Some students are refusing to eat healthy foods, costing schools in federally funded program

"After just one year, some schools around the country are dropping out of the healthier new federal lunch program, complaining that so many students turned up their noses at meals packed with whole grains, fruits and vegetables that the cafeterias were losing money," Carolyn Thompson reports for The Associated Press. "Federal officials say they don't have exact numbers but have seen isolated reports of schools cutting ties with the $11 billion National School Lunch Program, which reimburses schools for meals served and gives them access to lower-priced food."

The program "is a federally assisted meal program operating in over 100,000 public and non-profit private schools and residential child care institutions," according to the Department of Agriculture. In 2001 the program, which "provided nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children each school day." More fruits, vegetables and whole grains were added to the program during the last school year.

Gary Lewis, superintendent of Catlin Community Unit School District in eastern Illinois, told Thompson his district saw a 10 to 12 percent drop in lunch sales last year, leading to a $30,000 loss: "Some of the stuff we had to offer, they wouldn't eat. So you sit there and watch the kids, and you know they're hungry at the end of the day, and that led to some behavior and some lack of attentiveness."

Some students are going outside school to get their junk food fix. Callahan Grund, who plays football at Wallace County High in Sharon Springs, Kan., said the calorie limit (750-850 calories for high school students) isn't enough for athletes who have practice after school. He told Thompson, "A lot of kids were resorting to going over to the convenience store across the block from school and kids were buying junk food. It was kind of ironic that we're downsizing the amount of food to cut down on obesity, but kids are going and getting junk food to fill that hunger."

So many students and parents have complained in Harlan County in southeastern Kentucky that the school board held a special meeting to address the issues, Mark Bell reports for the Harlan Daily Enterprise.  "Complaints ranged from not being fed enough to food received not being good enough. While fruits and vegetables are offered freely and students can take their fill of those, meats and carbohydrates will continue to be served in limited portions only, so students complain of not getting enough food."

Dr. Janey Thornton, the USDA deputy undersecretary who oversees the program, those opposed to the program are in the minority. She told Thompson, "The vast majority of schools across the country are meeting the updated meal standards successfully, which is so important to help all our nation's children lead healthier lives. Many of these children have never seen or tasted some of the fruits and vegetables that are being served before, and it takes a while to adapt and learn."

Only 1 percent of the 521 district nutrition directors surveyed over the summer planned to drop out of the program in the 2013-14 school year and about 3 percent were considering the move, according the School Nutrition Association, Thompson writes. But not every district can afford to quit. The program "provides cash reimbursements for each meal served: about $2.50 to $3 for free and reduced-priced meals and about 30 cents for full-price meals. That takes the option of quitting off the table for schools with large numbers of poor youngsters." (Read more) (USDA graphic)