Hearty to healthy

What students eat at school is surely not the same as what students were served 20, or even 10, years ago.

Those serving up meals in the Manatee County School District say the meals today aren't just more nutritious. They say they taste better, too.

So good the students don't even notice that what they are eating is good for them. 

According to Patty Lee, cafeteria manager at McNeal Elementary for the past 13 years, students hardly notice they are eating nutritious snacks. 

"We served doughnuts to kids back in the day," Lee said. "Now, we have this thing called the Superround. It looks like a doughnut, it is slightly sweet, whole grain and fortified, so it has a bunch of vitamins in it. But the kids don't know that." 

Over the course of the last 20 years, many milestones have been reached in the district concerning students' meals.

Regina Thoma, the director of food and nutrition for the school district, said Barack Obama's Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010 brought about even more change.

The act set new standards for nutrition.

Since the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed, school districts across the nation are more limited by dietary restrictions in terms of what they can serve. 

These requirements included reductions in sodium, a reduction in the percentage of calories from saturated fat and a significant increase in fiber. A reduction in calcium selected and consumed was also considered, according to a study by the Journal of Child Nutrition & Management. 

Manatee County schools became more creative when putting together meals. They eliminated fried foods and all-white flour.

For example pizza, a longtime favorite of students, is still served but now with a whole grain crust, low sodium sauce and low fat cheese.

Just like the pizza, much of the food that Manatee County schools have been serving for decades is still available in school lunches, albeit with different ingredients.

Back when Lee was a cafeteria manager at Tara Elementary (in the early 2000s), there was a fryer in the kitchen. Now, all fryers — at middle schools, high schools and elementary schools — have been removed.

Lee said, from her 18 years of experience, students have more food choices today.

“There is a lot more variety of fruits and vegetables that not many kids were exposed to before,” Lee said. “There is something that everyone likes. The kids love the chicken tenders (hand breaded and baked as opposed to before when they were fried) and especially the sidekicks, which is an icee, but it’s 100% fruit juice.”

The McNeal cafeteria staff serves its students sidekicks only once a month. The icee drink comes in three flavors: Blue raspberry, lemon mango and strawberry kiwi.

Starting two years ago, the school district launched its free breakfast program where every student is eligible for a free meal in the morning. The breakfast menus are quite diverse as well.

"There are more choices egg-wise for students than there was a while back," Lee said. "We have this new scrambler that has eggs, cheese and bacon and the kids love it. I don't think that sort of stuff was around back then."

Lee also remembers back in the early 2000s when her cafeteria staff used to make the school's bread rolls from scratch. 

Apparently that was a lot more work and a lot less healthy than the way her cafeteria staff makes rolls today. 

"The rolls used to be handmade by us with yeast, flour (white) and eggs, it was a ton of work," Lee said. "Now, we use frozen rolls that we put in the warmer for about 10 minutes. They're whole grain, and the other rolls I used to serve were definitely not whole grain."

Jessica Anderson, marketing and communications specialist for Manatee County Food and Nutrition Services, can remember some of the items served in her school lunches back when she was a kid. She thinks that school lunches have "come a long way." 

"We are definitely more restricted, of course," Anderson said. "And that is judging from when I was a kid in school, it was french fry city back then. So yes, in terms of health, we have come a long way." 

The school district still serves fries, tater tots and even curly fries today, but they are all baked as opposed to fried. 

In addition to various nutritional changes, the district is working harder to educate the students about nutritional food choices. 

The Nutrislice program, inserted three years ago, is an application that can be downloaded on Google Play or Android/iOS devices. Students or parents can see what is available that day at any specific school in Manatee County food-wise.

“It is really a great tool for parents,” said Jessica Anderson, the marketing and communications specialist for Manatee County Food and Nutrition Services. “You can choose your school, look at the breakfast or lunch of the month, insert your child’s food allergies or restrictions, and ultimately make sure that kids are eating what they need to eat.”

Digital Signage is another feature that the county has recently put in middle schools and high schools.

Upper level schools now have flat-screen TV’s around campus displaying the feature food items for the week. Also included on the TV’s are “smart facts.”

Haile Middle School has digital signage TV’s scattered throughout the school cafeteria. They just had the TV's added during the renovation of the entire cafeteria, which was completed during the 2016-2017 school year. 

So far, Sharon Scarborough, the principle at Haile, believes these to be a wonderful addition. 

"It really gives the students more information," Scarborough said. "It shows them goals for nutrition in a creative way, and lists information about how they can learn more about what they are eating, which is great information for them to be seeing while they are here in the cafeteria."