
the jobs of the district food
service director.
"A good deal of the district
director's time is spent explaining,
and often justifying, the lunch
program to people-principals,
teachers, parents, community
leaders, and student groups,"
explained Merle Hagerty, a former
district and State director now
working for FNS. "This is really
the hot spot," he continued. "This
person is on the firing line. All
the administrative pressures,
financial pressures, and commu­nity
pressures center here.
"And then," he said laughing,
"this person also gets all the
complaints. There's no salt on the
table-you put salt on the table.
It's stolen-you put the salt on a
string. The string is cut ... "
Make a commitment
Gary Reed is director of food
service for public schools in
in Huron, South Dakota, and his
job has given him a lot of ideas
about school lunch. And, for him,
the ideas seem to be paying off;
94 percent of the 3,900 students in
his district take advantage of the
school lunch program.
"The first thing to do," advised
Mr. Reed, "is develop your
commitment to having the best
lunch program in the State. Once
you've got that commitment,
you've got to be positive about
your ability to carry it off. And
you've got to pass on that confi­dence
to your employees, your stu­dents,
and your administrator.
"Everybody is selling themselves
and selling their product or ser­vices,"
he continued . "Before you
even see a hamburger, you hear
about Ronald MacDonald.
MacDonald has sold Ronald to
the public just like Kentucky
Fried Chicken has sold Colonel
Sanders. People are going to eat
Ronald's hamburgers because
they like him, just like they're
going to eat Colonel Sander's
chicken because they like him."
Gary Reed took his own advice.
He decided to sell himself and sell
his program. He went to his
administrator, he went to parent
groups, he went to kids in every
school in Huron.
He formed a student committee
made up of kids from kinder­garten
through 12th grade. That
committee now meets twice a
month and reviews the rough
draft of the menu plans. "One
person can't sit behind a desk and
draw up a menu for over 3,000
kids," explained Mr. Reed. "It
takes time, 2 weeks, to get the
student's input, but it's important
because then it's their menu."
Involving students was a big
food and nutrition
help, said Mr. Reed, but he
realized something was missing­community
backing.
"When you stop to think about
it," he pointed out, "this program
is big business in Huron. We have
a payroll of $100,000 and a food
budget of $350,000. We have a half
million dollar industry here. So I
said to the community, let's get
with it, let's look at my program."
Director Reed kept meeting,
talking, selling. Finally, the ball
began to get rolling. "We got to
the point where we had the
people involved-parents,
students, the community. Then
we had to make sure we were
backing up our bragging."
"Back up the bragging"
Mr. Reed encouraged the food
service staff to work as a team
and improve their knowledge of
nutrition and service skills. He
emphasized the importance of
good merchandizing, noting that
as much as 60 to 70 percent of
food acceptability is based on eye
appeal. "We have to make sure
that our good food looks like
good food," he said.
Mr. Reed is always looking for
new food ideas. He subscribes to a
variety of journals concerning
food and the food industry. "If
the industry is doing something
and it looks good, I copy it.
"Kids are a lot more sophis­ticated
these days, and we've got
to be a lot more sophisticated
right along with them," he urged.
"The lunch program is a big in­dustry
and can no longer be
considered the stepchild of the
food industry. We can make this
program number one. If we in­volve
students and the community,
get in on decision-making commit­tees
and back up our promises in
the kitchens, we can show our
schools just how much they need
us. This kind of dedication takes
time and effort," he said, "but
it's an investment that pays off."
GETTING
PARENT
FEEDBACK
When 70 of San Antonio's
parents go to lunch, it's not to the
country club or a bridge party.
They are members of a committee
unique to this Texas town's North
East Independent School District.
And they canvass 33 schools to
examine school food service and
student preferences.
The PTA lunchroom committee
started 17 years ago when the
district was rural and had only
three schools. The district's super­visor,
Dr. Virgil Blossom, now
deceased, had recently arrived
from Arkansas, where he had
initiated a similar committee. Less
than 100 students had been eating
in the school cafeteria in that
Arkansas district, and he wanted
parent feedback about "why."
Today, 33,000 San Antonio
students benefit from parents
going to the school cafeterias and
trying the food their children eat.
The committee members go
unannounced to the schools and
introduce themselves to the
principals upon arrival. They wear
identifying badges to receive free
I I II
I I II
I I 1......-~
I I
I I
lunch, for which the district
reimburses the school food service.
Keeps communication open
Assistant superintenden't for
student services john F. Taylor was
a school principal when the
lunchroom committee was
organized, and he was adamantly
opposed to the idea. Now, he's a
strong advocate.
"After the first year," he says,
"as an administrator, I realized
how invaluable it was-it was
keeping communications open
with parents."
Mr. Taylor began eating with
the visiting members, but he still
gave them a chance to be on their
own. " You have to expect some
criticism and hope for some
compliments," he points out.
He believes the key point in the
committee's success is that the
cafeteria manager and principal
work with the parents.
"Any district will see reserva­tion
among school principals
about starting the school lunch­room
committee-and the school
will have to expect comparison
with another school. But if I had it
to do over again, I'd sure en­courage
anyone to have the
lunchroom committee," he said.
Parents make monthly reports
Each school's Parent-Teacher
Association has its own lunch­room
committee, and from this
committee, two people are
appointed to the district PTA
council's lunchroom committee.
After eating in assigned school
cafeterias, these people report
their findings in 1-hour meetings
held each month during the
school year. Topics range from
the general condition of the
lunchrooms and the cleanliness of
trays and eating utensils, to the
temperature and quality of the
food, and the size of the servings.
In preparing their reports,
parents begin with a single-page
form initiated by food service
director Sam Reile in 1968. Mr.
Reile thinks the form helps
committee members get a better
reception from principals.
"Having something written helps
principals understand the pur­pose
of the visits," he says.
Mr. Reile sees the committee's
responsibility as limited to the
kitchen and meals. "The appear­ance
of the cafeteria and the
behavior of the students are
responsibilities of the principal."
After the committee hears
individual reports, the forms go to
school food managers and school
PTA members before they are
filed in the principal's office.
Other complaints reviewed
The lunchroom committee also
discusses "parent gripes." These
reach the committee from
According to PTA council vice­president
Nancy Sherman, a
former lunchroom committee
member, "The children come out
the winners. The committee gets
answers back to the children."
School lunch explained
At each year's first lunchroom
· committee meeting, the food
service staff explains the differ­ences
between cooking at home
for a family and cooking at
school for hundreds of students.
When something is underway
in school food service, Mr. Reile
brings it up at the lunchroom
committee meeting. For example,
this past school year, he reviewed
the effort to eliminate plate waste.
And, at the first meeting in the
fall, he discussed changes in the
Type A lunch pattern.
The director tries to get conti­nuity
on the lunchroom commit­tee,
and hopes for a "repeater"
from each PTA every year.
The work of the PTA lunchroom
committee is important to this
school district. People long
associated with the district feel
they still have the "closeness"
prevalent in the earlier years
when it was a rural three-school
district. And one reason is the
"open communications" that
result from the lunch committee.
"Problem solving is a lot easier
through this type of community
effort," says john Taylor.
food service staff members who
refer calls to the members.
Occasionally, a referral comes
from a principal. Each "griper" is
invited to lunch at the school in
question. The matter is eventually
resolved, usually with Mr. Reile or
one of his staff members-food
consultants La Verle Billingsley
and Allene Beevers. :::~
What committee members find € : :) when t~ey visit cafeterias is often:_:
a surpnse. "When I saw how llllll_&;;;.llll.ll. ...-.i ll.ll.- .. . ._-~,~~~~--~-.... ._.. ~~
clean the kitchen was, I thought,
'Wow! I've got to go home and
scrub,"' Ms. Plum admitted.
INVOLVING
STUDENTS
"I feel that the most important
thing in the minds of the students
is change in the lunchroom," said
Julie Barfield, a graduating senior
at Ft. Walton Beach High School.
"Gradually, they will increase
their interest in nutrition."
The outgoing chairman of her
school's youth advisory council,
Julie was one of 109 teenagers and
74 adults attending Florida's first
Y AC conference in West Palm
Beach last spring. The 1-day
meeting was sponsored by the
Florida School Food Service Asso­ciation
(FSFSA), the Florida
Department of Citrus, and the
Food and Nutrition Management
Section of the Florida Department
of Education, and it involved
student leaders and adult
advisors from all over the State.
Getting student input
The purpose of youth advisory
councils, according to American
School Food Service Association
guidelines, is to promote school
food service programs and
nutrition education. And the
purpose of the conference,
according to its coordinators,
Frances Dobbins and Elizabeth
Nixon, was to interest students
in organizing Y AC's and get their
input into the lunch program.
The conference started off with
speeches, interspersed with
entertainment. At midmorning,
the adults and students split up for
separate meetings, the students
dividing into small groups.
In the afternoon, each student
group made its recommendations
to the full conference. And
the following day, the recom­mendations
were presented at
orida School Food Service
Association's annual meeting,
also held in West Palm Beach.
Suggestions varied
The students' suggestions ran
the gamut-from preparing
food and nutrition
c
special lunches for athletes, to
cutting 5 minutes off each class so
students could have a regular
breakfast period.
Some other recommendations
were: prepare enough food for all
lunch periods (so the last students
that are served don't get hasty
substitutions); keep hot foods
hot; replace soft-drink machines
with fruit juice machines.
Students complained about too
much repetition (for instance, too
many versions of ground beef)
and too many leftovers. They also
objected to plastic or wooden
eating utensils that were difficult
to use, and paper or styrofoam
plates or trays that leaked.
There were some comments
about attitudes of some lunch­room
workers-"they snatch
away lunch tickets, or put gravy in
the pudding." As to the students'
attitudes, they noted that
students should show their
appreciation when food is good.
Conference participants called
for a better atmosphere in the
lunchroom-complaining of
overcrowding and lack of time.
They suggested decorating the
cafeteria and playing music
during lunch. And they noted that
people might keep the cafeteria
cleaner if trash cans and racks
for trays were placed near exits.
One school's experience
At the time of the conference,
only four Florida schools had
established youth advisory
councils. Tom Manning, the first
chairman of the pilot youth ad­visory
council program at Ft. Wal­ton
Beach High School, described
october 1976
some of his group's efforts.
Ft. Walton's council has
accomplished quite a bit since it
was organized in the spring of
1975. It has sponsored special
events in the cafeteria, such as
Foreign Foods Week. For these
occasions, they've planned special
menus, used colorful trays or
plates, and decorated the lunch­room
to fit the theme.
The council has taken an active
role in menu planning, with
council members informally
polling their classmates to help
determine student food prefer­ences.
In addition, YAC members
have taste-tested certain foods,
like brownies and milkshakes.
When the council noted the
problem of overcrowding in the
lunchroom, the school established
a third lunch period to alleviate
the problem. And, to make
people outside the school aware
of the council, members hosted
workshops for county school
food service personnel.
Just a beginning
This conference in West Palm
Beach was just the first step in
establishing Youth Advisory
Councils like Ft. Walton's in
schools throughout the State.
This, in turn, should make school
lunches more acceptable to
teenagers-particularly senior
high students who are no longer
required to accept all five Type A
lunch components.
As conference coordinator
Elizabeth Nixon explained: "For
years, we have made the mistake
of talking to our youngsters,
instead of listening to them. We
now realize we must listen to
these youngsters and see what we
can do so they will be more than
captive customers. We have to
have their input and ideas."
SERVING THE
COMMUNITY
The cafeteria got ::npecial red, 1
white and blue decor for a
celebration last year at Our Lady
of Good Counsel in Cleveland,
Ohio. In honor of the American
Revolution Bicentennial and the
30th anniversary of the National
School Lunch Program, the school
invited parents of students and
other members of the community
to be their luncheon guests.
Our Lady of Good Counsel was
one of thousands of schools
across the country that "invited
America to lunch" during the
bicentennial year.
Involvement in town activities is
an old Yankee custom, and school
food service directors in New
England often turn their facilities
and skills to providing food for
town occasions:
• Town meeting in Charlotte,
Vermont, is held all day for 1 day
each year. All citizens come to
discuss issues affecting the town
of 1,800 and to cast their votes.
School lunch director Ethel Atkins
provides a full meal at noon to all
who wish to stay, a snack late in
the afternoon, and coffee and
donuts for the ballot counters.
• In Exeter, New Hampshire,
Audrey Eastman arranges fund
raising and award dinners for
athletic teams as well as for special
occasions, like teacher retirement
parties. Ms. Eastman often comes
up with door prizes donated by
local businessman. She also
involves senior citizens as guests
and volunteers.
• In Sudbury, Massachusetts,
school lunch coordinator Dorothy
Goranson makes certain the town
selectmen come to a school lunch
during National School Lunch·
Week. On another day, she invites
the Board of Education, and on
still another, she invites parents
to be their guests. *
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PR INTI G OFFICE
Division of Public Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402
Official Bus iness.
Penalty for Pri vate Use, $300
JOHN A. KNEBEL
Acting Secretary of Agriculture
RICHARD L. FELTNER
Ass istant Secretary of Agri culture
P. ROYAL SHIPP
Acting Admini strator
Food and Nutrition Service
JANICE A. KERN, Editor
MARCIA B. EDDINS, Art Director
FOOD AND NUTRITION is published
bimonthly by the Food and Nutri t ion
Service, U.S. Departm ent of Agri cul­ture,
Washington, D.C 20250. The
use of funds for prin t ing th is publi ca­t
ion has been approved by the Di­rector
of the Office of Management
and Budget through November 30,
1976. Yearly subscription is $3.00
domesti c, $3.75 fore ign. Single co pies
50 cents each. Subscription orders
should be sent to the Superintendent
of Documents, Governm ent Printing
Office, Was hington D.C, 20402 .
Reference to commercial products
and serv ices does not imply endorse­ment
or di scrimination by the De­partment
of Agricul ture.
The Secretary of Agri culture has de­termined
that the publication of th is
periodical is necessary in the trans­action
of the public bu siness re­quired
by law of this Department.
Prints of photos may be obtained
from Photo Library, U.S. Department
of Agri culture, Was hin gt on, D.C
202 50.
All programs of the U.S. Department
of Agri culture are available t o every­one
without regard to race, creed,
colo,r,. s ex.. ..o. r national. origin .
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
<>U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1976 lll-404/13 1-3
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II
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POSTAGE
& FEES PAID
U.S. DEPT.
OF
AGRICULTURE
AGR 101
THIRD CLASS BLK. RT.
Permit Number .005-5
School lunch "from top to bottom"
Why training is important
The people behind the program
Plate waste .. views on a complex issue
How can we get kids to eat?
A proud record
Involving students, parents, and the
community