Supplement Safety Changing the Face of School ... - Curry College

Patrick Van Cott to craft nutritious mealsfor 8,000 students at 13 schools. Thatlikely means Richards and Van Cott willhave to create 13 different menus.“We’re going to be looking at the data,working with the parents, working withthe schools, just trying to find somecreative ways that we can get kids to trysomething new,” Richards says. ‘It’s onething to serve the food, but we want themto eat it too.”One way to do that is by offering so-calledcompetitive foods—those additionalitems not offered under the federalschool lunch program. “Mass in Motion”requires those items to be healthy andnutritionally balanced as well.“He [Van Cott] is already doing wholegrain crusts on his pizza,” Richardsexplains. “They’re all homemade. Theyhave probably the best spaghetti sauceyou could probably ever have—that’shomemade too. They do have chickennuggets on the menu, but it’s wholemeat chicken, and the bread crumbs area whole grain crumb. And they’re baked.There are no fryolators—that’s anothermisconception.”Fresh, homemade food is not cheap.That’s why the Plymouth schools receive a6-cent reimbursement for every meal theyserve that meets the federal guidelines.That money helps fund those competitivefoods.But, funding is not the only challengethat Richards and others face as they seekto revamp school lunches.“The challenges right now are educatingboth the parents and the kids that theseare good things. Encouraging kids to try anew food that they might not have tried.Right now, 50% of the grains have to bewhole grains and by 2014 it’s 100%. Somekids, they’ve never had whole grains, butthey might like them if they tried them.”Richards also says there has been somebacklash from students and parents.“There has been some negative feelingsassociated with the new regulations, thatthe kids are hungry, they’re not gettingenough to eat now, the portion sizes aresmall. It’s a shift that it’s more fruits, morevegetables, more whole grains, [and] lessof the refined carbohydrates, less of thefattier things. It’s a shift in the type offood, but it’s really a good thing, becauseit’s more nutritious.”Changing habits is also on the menu atMilton Academy and Curry College. BothHines and King say that more studentsare coming to them asking for healthiermeals, or more options in the dining hall.But, both men are also taking a proactiveapproach.For Hines, that includes educatingstudents about foods they may notnormally eat. Take that hand-madecheese for example. It was paneer—madeto celebrate the Hindu New Year calledDiwali.“Not only was it an incredible meal topartake in, but it was an educationalmoment as well,” Hines says. And thathappens frequently—students will eata new type of food, and then discuss itin their classrooms. As Hines explains,“Nutrition is very important to Milton.Health and wellness are very important,and the dining room is the center of theirwhole program.”The challenge is admittedly a littletougher for King at Curry College. By thetime most students reach college, theireating habits are pretty well established.But King says it’s his job to try and changethose habits.“I’m not here to feed you burgers andhot dogs every day. You’re going to be ata business meeting in four years and theCEO’s going to order everybody lunchand say ‘what do you want for lunch?’ Ifyou say you want a chicken patty withFrank’s Red Hot on it, everyone’s going tolook at you a little strange.”Chris Wilson, Class of 2013. and Megan Frosheiser,Class of 2013, compete in Curry College’s “Battle ofthe Chefs.”King is also trying to broaden student’sfood horizons. A recent “Exotic ExplorersTheme Dinner” featured rattlesnakeand a five-pound ostrich egg. He alsooccasionally hosts a “Battle of the Chefsat the Student Center, where participantsget to feel the heat in the kitchen whiletaking on unique cooking challenges.But, there is also a serious side to King’seducation mission. He’ll often go into theresidence halls and show students howthey can cook well on a budget. It’s a twiston Richards’ belief that eating healthydoes not need to break the bank.22 | CURRY COLLEGE MAGAZINE SPRING 2013