Trending
WHEELING - Students in Ohio County Schools this year will again have access to one free breakfast and one free lunch every day courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Money for the program comes from the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, which provides meals to children in high-poverty areas.
A school district qualifies for the program if at least 25% of the student population is directly certified for free meal benefits. In Ohio County, that figure is closer to 85%, according to Renee Griffin, director of child nutrition for Ohio County Schools. She reports that the school district prepares to serve 2,500 breakfasts throughout its schools, and 3,200 lunches.
Last year, Ohio County Schools served a total of 822,175 meals across all its schools, she reported.
Griffin said the students are actually eating the school food being served to them.
"Absolutely, they are," she said. "I like to listen to the kids' input on what their favorite items are. We also like to try new items, based on their participation."
The students’ favorite foods aren't a surprise — chicken fingers, pizza and calzones, according to Griffin.
Typically, the schools try not to prepare any more meals than they intend to serve, she said. But on those occasions when there is extra, Ohio County Schools has a memorandum of understanding with The Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling and Wheeling Catholic Charities to take the food.
"We do our best to prepare for the needs of that particular school, but one school may love a certain item while another does not," she said.
Griffin said she just returned from a convention in Charlotte, where school dieticians were exposed to new food products.
"It was an enormous food show with lots of new items." she said. "I hope to be able to see them again and get with the vendors."
Students this year will be permitted to select what foods on the serving line they want so as to avoid waste, according to Griffin. Still, under USDA guidelines all students much select a fruit or vegetable with their meal.
There will still be salad bars, and staff still will be pushing fruit and vegetables as a way to promote low calorie, high nutrient eating that will fill them up, she continued.
"There's really nothing different this year," Griffin said. "We're just gearing up for another school year."