Schools

Murrieta Students Already Eating Healthy

No McNuggets here.

New federal legislation designed to curb childhood obesity and bring healthier meals to the cafeteria table will have little impact on the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

Here, students are already enjoying healthy fare, courtesy the Golden State’s focus on freshness.

“I think California is ahead of the curve,” said Jill Lancaster, director of nutrition services for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

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Signed by President Obama in December, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, Senate Bill 3307, is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, which aims to end the childhood obesity epidemic in America. 

The act, which will be implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture, may have an impact on other states’ school menus but in Murrieta, students should expect to see the same items in their cafeteria. Portions of the bill, such as implementing standards for food sold at schools in vending machines, are already in place in California.

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In 2003, California legislators passed Senate Bill 677, which banned the sale of soda to elementary, middle and junior high school students, replacing the sugary beverage with milk, water and juice.

But even with the state’s strict nutritional standards, school cafeteria cuisine still suffers a bad rap. Mystery meat and potato skins are the images many associate with cafeteria food, not yogurt and whole grains.

Lancaster encountered this firsthand in March 2010, when she tuned into Ryan Seacrest’s morning show and heard some parents lambasting the district’s meals.

Lancaster decided she had to set the record straight.

The district official e-mailed Seacrest photos of the school’s healthy offerings: a salad bar filled with an array of multi-colored fresh veggies and fruits. Lancaster also explained that the district is prohibited from frying any food items, offering fare that contains trans-fat and serving meals with a saturated fat content of more than 10 percent.

“It gave me an opportunity to probably change the minds of what people think of school meals,” Lancaster said. “Sometimes it’s based on the perception, not the reality.”

When a student is munching on chicken strips provided by MVUSD, it’s not the sort one would find in a Happy Meal.

“The high-fat chicken nugget most people have in their brains is not the chicken nugget they’re getting in our school cafeteria,” Lancaster said, explaining that the bits of chicken here are made with whole wheat breading and have zero trans fat.

On Wednesday, students who lined up for breakfast at Daniel Buchanan Elementary School smiled and chatted as they picked up cereal, yogurt, bananas and French toast.

Students who qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch Program--about 24 percent of the district--are served breakfast and lunch. Parents who don’t qualify can purchase meals through the district’s website or simply pay as they go.

Tracy Kinsman, Buchanan Elementary school nutrition services staff, or as she refers to herself the “lunch lady,” said she serves about 100 students for breakfast and about 565 for lunch. But when certain items are on the menu those numbers can jump.

“Breakfast pizzas,” she said. “They love that one.”


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