The school year may be ending (though 47% of schools will continue to provide meals through the summer), but the effects of the last nine months may influence school feeding for some time to come. Here’s a look at some of those potential factors.
The unfeasibility of the federal nutrition requirements was underscored by the volume of uneaten fruits and vegetables that ended up in the trash. Nearly three out of four school FSDs (72%) saw food waste increase because of the fruit requirement at breakfast, according to a survey conducted for FoodService Director by Technomic.
The mandated choices were such a turnoff that 1.4 million students, or 4.5% of all youngsters eligible for the school lunch program, stopped participating, according to a study by the U.S. General Accounting Office. Forty-three percent of school FSDs have seen lunch participation go down from the year earlier, according to Technomic’s research.
Uncertainty about the reauthorization of federal subsidies for the National School Lunch Program became an ironic backdrop to the daily struggle of K-12 FSDs to meet the new nutrition requirements under old subsidy levels. Seven months after the regulations technically expired, neither the reimbursement nor the most controversial mandates have been adjusted.
Flexitarian menus are becoming firmly entrenched in school foodservice. Forty-two percent of school foodservices intend to offer more vegetarian options in the next two years, and 14% plan to put more vegan items on the menu within that timeframe.