Homewood City Schools' new take on nutrition

Erin Chelewski’s favorite challenge is a picky eater.

As the Child Nutrition Program director for Homewood City Schools, Chelewski’s job is to create a menu that satisfies both federal nutrition standards and kids’ taste buds.

“It’s the part where nutrition and innovation come together. You’ve got to be creative when it comes to dietary guidelines, the restrictions that are put on the nutrient content … and the task of kids enjoying it,” she said.

Though the U.S. Department of Agriculture has changed its plans for school nutrition this year, Chelewski said parents shouldn’t be worried about any change in the healthiness of food being served in Homewood’s cafeterias.

Serving up standards 

Chelewski, who became Homewood High’s cafeteria manager in 2013 and the CNP director in 2015, can recall a common lunch in her own high school cafeteria: a boat of fries and a boat of ranch dressing. That wouldn’t fly in Homewood High’s cafeteria today.

“That’s not fuel … that’s not going to get you through a day. That’s not going to help you learn and help you get through practice after school and homework when you get home,” Chelewski said.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was the first major overhaul of school lunchroom nutrition standards in years, Chelewski said. In response to that legislation, schools around the country have been moving toward progressively more restrictive health rules in their menus.

For Homewood City Schools, that meant getting rid of the fryers and learning how to serve more fresh ingredients. 

The plates that sit on today’s lunch tables are also far more colorful. The 2010 standards included caps on sodium, sugar and saturated fat content in each meal. Schools have also had to make sure 50 percent or more of the grains they serve are whole grains, offer only low-fat or fat-free milk and provide at least one fruit and one vegetable option at lunch every day.

The 2010 act outlined a gradual reduction in sodium levels and increase in whole grain use, among other standards, over a 10-year period. However, earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a relaxation of the rules, and the opportunity for schools to apply for waivers if they have trouble meeting the current standards.

Chelewski said this doesn’t mean that health standards for schools are moving backward, just that they’ll stay the same for the time being in Homewood’s cafeterias. Even if the guidelines were removed, Chelewski said, a move toward less nutritious meals is “not the Homewood way.”

“We’re good. We’re going to continue to move forward to farm-to-school and improve the meals nutritionally,” Chelewski said.

‘Look how fortunate I am’

When the new standards were rolled out in 2010, they met a negative reception from many school systems, parents and kids. The expense of overhauling menus, even over a period of years, was a hurdle for schools, and some kids threw away meals because they didn’t like their new options.

Chelewski said that’s understandable, especially when kids see a favorite meal, like spaghetti, replaced with a whole grain version with a different taste and texture. “If you have something that you’re used to and you love, and you’re told that, ‘No, it’s going to be this way now,’ you know it’s hard,” she said.

But in Homewood, it was a completely different story. Chelewski said the majority of parents she has heard from have embraced the changes and supported the ongoing attempt to meet higher health goals. Often, what’s in Homewood’s cafeteria mirrors what kids are eating at home.

“Homewood kids have a community that supports that,” Chelewski said. “It’s definitely more of a healthier lifestyle. And that is portrayed in their children for sure.”

So when the USDA announced its halt in nutrition standards prior to this school year, Chelewski said the parents she heard from weren’t happy about it.

“I received emails from parents afraid that we were going to start putting fryers back in the school, and I was going to open up a fast-food chain as a sub-unit in the cafeteria,” Chelewski said. “I don’t want them to have any fear of it going in any direction but the one that we’ve been going in and still providing these nutritious foods.”

When she meets other school nutritionists, Chelewski said it’s hard not to brag. Being in a school system where the kids love broccoli and seek out the chef salad, she said, is something special.

“Look how fortunate I am. I actually have a community that cares about the nutrition that we’re providing for our kids,” she said.

The food lab

Just because Homewood supports healthy eating doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Chelewski said she’s always trying to get creative with new menu items that meet health standards while taking the “school lunch reputation and trying to make it cool again.”

About 64 percent of kids in Homewood schools eat the cafeteria’s lunches rather than bringing their own, she said. That’s a lot of different palates to satisfy.

“It lets me bring out that creative foodie in me, and show that good, healthy food is not nasty food,” Chelewski said.

Chelewski has several approaches. She will approach self-described picky eaters, or just any student she meets in the school hallways, and ask them what their favorite meal is. The next month, it’s more than likely on the menu.

“I love to find the picky eaters and show them that they like it, or find that thing that the picky eater likes and get them interested,” she said.

Visiting the city’s grocery stores gave her the idea of making grab-and-go-style meals and pre-made salads, some of which Chelewski said have become student favorites. And when the USDA delivered “massive amounts” of apples, Chelewski bought a dehydrator to try making apple chips at home, and the Homewood Middle family and consumer science classes tried apple-themed recipes in their Iron Chef competition this spring.

“It’s like food lab at home,” she said. “Fortunately, Homewood has such an exceptional, exceptional group of children where they are open to talking to adults and exploring and trying new things. They love taste-test days.”

The menus aren’t solely Chelewski’s handiwork, though. She said her staff is continually bringing her new recipes to test, and they get excited about the challenge. She’s proud that they continue to “punch dough” and serve homemade rolls that meet federal guidelines, rather than having to buy pre-made rolls.

Jeanette Hamm, Homewood Middle’s child nutrition manager, has worked in the middle school’s kitchen for 22 years. She recalled that dessert was served every day when she started and the school even had its own dessert cook. Now, that role is gone, and the school’s cafeteria staff helps Chelewski in planning meals based on foods that are student favorites.

“It has changed a whole lot. We used to could go in the kitchen and cook like we do in the house,” Hamm said.

Her kitchen includes a lot more fruit and vegetables, as well as stricter recipes. A lot of kids are willing to try new things when the cafeteria offers them, but Hamm said they also have very definite ideas of what they don’t want to eat. “It’s like a balancing beam,” Hamm said. “They only want what they want.”

What’s new on the menu

Nutrition standards may be staying about the same this school year, but Chelewski is planning some new things for Homewood’s cafeterias.

The school system has received grants to install new milk coolers and digital menu signs, which she hopes to put in all five schools. Chelewski said she wants to continue encouraging farm-to-table food and tie in healthy eating with physical activity.

Another ongoing effort is creating menus that can still be enjoyed by kids with allergies, intolerances or dietary restrictions. Chelewski said it can be “very scary and very confusing and very unfair” for parents and kids trying to manage dietary limits while still getting the food they need.

The school system introduced the MealViewer app in the 2015-16 school year. Chelewski said parents and students can use the it to view upcoming menus, rate meals, check allergen info and keep a food log. She wants to continue making MealViewer part of the dialogue between her and the children she feeds.

Between her cafeteria staff and the new products they’ve begun using, Chelewski said “I want to continue to show [students] that nutritious food is actually good, and I am equipped with probably the best tools in the whole state.”

What makes up a typical school lunch?

A complete school meal consists of a serving of each of the five food groups offered. The food groups offered daily are meat/meat alternative, vegetables, fruit, grain and milk. Since January 2011, schools must offer:

Fruits and veggies: Fruit must be offereddaily at breakfast and lunch; vegetables must be offered daily at lunch, including specific vegetable subgroups weekly (dark green, orange, legumes and others as defined in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines) and a limited quantity of starchy vegetables throughout the week.

Beverages: Plain water, plain low fat milk, plain or flavored fat-free milk and milk alternatives permitted by USDA, and 100 percent fruit/vegetable juice. Portion sizes of milk and juice vary by the age of students. Elementary schools may sell up to 8-ounce portions. Middle and high schools may sell up to 12- ounce portions.

Protein (meat/meat alternative) and a ‘‘wholegrain rich’’ product: Wholegrain rich defined as being 50 percent or more whole grains by weight or have whole grains as the first ingredient.

Additionally:

► Total fat must be less than or equal to 35 percent of calories.

► Saturated fat must be less than 10 percent of calories.

► Trans fat must be 0 grams as stated on the label (exemptions provided for reduced fat cheese; nuts and nut butters without other ingredients and seafood with no added fat).

► For entreé items, sodium levels must be less than or equal to 480 milligrams per portion for non-approved entrée items.

► For total sugar levels the proposal includes two alternatives: one is less than or equal to 35 percent of calories and the other is less than or equal to 35 percent of weight (exemptions provided for fruits and vegetables packed in juice or extra-light syrup and for certain yogurts).