Lunch rollbacks won’t affect Chico schools
CHICO >> New proposed cuts for the federal school lunch guidelines announced last week will not affect school lunches in Chico, school district officials say.
Announced Jan. 17, President Donald Trump’s administration’s new guidelines will further roll back previous guidelines set under the former president, Barack Obama. The proposal would reduce the necessary standards for food items offered to children in schools, such as the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables.
Citing food waste as a major concern, the reason for the rollbacks is said to be to offer “increased flexibility” to school districts nationwide, building on previous reforms to food programs in 2018, according to a news release from the United States Department of Agriculture.
Vince Enserro, director of nutrition services at Chico Unified School District, said the changes will not affect the food served by the district’s nutrition services department.
“I have read the changes and Chico Unified will continue to operate our program based on the Obama guidelines,” Enserro wrote. “We have been very successful with the Obama changes; we continue to increase our participation numbers every year.”
The federal recommendations simply set a bar for districts to meet, Nutrition Specialist Sydney
“I have read the changes and Chico Unified will continue to operate our program based on the Obama guidelines. We have been very successful with the Obama changes; we continue to increase our participation numbers every year.”
— Vince Enserro, director of nutrition services at Chico Unified School District
Chairez explained.
“We set a bar, and then they set a bar, that is already lower than ours … so we’re already exceeding those expectations,” Chairez said. “So we’re actually going above and beyond … We will continue to make the choice to stay as nutritious as possible.”
This means the district will continue to strive for higher standards, providing more fruits and vegetables and healthy options to students as opposed to highly caloric foods. Students in California schools are entitled to both free breakfast and lunch, per Senate Bill 138, signed in October by Gov. Gavin Newsom.