Aerin Karrenbrock

Freshman Rachel Wang buys a school lunch daily.

The school has begun to alter the cafeteria food to fit the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) nutrition standards.

Based off of Michelle Obama’s nutrition health plan to end childhood obesity, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) has allowed the USDA to establish food and beverage regulations in schools. Although this started in 2010, the program was not fully implemented until this school year.

“All of our pizza is 50 percent whole grain crust with low fat cheese. Nachos use reduced fat cheese and salt free chips,” Parkway District Chef Dan Flick said.

The new regulations deal with cutting down on fat, sugar and salt content in cafeteria meals. As a result, portion sizes have been reduced and snacks are baked instead of fried.

“Some kids have to get two bags of Chick-fil-A now because the nuggets aren’t enough,” Building Manager Scott Bollmann said.

In response to the regulations, Flick has started producing his own hot dogs and hamburgers to fit the guidelines and save the district money.

“I would like to go forward with a more centralized production center. This would produce pre-made products to be distributed to the schools. You would have a more consistent and higher quality product for the students. This is my goal but it is a slow process,” Flick said.

Flick has also been creating spices and other substitutes to make up for the reduced sodium content.

“The problem is children don’t always like what is good for them. Society has put so much ‘junk food’ on the market that it is hard to get the students to eat healthier,” Flick said.

While the USDA has instituted new guidelines, students are resistant to seeing the benefits.

“Honestly, I would rather the food taste better because I’m at the point in my life where I’m not really worried about eating healthily,” freshman Rachel Wang said.

Students are now required to have a fruit cup with their breakfast and a fruit or vegetable at lunch.

“I do see a lot of food thrown away because it’s not appealing to them, and I wonder: How much is just going down the drain?” Bollmann said.

In attempts to create food that will satisfy students while still following the new guidelines, Flick sends out surveys to students twice a year.

“They do help to a degree. A lot of times they just want more pizza and chicken fingers and wings. Those are the most popular requests,” Flick said. “The students are my customers.”