Photograph by Matthew O'Shea

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The Cafeteria-Tray Shuffle

By Jeannette Cooperman

Gone are the days when kids peered through plastic at greasy oversalted indeterminate meat slid into a soggy bun, threw it away half-eaten and bought an ice-cream “novelty” (99 percent chemicals, 1 percent milk solids)—then sat back to mock the kids waiting in line for a grandma hot plate with a plop of mashed potatoes, graying green beans and a slice of meatloaf that could stop a door.

Missouri’s Eat Smart Guidelines, which give schools a choice of basic, intermediate or advanced (i.e. healthiest) nutritional standards, came out in 2005. Back then, the advanced tier looked impossible: Feed teenagers only lowfat or skim milk and reduced-fat salad dressings? You’d risk your life. Serve dark-green or orange veggies three times a week, fresh fruit four times a week? Ban “foods of minimal nutritional value” (e.g. Coke and candy) until the end of the school day? A whole new class of contraband would be created—not to mention the threat of a coup when vending-machine contents had to meet standards for fat, sugar and calories.

We couldn’t imagine that more than two or three schools would try for advanced, but we were curious enough to ask. As it turns out, of the 104 schools that responded, only 26 gave a flat no. The archdiocesan schools were all at least intermediate and moving toward advanced. And more than 50 schools had either mastered the advanced category or were 95 percent there. (As we went to press, Julie Ressler, director of food service at Valley Park, was calculating the weight of the sugar in her breakfast cereals.)

Most schools started by hurling their deep-fat fryers out the door. Bishop DuBourg High School brought out Dole Sparklers and flavored water and started rolling turkey wraps. Chaminade flash-fried potatoes in Optimax, a zero–trans fat oil. Nerinx Hall banned soda from school, substituting water, smoothies and juices. MICDS researched healthier baked goods.

“We eliminated all our Hostess and Little Debbie, much to the kids’ chagrin,” says Teree Davis, director of food service for the Pattonville School District. “At first the kids just fought us, and now they have accepted it: A good solid 90 percent buy the lunches.”

Leslie Fowler is the executive director of Aramark, which provides food service for enough local high schools that she can track the quirks. (“Schools on the South Side prefer the Buffalo chicken sandwich,” she says. “Schools on the North Side prefer the hot wings.” Nachos are the hands-down favorite with St. Louis public-school kids.) Fowler says healthy changes have to be somewhat circumspect. Aramark tried tofu for its “Meatless Mondays”: “We taste-tested it at six schools, and the kids absolutely loved it—but when they told them it wasn’t meat, they wouldn’t eat it anymore.”

The trick’s the old housewife favorite: Sneak in a healthier substitute. Bayless Senior High School serves its 1 percent milk in vanilla, orange cream and chocolate flavors.

To streamline all the new variables, food-service companies are coming up with software it’d be nice to have at home: Menus are analyzed in a flash to make sure they are balanced, vitamin-rich and low-fat.

Some districts go beyond the guidelines. Paul Becker, director of food services for Fort Zumwalt, refuses to stock noncaloric sodas: “As a dietitian, I don’t feel we should be testing artifical sweeteners on kids.”

And food isn’t everything: The Ladue School Board voted in a new wellness program that targets not just students but teachers (no more furtive cigarettes or stashed Twinkies) as well. Kids at Parkway North take classes in dance and “adventure pursuits,” and the school opens at 7 a.m. for weight trainers. Kids at Clayton work out next door at the Center, learning scuba diving and lifeguarding, rock climbing and aerobic dance. At the Principia, there’s jazz, tap, poms, yoga and Pilates. And nearly every school has a fitness club.

So enough about fitness; back to food: With all these healthy choices, what’s the kids’ favorite lunch? “Pizza,” Davis says instantly. “They don’t even notice the whole-wheat crust. Another favorite—you hate to say it—is the hot dog, but it’s all-beef on a whole-wheat bun. They love the nachos—made with reduced-fat cheese—and the fish sticks—baked, not fried.” The more things change, the more they stay the same.