MONROE - Proposed changes to federal public school lunch requirements will have little impact on the Monroe school district, Food Services Director Eric Ekum said.
A bipartisan measure, the Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016, eases some of the school dietary restrictions put in place by the Obama administration. Requirements for whole grains and sodium levels were the focus. The Senate ag committee approved the bill last month.
Ekum acknowledged that an additional two years to adjust to less sodium items will help the school's plans, but that the district has been serving all whole grains for the past six years and has no intention to change.
"Basically nothing is going to change, but it will ease our timeline for sodium reductions," Ekum said. "If we were a school district that hadn't made these changes already, it would be drastic."
Under current restrictions put in place in 2012, schools are required to serve foods that are whole grain rich, but some schools have been allowed waivers from the standard. Rules set limits on fat, sugar and sodium amounts with a focus on including more fruits and vegetables in addition to whole grains.
The School Nutrition Association, a national nonprofit organization representing more than 50,000 nutrition directors and companies that sell food to schools, has spoken out against the nutrition standards for being too hard for food service directors to accommodate due to cost and student preferences. The requirements have been criticized by individual directors who said it has been difficult to provide whole grain pastas, tortillas and other items which students will eat.
But not so in Monroe.
"I haven't heard any complaints," Ekum said.
Ekum credited the long-standing program providing whole grains to why there haven't been complaints about whole grain products. How-ever, he said the sodium limitations may cause unrest in a city so deeply connected to cheese.
"I'm glad they're easing that up," Ekum said. "Low-sodium ketchups and sauces are not as appetizing. And obviously without as much cheese allowed on the menu - a lack of cheese, we're in Monroe, could be a problem."
Under the previous timeline, sodium restrictions were set to begin the 2017 school year, but if the bill continues through approval by Congress, the standards would instead go into effect in 2019, and a study would be conducted to determine the benefits of all reductions.
Some schools have said they will have to remove more popular items from the menu, and Ekum said it would be similar in Monroe. Though the Cheesemaker Cafes have been serving foods to meet current sodium levels, the next step would limit portions of condiments such as ketchup, mustard and barbeque sauce while also switching to low-sodium versions of the products. American cheese would be replaced by mozzarella and greatly reduced, including a switch from a cheeseburger to a plain hamburger.
Ekum said the district would also have to eliminate pickles, certain pizza toppings, deli meats and hot dogs.
A bipartisan measure, the Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016, eases some of the school dietary restrictions put in place by the Obama administration. Requirements for whole grains and sodium levels were the focus. The Senate ag committee approved the bill last month.
Ekum acknowledged that an additional two years to adjust to less sodium items will help the school's plans, but that the district has been serving all whole grains for the past six years and has no intention to change.
"Basically nothing is going to change, but it will ease our timeline for sodium reductions," Ekum said. "If we were a school district that hadn't made these changes already, it would be drastic."
Under current restrictions put in place in 2012, schools are required to serve foods that are whole grain rich, but some schools have been allowed waivers from the standard. Rules set limits on fat, sugar and sodium amounts with a focus on including more fruits and vegetables in addition to whole grains.
The School Nutrition Association, a national nonprofit organization representing more than 50,000 nutrition directors and companies that sell food to schools, has spoken out against the nutrition standards for being too hard for food service directors to accommodate due to cost and student preferences. The requirements have been criticized by individual directors who said it has been difficult to provide whole grain pastas, tortillas and other items which students will eat.
But not so in Monroe.
"I haven't heard any complaints," Ekum said.
Ekum credited the long-standing program providing whole grains to why there haven't been complaints about whole grain products. How-ever, he said the sodium limitations may cause unrest in a city so deeply connected to cheese.
"I'm glad they're easing that up," Ekum said. "Low-sodium ketchups and sauces are not as appetizing. And obviously without as much cheese allowed on the menu - a lack of cheese, we're in Monroe, could be a problem."
Under the previous timeline, sodium restrictions were set to begin the 2017 school year, but if the bill continues through approval by Congress, the standards would instead go into effect in 2019, and a study would be conducted to determine the benefits of all reductions.
Some schools have said they will have to remove more popular items from the menu, and Ekum said it would be similar in Monroe. Though the Cheesemaker Cafes have been serving foods to meet current sodium levels, the next step would limit portions of condiments such as ketchup, mustard and barbeque sauce while also switching to low-sodium versions of the products. American cheese would be replaced by mozzarella and greatly reduced, including a switch from a cheeseburger to a plain hamburger.
Ekum said the district would also have to eliminate pickles, certain pizza toppings, deli meats and hot dogs.