Under the Universal Meal Program, which ensures free school meals, the number of prepared meals for students has significantly increased over the years, Director of Nutrition Services and Warehouse Sandy Huynh said. The district’s current goal is to make sure they have enough food to serve the students during breakfast and lunchtime and to minimize the food waste, she added.
The district monitors the meals given out to see if there’s a trend, Huynh said. They are currently doing a good job of minimizing food waste, she said.
“We have to balance between how much food we make and how much is enough for the students, because we don’t get a forecast of how many kids actually come through and pick up their meals,” Huynh said. “Everything is an estimate. So, we do have to make sure we are preparing enough, but we are finding different ways to minimize the food waste, including working with local partners, putting out the share bin in and watching how much food our staff is ordering with our vendors.”
The district aims to provide students with a complete, reimbursable meal, which includes grains, proteins, fruits, and vegetables, Kitchen Lead Rachelle Dalisay said. However, once the meals are served, the staff is unsure of if the students consume the food, Dalisay added.
“We don’t allow students to go without fruits or vegetables,” Dalisay said. “If they don’t like it, they can put it in the share bin, so all the kids who are hungry at the end of the day, or maybe after lunch, they can get it and they can eat it.”
Share bins have been implemented in 15 cafeterias across the district, Huynh said. Students who do not want to consume parts of a meal can place it in the bin, such as entrees or fruits, she added.
“That’s also a way for us to recoup some of the food that the students do not want to eat and share with the other students,” Huynh said. “Students can pick up one meal only. So let’s say they can pick up their meal, and then if they’re still hungry, they can go to the share bin and get seconds of it, whatever’s available, and at the end of the day, that share bin gets cleaned up by our staff.”
Last year, the EcoSociety club worked with the district to introduce share bins in MHS cafeteria, EcoSociety treasurer Vera Loui said. The bins have a significant impact, and have been increasingly used over time, Loui added.
“I know that at the beginning, people were a little iffy about it, because sometimes they don’t want to go out of their way to go and put away their food,” Loui said. “So, to have it right there in front of the cafeteria definitely makes an impact.”
Huynh believes there are a number of reasons students don’t finish or throw away their food, she said. She believes that the allocated time for lunch is the biggest factor, Huynh added.
“We’ve done surveys a couple of years ago where we collected about 700 surveys from students, and one of the biggest reasons why they don’t eat school meals is because they don’t have enough time,” Huynh said. “There are more than 3000 students at the campus, and there’s only one period, 30 minutes to serve everyone. So, between the long lines, to getting their food, to actually eating it, they really just have a few minutes.”
Huynh has brought the issue of the bell schedule up to prior administration, she said. The process of changing the bell schedule does require a lengthy process and stakeholders’ feedback, but she thinks that it will benefit the students, she added.
“At MHS, we have multiple points of service (POS),” Huynh said. “Not only do we serve out of the food court, but we also have two shacks that we serve, and in total, we have at least 12 points of service open every day. So, it’s not the matter of getting the students fed or serving the students and processing them, because we know that we’re able to serve all of the students within 10 to 15 minutes.”
The number of meals served doubled when the food became free, requiring the district to double its labor and resources, Dalisay said. However, with uncertainty about whether California will continue the free meal program next year, the district will need to adjust accordingly, Dalisay added.
“If the food is not free, a lot of students will bring their food and not eat with us,” she said. “We need to plan, because every day there’s something different. But this year, this month, this day is not like before. It’s not easy to adjust. So we know already, for example, if we serve 1,600, we need to make like 1,650 or 1,700 at least. When the kids come, we have backup, easy-to-create food like taco packets.”
The district is currently working towards elevating its meals program and providing more quality meals for students, Huynh said. As part of this effort, the district is conducting taste testing at different schools to ensure the food meets federal nutrition guidelines and is something students will enjoy and won’t waste, Huynh added.
“I expect us to continue to keep working towards our goals consistently,” Huynh said. “You know, we can’t just be saying ‘Oh, this year was a good year, but next year we’ll stop focusing on food waste.’ Food waste will always be part of what we do every day.”