In July of 2006, acting as representatives of MOMS-I.N.C., Dr. Jennifer Orlowski and I met with the two food service directors of the Syracuse City School District.  Two months before that meeting, we had sent a letter of intent to the Superintendent of the district, explaining who we were, our goals and our desire to meet with Food Service to discuss our concerns with the lunch menu.

We presented ourselves as interested moms and spoke the current obesity epidemic and our wish, based on the Fake 5 and the science behind it, to offer any assistance we could to offer the kids in the district more nutritious choices. There was some initial resistance and we were told “it’s common knowledge that anyone wishing to lose weight should eat his or her meals in the school cafeteria. Upon questioning the reasoning behind such a statement it was explained that they followed ADA guidelines and on any given day, the meal offered had a higher vitamin content and lower caloric content than suggested. This generated a discussion on the quality of calories versus quantity and we were able to explain in detail the Fake 5. The next defense offered in opposition to change was, as expected, financial. The district operates on a 9 million dollar budget and is self-funded. We discussed the types of foods that are open to bid and our willingness to do some of the research needed to find foods comparable in price if they were willing to share their price lists and vendors names. At this point in time, they still have not done so.

We next discussed the items on the menu that were of concern to us and at this point, were pleasantly surprised at how well this department was doing to offer a nutritious lunch. For example:

• All cooking for the schools is done at 6 sites in the city. These are designated “cooking schools”.
• All bread and rolls are whole grain.
• Chicken and turkey are government donated and ground turkey is used in recipes that call for ground beef.
• All sauces, soups, dressings and marinades are homemade.
• Sausage is homemade.
• Any breading used is done by the cooks and supplied by Tyson.

Jennifer and I commented on how impressed we were at their efforts and then shared our suggestions and concerns:

• More fresh fruit and vegetables offered. Use of yogurt based veggie dip as a side.
• Hot dogs to be offered only once a month.
• Changing one of the pepperoni pizza choices to veggie or garlic. (pizza is served every Wed.)
• Less sugar- laden and more whole grain cereals offered for breakfast, with the addition of hot cereal, such as cream of wheat or oatmeal.
• Addition of fish sticks or fish sandwich.
• Read labels with knowledge of Fake 5 and stay away from ingredients with these additives.

There was more in depth conversation regarding products we were more comfortable with. The directors did share that one of their employees had begun reading labels and informing them of concerns with MSG and High Fructose Corn Syrup and by the close of the meeting, we sensed that they had relaxed and understood that we were not there to criticize but to help.

I was thrilled to see the new menu come out in September of 2006. Many of our suggestions were put into place. Fresh fruit is offered more as are raw veggies. Hot dogs are on the menu only once a month and veggie pizza has replaced pepperoni two times a month. Fish is on the menu twice as is roast turkey and chicken quesadillas have replaced an unhealthy taco type meal with Fritos.

I have recently sent another letter to Food Service, thanking them for the changes and reminding them of the Fake 5 and our desire to be of assistance in any way. Will update when I hear from them again.

Eva Salvagni

April 2007