Eastern Schools Studying Federal Nutritional Guidelines for Food Service

   As a response to federal guidelines for school lunches, a committee was formed in 2011 to study ways to meet the new federal guidelines for food service at Eastern.  The new guidelines will mean more scratch cooking, less sodium, less starch, and more whole grain bread as well as fat free milk.   The committee was comprised of two school board members, Lisa Manfred and Paul Hubbard; the two school cooks, Cheryl Cain and Linda Hamilton; and chaired by Lindsey Brown, Jr/Sr High Assistant Principal. 
   The committee traveled to several schools to gather information about how to meet the new federal guidelines.  Manfred said the committee was impressed with the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables some schools were able to offer and the multiple choice options for students. The committee is studying options that would meet these guidelines while examining if having a management company may reduce the costs of implementing the new guidelines, as larger food service operations have greater buying power.  Many of these companies also have educational programs to teach children about nutrition and making healthy choices. . 
   The committee is currently asking for proposals from food service companies that may be interested in working with Eastern to implement the new federal guidelines.  The company’s primary responsibility would be to provide expertise and training to help the Eastern staff.  Hubbard said he likes the fact that Eastern would not lose control of food service operations but that the company, if chosen, would work with our staff to provide training and new ideas for food service including new menu options and more emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables. 
    School board member, Mark Lantz, asked how the hiring of a managerial company would affect the current staff.  Dr. Caddell, Superintendent, said no staff members will lose their positions.  “Our goal is to assist our cafeteria staff with implementing the new guidelines while keeping in place our current staff who do an outstanding job in feeding over 800 children per day.”
   The school board voted to advertise a Request for Proposal for a managerial company or food service vendor.