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New school year, new eats. What is JCPS serving?

Jere Downs, and Chie Davis
The Courier-Journal

Nine in 10 kids don't eat enough vegetables and gobble too much salt. One in three children inside Jefferson County Public Schools carries too much weight.

Liz Cannon uses the JCPS NutriSlice app on her smartphone to keep up the meals being served to her 7-year-old daughter in her school's cafeteria.

Those statistics worry Liz Cannon, whose daughter Elise Cannon weighs 50 pounds – just right, her doctor says, for a 7-year-old who is four feet tall.

"She runs. She jumps. She's right at or a little underweight for her age," Liz Cannon said. "Obesity is pretty huge here in Kentucky."

Added sugar is a leading cause of childhood obesity that portends heart disease, diabetes and ill health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And JCPS' obesity rate is mirrored in nationwide obesity statistics that are "triple the rate from the prior generation," the CDC say.

On Sunday night or Monday mornings before the school week begins, Cannon opens the JCPS NutriSlice app on her phone to check out what's on the steam tables in the Dixie Elementary cafeteria line. From a drop down menu, Cannon selects the school, "elementary," then the meal "lunch."  A calendar opens to show each meal that month. A click on Wednesday shows chicken nuggets or a corn dog as main courses.

That means Elise will likely pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for herself with some pretzels, dried apricots and a brownie on the way to her Valley Station school.

"We are very careful about the products that they eat," Liz Cannon said of her family, who avoid processed food and pork as a matter of their Seventh Day Adventist Faith.

The start of school marks a great time to fortify healthy eating habits. In its third year at JCPS, NutriSlice lays down what's inside the milk, grains, vegetable, fruit and meat or meat alternative required for school lunch by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Nutrislice is a wonderful product," JCPS Nutrition Center manager Daniel Ellnor said. "It allows parents to quickly see what's there for lunch. We are committed to buying the best possible foods for students."

'Hungry kids can't learn'

Liz Cannon uses the JCPS NutriSlice app on her smartphone to keep up the meals being served to her 7-year-old daughter in her school’s cafeteria.

In 2015, Nutrislice grabbed nearly one half million views from 23,000 users, school district spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said.

More than halfway through 2016, the school district has already logged almost as many views and logins from 20,000 users, she added.

"We're probably on pace to nearly double last year's use," she said of the app for which JCPS pays about $15,000 annually.

Oldham County Schools also offers NutriSliceand a similar app called Web Menus is new this year to the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation. Elsewhere in the region, school districts in Bullitt County, and Clark County, Ind., post static menus on their websites available for download or printing.

For students at Highland Middle School, parents can expect to see Cheesy Chicken Nachos on the menu in August, which blends one serving of locally grown butternut squash and sweet potatoes combined with USDA-issue chicken and cheese to serve up 352 calories, 674 milligrams of salt, 18 grams of fat and 19 grams of protein – something the school district wants parents to know.

Making nutrition information transparent is part of the mission at JCPS, which aims to increase meal appeal and the number of students who line up in school cafeterias and leave bagged lunches at home, Ellnor said. Seventy-one percent of JCPS students left bagged lunches at home last year, up from 65 percent five years ago.

"Last year we served more Mandarin oranges and apples than we served Pop-Tarts and doughnuts," Ellnor said. "You don't change the food system overnight, but you do it little bit by little bit."

A federal mandate since the 1960s to battle hunger in schools, the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs require that meals be served, providing cash assistance and free USDA commodity foods, such as chicken nuggets and cheese, to help school districts balance their budgets.

The more kids that eat in the lunch line, the more federal reimbursement received. That bottom line, and concern that every child is fed, fuels JCPS' drive to maximize kids who dine on cafeteria fare, Brislin said.

"We know that hungry kids can't learn," she added.

JCPS failing local food goal

So, what are kids eating?

Lunch and breakfast is free throughout most of JCPS, except 17 JCPS schools where lunch costs between $2.70 (elementary) or $2.85 (middle and high schools). In 133 schools, lunch comes free to all because more than 40 percent of students meet low-income guidelines.

The more kids that eat school food, the more cash JCPS receives to balance its school nutrition budget and serve an estimated 100,000 children in the coming school year. Federal reimbursement for each free meal, including snack and milk, ranges between $3.16 and $3.39, according to each school district's participation rate.

Despite offering free meals to almost every child inside the 150 schools in the JCPS system, the school district has far to go to ensure everyone is eating what's offered.  

Some schools, notably those in higher income areas or who attract higher caliber students, report the least success in attracting students to the lunch line.

JCPS schools where the fewest students eat in the cafeteria line include Norton Elementary, the Brown School (both 38 percent), and Manual High School (25 percent), measured from January through May. School lunch participation in this list is remarkably low at a handful of places where school lunch is also free: Breckinridge Metro High, and the Westport and South Park Teenage Parent Programs or TAPP schools.

Even so, the most popular meals served by JCPS mirror childhood favorites driving the obesity epidemic – pizza, chicken nuggets, cheeseburger, spicy chicken patty and oven-breaded chicken – draw the most interest, Brislen said.

To suit those tastes – and still emphasize nutrition – JCPS notes the chicken nuggets are lightly-breaded "with a whole grain crust" before being "baked to perfection," for a 172-calorie serving. Pizza also boasts a "whole-grain crust," according to NutriSlice.

The least popular items are soups, roasted chicken and salads, although JCPS continues to pilot salad bars at a couple of locations, Brislen added. The turkey hoagie and sourdough cheese sandwich proved so unpopular they are disappearing from JCPS cafeterias this year, she added.

JCPS parent Lynn Greene has searched JCPS menus via Nutrislice, searching for gluten free and vegetarian options for her daughter.

To edit for those kinds of dietary needs, a couple of clicks on "wheat" and "vegetarian" drew lines through most of Highland Middle School's lunch on the first day of school to reveal Cheesy Chicken Nachos, steamed broccoli and fresh fruit as a fitting meal. NutriSlice works for parents concerned about food allergies, too.  

To save money, JCPS will cease printing menus distributed in schools, she added, "to steer parents and student to the app."

"This saves paper, gives more chances for education about healthy options and informs parents, rather than a static menu that only lists the food," she said.

To access the information, download both apps for free for iPhone or Android smart phones, or look at JCPS.Nutrislice.com online.

For help packing your child's lunch, there's an app for that, too. LaLa Lunchbox, priced for smartphones at $1.99, balances and lists each meal as you click on fruits, vegetables, proteins and more. The app even suggests lunch ideas for nut free, dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian and kosher kids.

Jere Downs can be reached at (502) 582-4669, Jere Downs on Facebook and JDowns@Courier-Journal.com.

Which school cafeterias attract the least students? 

1. duPont Manual High: 25 percent

2. Ballard High: 31 percent

3. Eastern High: 33 percent

4. Breckenridge Metro: 34 percent

5. South Park TAPP: 35 percent

6. Westport TAPP: 35 percent

7. Male High: 36 percent

8. Stopher Elementary: 37 percent

9. Brown School: 38 percent

10. Norton Elementary: 38 percent


Which JCPS cafeterias serve the most students?

Among schools where the most students eat in the cafeteria line, all provide free school lunch to every pupil. That's because a majority of students who attend come from homes eligible for free lunch subsidies.

1. Breckenridge-Franklin Elementary: 98 percent

2. Portland Elementary: 96 percent

3. Frayser Elementary: 94 percent

4. Engelhard Elementary: 94 percent

5. King Elementary: 93 percent

6. Roosevelt Perry Elementary: 93 percent

7. Waller-Williams: 93 percent

8. Olmsted North Academy: 93 percent

9. Gilmore Lane Elementary: 93 percent

10. Jacob Elementary: 93 percent