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KHS to try salad bar for six weeks
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| First grade students in Diane Berner’s class at Torrence Elementary School, Keokuk, lead the pledge of allegiance to begin Monday’s Keokuk School Board meeting in city council chambers. From left are Camden Baxter, Caitlyn McClain, Naythen Brown, Taya Heckenberg, Jordon Boltz, Mackensie Collins and Logan Eton. |
By Diane Vance/Gate City Staff Writer
In response to a Keokuk High School student's request for a salad bar option in the cafeteria, Connie Hauser, district food services director, and Denise Estrada, KHS food services manager, attended Monday's Keokuk School Board meeting.
Hauser outlined the four lunch options offered in the high school cafeteria. Federal rules mandate what food groups need to be served to meet nutritional guidelines that qualify school lunches for students receiving free or reduced-fee lunches.
The following first three options include the required food groups and qualify for the federal free and reduced-fee meals:
n The main dish line is a hot lunch that includes five components of the federal food pyramid.
“Students can choose what to take but they must take three of the five components to meet nutrition guidelines,” said Hauser.
The district publishes a monthly menu for students and families to plan choices for lunch.
n An alternative lunch includes a hot sandwich, French fries, fruit and milk.
“This is a limited offering,” said Hauser. “It's served on a first-come, first-served basis. When we run out, there's not more made.”
n Prepackaged salads comprised of a lettuce-based salad that includes carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables, cheese and grilled chicken; or a fruit package that has cut melon, sliced apples, half a banana, oranges and seasonal berries and grapes. The fruit comes with a yogurt dressing and string cheese for the protein component.
Each salad arrives from the vendor in a sealed, clear plastic, disposable container.
Hauser distributed a couple of each prepackaged salads to board members.
n The ala carte line is a fourth lunch choice which does not qualify under the federal nutritional guidelines and cannot be used for free or reduced-fee lunch. All students must pay cash for items in the ala carte line.
“We have cookies, nachos, pretzels, non-carbonated drinks and one rotating hot meal item each day such as a walking tacos or spicy chicken in the ala carte line,” said Hauser.
“Right now, salads are the least favorite meal,” she said. “One possibility would be for us to offer a six-week trial of a scaled-down salad bar at the high school.”
Hauser shared high school monthly lunch statistics through the year to date. A graph showed the number of lunch days per month, the number of main dishes served, the number of salads served and the percentage of salads compared to main dishes.
For instance, with only five meal days in August, 1,844 main dish lunches and 10 salads were sold, or 1 percent of lunches served in August were salads. October was a low salad percentage month at .40 percent. With 21 lunch days in October, 5,354 main dishes and 23 salads were sold. November showed .50 percent of lunches were salad choices. March is hitting a 2 percent rate of salads served, with 21 salads and 1,357 main dishes sold in the 11 meal days counted.
The average percentage of salads served at KHS in the school year to date is 1.46 percent. A total of 181 salads over 124 lunch days is 1.46 salads sold per day.
“We're averaging serving one salad per day,” said Hauser. “We're proposing a scaled down, make-your-own salad bar in the high school that will include protein choices and similar items that are in the prepackaged salads. We have limited space to offer a salad bar but we're willing to give it a try. This lunch will be government reimbursable because it will offer the required nutritional components.”
School board President Dr. Bill Davis said the board did not receive input from students on what they would like served at a salad bar.
“We appreciate your willingness to move forward and have a salad bar on a trial basis,” he said. “We can see if it works or not.”
Business manager Greg Reynolds said the high school serves an average of 226 lunches per day. To break even on the expenses of a full salad bar, KHS would need to serve 50 to 60 salads per day to pay for hiring an additional kitchen worker.
“I also met with Hy-Vee, as one of the suggestions from students to out-source the salad bar,” said Reynolds. “After several discussions, Hy-Vee declined as it would not be cost-effective. Using Hy-Vee also would take the salad bar out of the reimbursable category so students on free or reduced-fee lunches could not access it.
“There's a question whether we can cover the costs of a salad bar. That's why we're suggesting a scaled-down trial.”
Board member Tyler McGhghy said when he attended KHS, the cafeteria offered a salad bar.
“Why was it gotten rid of?” he asked.
Hauser said because there was so much waste.
“Salads' popularity fluctuates on what else is offered at lunch,” she said. “A fresh salad bar is not cost effective. That's why we brought in the prepackaged salads. It also allows me to offer the prepackaged salads at the middle school, which didn't have a salad choice before. We also added the alternative hot sandwich and ala carte line at the high school to give students more choices.”
Keokuk High School upperclassmen also are allowed to leave campus for lunch.
“I can come back with more numbers in six weeks to let you know how the trial salad bar works,” said Hauser.
Davis said the prepackaged salads look good to him.
“These look great to me, but they don't register with the students,” he said. “I don't know why. I wonder what they would like in a salad.”
Hauser suggested she could ask the student council for input on what students want on a salad.
“What I can get is different at different times of the year,” said Estrada. “Salad items can be limited by the season.”
Estrada anticipates beginning the six-week trial salad bar on Monday, April 7, the first full week of school coming up.
Hauser outlined the four lunch options offered in the high school cafeteria. Federal rules mandate what food groups need to be served to meet nutritional guidelines that qualify school lunches for students receiving free or reduced-fee lunches.
The following first three options include the required food groups and qualify for the federal free and reduced-fee meals:
n The main dish line is a hot lunch that includes five components of the federal food pyramid.
“Students can choose what to take but they must take three of the five components to meet nutrition guidelines,” said Hauser.
The district publishes a monthly menu for students and families to plan choices for lunch.
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“This is a limited offering,” said Hauser. “It's served on a first-come, first-served basis. When we run out, there's not more made.”
n Prepackaged salads comprised of a lettuce-based salad that includes carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables, cheese and grilled chicken; or a fruit package that has cut melon, sliced apples, half a banana, oranges and seasonal berries and grapes. The fruit comes with a yogurt dressing and string cheese for the protein component.
Each salad arrives from the vendor in a sealed, clear plastic, disposable container.
Hauser distributed a couple of each prepackaged salads to board members.
n The ala carte line is a fourth lunch choice which does not qualify under the federal nutritional guidelines and cannot be used for free or reduced-fee lunch. All students must pay cash for items in the ala carte line.
“We have cookies, nachos, pretzels, non-carbonated drinks and one rotating hot meal item each day such as a walking tacos or spicy chicken in the ala carte line,” said Hauser.
“Right now, salads are the least favorite meal,” she said. “One possibility would be for us to offer a six-week trial of a scaled-down salad bar at the high school.”
Hauser shared high school monthly lunch statistics through the year to date. A graph showed the number of lunch days per month, the number of main dishes served, the number of salads served and the percentage of salads compared to main dishes.
For instance, with only five meal days in August, 1,844 main dish lunches and 10 salads were sold, or 1 percent of lunches served in August were salads. October was a low salad percentage month at .40 percent. With 21 lunch days in October, 5,354 main dishes and 23 salads were sold. November showed .50 percent of lunches were salad choices. March is hitting a 2 percent rate of salads served, with 21 salads and 1,357 main dishes sold in the 11 meal days counted.
The average percentage of salads served at KHS in the school year to date is 1.46 percent. A total of 181 salads over 124 lunch days is 1.46 salads sold per day.
“We're averaging serving one salad per day,” said Hauser. “We're proposing a scaled down, make-your-own salad bar in the high school that will include protein choices and similar items that are in the prepackaged salads. We have limited space to offer a salad bar but we're willing to give it a try. This lunch will be government reimbursable because it will offer the required nutritional components.”
School board President Dr. Bill Davis said the board did not receive input from students on what they would like served at a salad bar.
“We appreciate your willingness to move forward and have a salad bar on a trial basis,” he said. “We can see if it works or not.”
Business manager Greg Reynolds said the high school serves an average of 226 lunches per day. To break even on the expenses of a full salad bar, KHS would need to serve 50 to 60 salads per day to pay for hiring an additional kitchen worker.
“I also met with Hy-Vee, as one of the suggestions from students to out-source the salad bar,” said Reynolds. “After several discussions, Hy-Vee declined as it would not be cost-effective. Using Hy-Vee also would take the salad bar out of the reimbursable category so students on free or reduced-fee lunches could not access it.
“There's a question whether we can cover the costs of a salad bar. That's why we're suggesting a scaled-down trial.”
Board member Tyler McGhghy said when he attended KHS, the cafeteria offered a salad bar.
“Why was it gotten rid of?” he asked.
Hauser said because there was so much waste.
“Salads' popularity fluctuates on what else is offered at lunch,” she said. “A fresh salad bar is not cost effective. That's why we brought in the prepackaged salads. It also allows me to offer the prepackaged salads at the middle school, which didn't have a salad choice before. We also added the alternative hot sandwich and ala carte line at the high school to give students more choices.”
Keokuk High School upperclassmen also are allowed to leave campus for lunch.
“I can come back with more numbers in six weeks to let you know how the trial salad bar works,” said Hauser.
Davis said the prepackaged salads look good to him.
“These look great to me, but they don't register with the students,” he said. “I don't know why. I wonder what they would like in a salad.”
Hauser suggested she could ask the student council for input on what students want on a salad.
“What I can get is different at different times of the year,” said Estrada. “Salad items can be limited by the season.”
Estrada anticipates beginning the six-week trial salad bar on Monday, April 7, the first full week of school coming up.
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