Nutritious food is losing the school lunch battle to prepackaged cakes, chips and other snacks, according to a survey of food service workers released April 1 by the AFT's Paraprofessional and School Related Personnel (PSRP) division.

Nearly three out of five (56.6 percent) school food service workers polled said that, when given a choice, students are choosing foods high in fat and sugar from the school cafeteria. Almost 60 percent report that prepackaged chips, cakes, cookies and other snack foods are sold by their school food service operation. This is occurring despite legislative efforts to limit the sale of candy, fried snacks, soda and other junk food from vending machines and, in some states, even school bake sales. The Arizona and Oregon legislatures are voting on junk food bans this week and a bill is before the California legislature.

Additionally, food service workers report that the two most popular food entrees sold are pizza (51.8 percent) and chicken nuggets (17.3 percent), while the least favorite offerings are fish and vegetables.

Roughly half of those surveyed (47.3 percent) report that candy, gum, chips, soda and fruit punch are still sold at school in competition with the cafeteria.

"The three basic food groups should not be sugar, salt and grease," said AFT vice president Lorretta Johnson of Baltimore. "Our members are very frustrated. More needs to be done to limit snack foods in school cafeterias. This is an important health issue and schools can help children develop healthy eating habits."

Last September, the National Institute of Medicine said that 9 million children over age 6 are obese. The news from the school cafeteria is not all bad.  Nine out of 10 respondents said the quality of food served to schoolchildren in their lunchroom was good or excellent; an equal number gave high marks for the way the food was presented.

"We need to steer students to more healthy options," said AFT vice president David Gray of Oklahoma City. "It's tough. Children tell us the choices they make in school reflect the diet they have at home."  Added Gray, "Junk food sells, but a balanced diet is more important than balancing the books."

One survey finding that requires more study is the high number of food service workers who report children going hungry because they don't qualify for a subsidized lunch and don't have the money to buy food. Twelve percent of rural respondents, 17 percent of urban food service workers and a surprising 35.4 percent of suburban food service workers say they witness hungry children at school.

AFT's food service survey, released in conjunction with the PSRP division's annual conference in Anaheim, Calif., April 1-3, was conducted between mid-February and mid-March among 226 food service workers from small town, rural, suburban and urban school districts throughout the United States.  The workers hold a variety of jobs related to school food service, including food preparers, servers, cashiers and directors. [Jamie Horwitz/AFT press release]

April 4, 2005