Merrill Neiman noticed the changes in the food served at the Londonderry High School cafeteria starting in his freshman year; there were new ingredients and the taste of familiar items was off. Neiman, who will begin his junior year in the fall, said the meals had "gradually gotten worse," to the point that students were tossing them in the trash.
Neiman is hardly alone in his assessment. Complaints about cafeteria fare have proliferated around the country since the enactment of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. A priority for first lady Michelle Obama, the law aims to make school meals healthier by, among other things, setting limits on their salt and fat content and mandating the use of whole grains and the serving of fresh fruit and vegetables.
But starting in the fall, a new cafeteria menu will greet Neiman and his classmates at Londonderry High School. The move means that the district will have to pay for the meals of students from low-income families who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, costs that had been covered by federal government. In turn, Londonderry High School will be able to serve up tried-and-true menu items that officials hope will increase appetites and revive sagging sales.
Just say no
In opting out of the federal program, Londonderry follows the lead of Salem, which bucked the nutrition restrictions last year - and has seen a significant rise in revenue from meal sales.
It's too early to say whether the districts' actions signal the opening of another front in the state's ongoing battle over local control with the federal government, but they come at a significant time for the federal school lunch law.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is due to expire Sept. 30, and as Congress weighs its reauthorization, the powerful School Nutrition Association - sometimes referred to as the "lunch lady" lobby - is pushing to loosen some of its requirements and for greater funding for districts to comply with is mandates.
The SNA has argued that the law has major shortcomings, pointing to statistics that show nationwide participation in the school lunch program, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has declined by 1 million students since the law went into effect. Meanwhile, the group notes that if the law is reauthorized in its current form, local districts will have to absorb $1.2 billion in added costs for labor and ingredients in 2015, according to USDA estimates.