Menu Changes At Montclair Schools

The Montclair Public School District's lunch program came under fire last month at a school board meeting, but there are signs of change coming to the school cafeterias around town.

Indeed, at last month's meeting, a Hillside Elementary School parent complained about the amount of processed food and the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables offered to students at lunchtime.

Abraham Dickerson said there's not even a sink — let alone a stove — at the Hillside cafeteria.

"We talk a lot about going green in this town ... let's talk about healthy eating for a change," he said. "I observe a lot of processed foods. I think through some education and some bargaining we can get some fresh foods."

Like all New Jersey public schools, Montclair follows the State of New Jersey and U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for nutrition. There is a federal program called the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program that came to New Jersey for the first time in the 2008-2009 school year. This program is supposed to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to students on a regular basis.

The idea is to serve fresh foods as many times during a school week as possible, ultimately leading to better lifelong dietary habits.

At Watchung Elementary School, this is starting to happen. At the bottom of the October lunch menu for the school, Aramark food service says the school will have new fruit and veggie bars. Under a pilot program, daily offerings may now include a wide selection of choices: carrots, celery, green beans, salad, tomatoes, hummus, apples, pears, pineapple, honeydew, beans, and salsa.

The Montclair school district partners with Aramark, a food services management company, to provide lunches.

Also included on the Watchung menu are kid favorites like french fries and fruit cocktail. Throughout October, the menu also includes multi-grain pizza, pan cakes with turkey sausage, chicken nuggets, meatball hoagies, and Mexican chicken burritos.

School officials say that, indeed, the goal is to provide less processed food and more fresh food at Watchung and other schools in the district, but that they are challenged by a lack of sinks and adequate kitchens at many Montclair schools.

The good news is that at least one school, the new Charles H. Bullock Elementary School, does indeed boast a state-of-the-art kitchen.

Meanwhile, Whole Foods in Montclair also recently raised money for The Great American Salad Bar Project, a program aimed at raising money to put salad bars in public schools within a 50-mile radius of a store. The Montclair store raised about $5,000 which would be enough to give two salad bars to local schools.

The program would provide the physical salad bars including utensils, pan inserts, and chilling pads along with training and support from the Food Family Farming Foundation. Winners will be announced on January 1. Of the 22 stores in the Whole Foods region that includes Northern New Jersey, Montclair was in the top half when it comes to amounts raised, according to the store.

Parents understand that the schools have a tough job feeding kids lunch every day. They do follow the government guidelines (for nutrition), said Alma Schneider, a parent and a health and wellness liaison for one of the Montclair schools. Kids will also go for junk food even if healthier options are offered right next to it, she said.  And she points out that Aramark would offer more parent-pleasing options if parents demanded it. 

A child nutrition bill that was backed by First Lady Michelle Obama stalled in Congress last week. The bill would have set strict nutrition standards for all food sold in schools, as well as increased spending on school meals. The First Lady's overall program "Let's Move" has lots of information for kids and parents about nutrition.

But parents are up against heavy marketing at every turn. Last year the National Dairy Council and Milk Processor Education Program launched an advertising campaign aimed directly at school lunches. "Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk" argues that kids will get all the nutrients of milk with a flavor they love if they drink chocolate milk.

And parents know that some bending of the rules can make for an easier mealtime.

Schneider says one of her kids wants peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches so she (or her husband) spreads whole wheat bread with a thin smear of marshmallow and tops with enough peanut butter to keep him from getting hungry.