Parents speak up about school lunches

District uses feedback in lunch program revamp

By Vanessa Miller
Monday, January 5, 2009

More than a quarter of the parents who responded to a Boulder Valley school-food survey said their child won’t eat cafeteria cuisine more often if it’s more nutritious and tastier, while 18 percent said their kids might eat school food every day if it improves.

About 20 percent of the 4,232 families that responded to the nutrition-services survey said better food might prompt their kids to eat school lunch two more days a week. Boulder Valley parent Celeste Landry said her daughters — who never eat school food — might start buying hot lunch daily if it becomes healthier and tasted better.

“We would love it,” Landry said. “Packing a lunch is not something I want to do first thing in the morning.”

The Boulder Valley School District launched a major “school food project” in the spring that aims to eliminate processed foods from school menus in three years. Boulder Valley’s arsenal of tools to upgrade district food includes a consultant review of existing facilities and suggested improvements, financial donations from parents and local businesses and the family survey — which asked parents to provide feedback on what they value most in school lunches.

The survey was given in October to 18,697 families, and 23 percent of people responded. Parents were asked to answer questions in 14 areas, including how often their child eats school lunch, why they might choose to bring a lunch from home, what they value most in school lunches and how much they’re willing to pay extra for improved meals.

When asked about the current participation in Boulder Valley’s lunch program, nearly 60 percent of respondents said their children ate school food one day or less a week — 36 percent said their kids never eat the food.

The top three reasons parents said students bring their lunches from home are bad taste, poor food quality and lack of healthy options. The survey listed several components proposed for revamped school lunches, and parents said three things were “absolutely” necessary: the food must have a high nutritional value, fruits and vegetables must be available daily and the meals must taste good.

Many parents said several potential changes were “important, but not absolutely necessary,” including, use of locally produced ingredients, use of organic foods and low prices.

About 35 percent of the parents said they’d be willing to pay $1 more for lunch if the quality was improved — the district currently charges $2.50 for elementary lunches and $2.75 for middle and high school food. Nearly 27 percent of people said they pay 50 cents more and 17 percent said they wouldn’t pay any extra.

“We would definitely consider doing it more often — even if it costs double what it costs now,” Landry said.

Overall, she said, she thinks Boulder Valley lunches are “terrible” and she’s a big proponent of healthier eating.

“I’d like not so much fried food and more fruits and vegetables,” she said. “They do things like fried something with maple syrup on top. It’s like, forget it.”

Boulder Valley in the spring paid Ann Cooper, a school-food expert with the California-based consulting firm Lunch Lessons, to analyze Boulder Valley’s lunch operation and suggest improvements. Cooper issued a scathing review of the district’s cafeterias, and Boulder Valley in December hired Cooper to start making changes.

The district is counting on donations — from district families, local businesses and area residents — to continue funding the school-lunch revamp. One Boulder family jump-started the donations last month with a $100,000 gift, and Boulder Valley spokesman Briggs Gamblin said the parent survey indicates many families are behind the project.

“We are pleasantly surprised at the community-wide commitment,” he said. “We’re on the cutting edge of a national movement toward healthier meals in schools.”

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