GILROY—When Gilroy elementary students returned to class this year they discovered new and nutritious meal options cooked up right in their own school kitchens.
Soon, middle school and high school students will be served the same fare—along with rotisserie chicken for the upper grades.
A long list of menu additions was developed in response to changing palettes and student requests for more vegetarian and ethnic cuisine options, officials said.
New choices include Black Bean and California Rice Salad Shaker, hand-rolled burritos and Sriracha Cheese Wraps.
The main focus is on locally grown and sourced ingredients, healthier options and made-from-scratch cooking, according to Gilroy Unified School District officials.
“We have actually been on this trend of healthier food options and paying attention to the needs of the students for many years already,” said Geri Sadler, the GUSD food services supervisor.
That evolution of meal options has included the addition of salad bars at all schools, more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less fat, unnecessary ingredients and byproducts, Sadler said.
“It’s a process (and) it is coming along because we are aware of how important it is for students’ nutritional needs. We’re getting rid of packaged items that may be easier and cheaper but may not always be the best; it’s all about the nutritional value [students] are getting,” Sadler said.
Breakfast and lunch are available to all 11,480 Gilroy students in grades K-12. In Gilroy’s two high schools, brunch also is offered.
Meal costs range from $1.25 to $2.75, depending on grade level and which meal is purchased.
Last year, nearly 62 percent of the district’s students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch plans, according to Rachel Zlotziver, GUSD’s public information officer.
That figure is at 58 percent now, but is expected to exceed 60 percent by mid-October, she said.
New meal options are designed to be as fresh as the philosophy they embody, according to district officials and its food consultants.
The new approach is part of the “Think [CA]” program launched by Sodexo, Inc., the Gaithersburg, Md.-based company that has overseen the district’s food service program for more than 21 years—this year at a cost of $3,107,073, or about $270 per student.
That is not all outgoing dollars, however. The district receives $4.6 million in federal reimbursements for the food services program and $350,000 from the state. And it collects $953,000 a year from paid meals and catering, according to Zlotziver. All that adds up to $5.9 million in food services-related revenue.
Sadler said the new lunch program “is something parents might want to know about; is it local, it’s fresh, made from scratch, and clean; it does not have so many ingredients or byproducts or additives,” she said.
“With allergies, it’s important for parents to know what [their children] are eating,” she added.
“The focus of Sodexo’s Think [CA] program is to cultivate lifelong healthy eating habits for our students. It’s the scale of our operations and scope of our local supplier network that allow us to readily provide the freshest product to our clients and their customers,” said Jude Medeiros, Sodexo regional vice president.
As part of the new approach, Sodexo serves only California dairy and bakery products and 80 percent of produce in lunches is California-grown, according to the company. Its new program has been implemented in 41 California school districts.
Menus use fewer processed ingredients, nitrate-free lunch meats, all-natural beef patties, no fillers, natural cheeses, entrees made of seven ingredients or less and all done with fresh preparation methods, according to Nalani Battaglia, child nutrition consultant for the district and general manager with Sodexo.
Gilroy schools are no longer reheating menu items, they are being cooked right in the school kitchens, she said.
Battaglia and Karis Gulizia, Sodexo operations manager, work on site in the Gilroy High School kitchen to see that the new program is understood, accepted and implemented.
What prompted the change, since the government did not mandate it?
“It was an overall concern voiced in the last few years with offering healthier menus and particularly in districts such as Gilroy where childhood obesity is “right through the roof,” Battaglia said. “It was a need that parents wanted to see and it was voiced at the administration level,” she said.
In addition to promoting students’ general health, Gulizia said more nutritional foods are particularly beneficial to students with diabetes.
“A lot of foods have carbs and additional junk in them and for a student suffering with diabetes that can be very harmful to overall health,” she said.
And then there’s the issue of food inequality.
“We have a lot of underprivileged student in the district. You hear a lot of buzz about eating better foods in more affluent areas; that is just not right,” Gulizia said.
“Our responsibility is to give the students of Gilroy the best possible meals in school; they deserve the healthiest, cleanest food we can provide,” she said.
Sadler said students are reacting well to the new meal program.
“I think because we have been introducing [better nutrition] for many years, especially with our younger grade levels, as they move up to higher grades they are already used to it; they embrace it very well,” she said.
