Concern about food waste at Elm Hill School raised

Springfield School Board Chairwoman Jeanice Garfield wants a review of whether food is being wasted at Springfield's primary school.

www.rutlandherald.com    

Published February 8, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Concern about food waste at Elm Hill School raised By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER SPRINGFIELD — Springfield School Board Chairwoman Jeanice Garfield wants a review of whether food is being wasted at Springfield’s primary school. In Garfield’s mind, Elm Hill School may be wasting food that would be welcome in many homes. “I can’t fathom the amount of waste when so many are hungry. It doesn’t seem logical at all,” she said. Garfield raised the issue during a recent School Board meeting, saying she was concerned the young children were getting portions that were too big and the food was getting thrown out. Dana Jacobson-Goodhue, the principal of the K-Grade 2 school, said Friday that the USDA sets the portion sizes for the lunch meal. “I agree some food is wasted,” she said. Jacobson-Goodhue said the school’s breakfast, which is served in the classroom and is called “Breakfast After the Bell,” is very popular, and, if anything, children want more at breakfast. Larger portions at breakfast at 9 a.m. would be welcome. She said that 60 percent of the students in her school are eligible for free meals. She said the primary grade children are small and need “constant feeding,” noting that the children can have breakfast, a snack and lunch, followed by another snack before they get on the bus and head home. She said most students have breakfast at home, as well as at 9 a.m., when the Elm Hill School day begins. Jacobson-Goodhue said she was not familiar with the USDA portion size, but she said that some menus are naturally more popular with kids. She said the students have one main dish plus a couple of side dishes every day. High-protein snacks are always available, she said, such as yogurt and string cheese. “We feed them every hour and a half,” she said. The favorite? “Grilled cheese sandwiches,” she said. She said that the school had to mandate a five-minute “quiet” period to make sure the kids stopped talking and ate. Lunchtime is a high-volume, talkative time, she said. Jacobson-Goodhue said that Vermont state law mandates that food waste will have to be composted, but she said Elm Hill had been ahead of the curve for more than four years. Children put their leftover food in a bucket, which goes to an area farm for their chickens, she said. Kevin Sullivan, food service director for Springfield schools, declined to talk about the issue of wasted food, but he said that Café Services strictly followed USDA portion requirements. Sullivan said that the Elm Hill students definitely had favorite meals, which he gauges based on the number of meals sold. Café Services has been the food service provider at Springfield schools for 20 years, he said. During Monday night’s discussion of the issue, Superintendent Zachary McLaughlin said that the portion size was dictated to the school district, and the school’s food service had to follow those guidelines or it wouldn’t get reimbursed from the federal government. McLaughlin said “on the surface, some of the things we do are nonsensical.” He said there was sharing of fruit, such as apples, among the children, rather than simply throwing it away. Sullivan said there was a concerted effort to make sure kids were fed and they weren’t hungry. It affects their behavior, as well as their education, he said. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160208/NEWS02/160209564