Clark County schools to stay the course on healthy meals
New rules, reorganization won’t affect the menu in LV
Despite federal changes to school lunch requirements recently announced by the Trump administration, Clark County School District officials are vowing to make what they serve to students healthier than ever.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced three changes to rules under the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act of 2010, which was geared toward making school lunches healthier. The Obama administration further tightened restrictions on sugar, fat and sodium, but Purdue’s announcements rolled those back slightly.
CCSD FOOD
It’s unclear so far how that will play out nationwide, but in Las Vegas, the focus remains on providing good, nutritious food for kids.
“We don’t plan on anything changing,” said Christina Saheb, a dietician with the district. “I think we offer a really good variety.”
‘Compete or beat pizza’
The district, which serves 105,000 breakfasts a day and 165,000 lunches, must face a few universal truths in trying to appeal to kids’ appetites.
“We’re always trying to compete or beat pizza. It’s what the kids go to,” said food service department director David Wines.
Truth No. 2 is that it’s possible to make even unhealthy choices like pizza a bit less deleterious.
Under the restrictions, the district is still able to serve two different pizzas, both of which use reduced-fat cheese and other more healthful ingredients.
For breakfast, the district makes 40,000 cinnamon rolls in-house each day, complying with the sugar requirements prescribed by the federal government.
“It can be done,” Saheb said.
But it’s not all about shaving a few calories or carbohydrates from poor choices.
At the secondary level, every middle and high school now has a salad bar daily, and they’re growing in popularity, department officials said. A traveling salad bar also visits elementary schools by request.
To feed so many hungry students, the district tends to order by the truckload and plan months in advance. The district’s warehouse — near Las Vegas Motor Speedway — holds $8 million to $12 million worth of food on any given day.
Although there’s a challenge serving so many students each day, the sheer number of mouths to feed also lets the department innovate and test new foods or services.
The now-standard salad bars were phased in slowly to gauge interest.
Keeping up with some of the latest food trends can be more difficult, because of the intense planning and ordering process the district uses, said Lory Hayon, a dietician.