Gerard Pinzone's video: Beefed-up nutritional standards take bite out of school lunch sales

After two years of school lunches with more veggies, more grains and less fat an increasing number of schools are calling the National School Lunch Program quits. Schalmont High School is one of them. “I definitely like the food better this year,” Schalmont High School student Rachel Dicocco said. “Portion sizes were a lot smaller, you know, things just weren't as good,” Schalmont High School student Noah Baker said. Things weren’t as good for the district either. Schalmont Schools Nutritional Director Marcy vonMaucher says the beefed-up nutritional standards took a bite out of school lunch sales. “We basically lost 10 to $15,000 dollars a year,” vonMaucher said. They are not alone. The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District, the Vooheersville Central School District and Bethlehem High School all saw a big enough dip in the number of students buying school lunch that they called it quits as well. Some lost roughly $100,000 just in the first year. Nationwide about 150 school districts have opted out and some nutrition directors expect that number to grow because of even more regulations this school year. The Smart Snacks in School initiative takes the requirements beyond the lunch tray. There are new nutritional regulations on items sold a la cart. Items like most chocolate chip cookies wouldn't make the cut. Neither would a can of Snapple. “I would have easily lost 40%. That is how restrictive the a la cart rules [are,]" vonMaucher said. But opting out does not mean districts will start making money. Districts that do not follow the federal guidelines lose the federal reimbursements and at 28 cents per lunch that adds up. “So we would give up that reimbursement on those meals plus have to raise the prices on the full-priced kids to cover the expenses for the whole program,” South Colonie Schools Food Services Director Renee Hanks said. That is not something a district with a large number of kids relying on free and reduced-priced lunch wants to do. “Our goal is not to make money our goal is to break even,” Hanks said. The food services team at South Colonie is getting creative by trying to find ways to make school lunches more tasty but still healthy. “I’m working on flavor stations, which are at the condiment bar, where there's different spices and flavorings and chili pepper,” Hanks said. Still-- the district continues to lose money and even though the USDA boasts that the new standards mean kids are eating 16% more vegetables and 23% more fruit some districts are hoping the requirements can be relaxed. “We’re lobbying for just reasonable flexibility in these regulations,” Hanks said. Despite the growing number of opt-outs the USDA also says roughly 90% of school districts are still part of the program. They also report that 70% of kids surveyed about the new lunches liked what was on their tray. Read More at: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/beefedup-nutritional-standards-take-bite-out-school-lunch-sales-20408.shtml