Friday, August 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CLARK COUNTY: School menus lack options for veggies

Group advocating vegetarian, low-fat diet assesses 18 school districts across nation

By LISA KIM BACH
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</B>Local school lunches offer students veggies, fruit and a half-pint of milk on the side, but the lack of daily vegan choices helped earn the Clark County School District a failing grade from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine on Thursday.

A vegan is a vegetarian who eats no animal products, including dairy goods.

The Washington-based group promotes preventive medicine and advocates a vegetarian, low-fat diet. Eighteen large school districts were assessed in seven categories using 15 sample menus. Extra points were not awarded for serving up beef, chicken or fish dishes. Dairy products had no value. French fries and tater tots were not counted.

Instead, the group was looking for offerings of low-fat vegetable side dishes, whole or dried fruit, featured meatless entrees, featured vegan entrees, featured vegan entree options, compliance with the guidelines of the National School Lunch Program, and the availability of nondairy, calcium-fortified beverages.

"Due to limited kitchen facilities, Clark County presently has a vegetarian main dish on the menu just one to two times per week," said the group's report on Clark County schools. "The district does not have a featured vegan entree or a vegan option."

It's a little like being flunked by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association for not serving beef three times a week, said Sue Hoggan, an area food service supervisor for the district.

"We are doing what we can to offer more choices," Hoggan said Thursday. "We offer salad bars in the middle schools and high schools. If someone has a special need, we do our best to accommodate them."

Soy hot dogs, meatless burgers and bean and rice burritos would be an easy way for the district to go vegetarian on a daily basis, the group said in its report.

The district earned the maximum 20 points allowed for complying with federal standards governing school lunches. But that didn't count for as much as the two vegan categories combined. Clark County lost 30 points because none of its menus reviewed by the group had vegan entrees or featured vegan entree options.

"With childhood obesity one of the nation's most serious health concerns, kids need less junk food in the schools," said Jen Keller, a dietitian who is PCRM's nutrition-projects coordinator. "In Detroit, the school lunches went from an F in 2002 to an A this year, and that means those kids are getting fewer greasy chicken nuggets and more cholesterol-free low-fat fruits, vegetables and vegetarian entrees."

The group graded District of Columbia Public Schools as the worst among the U.S. school districts it judged.

Washington's school district announced Tuesday that it was instituting a new program this fall combining improved nutrition for student breakfasts and lunches, and a comprehensive nutrition-education curriculum.

Detroit schools received a grade of 94 percent and was the only district to get an A. Receiving grades of B-plus were school districts in Miami; Warrenville, Ga.; and Charlotte, N.C.

The school districts that serve Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas were the only districts to receive marks lower than a C-minus.

In a news release issued this week announcing his school district's "Eat to Learn, Learn to Eat" program, District of Columbia Superintendent Paul Vance said he and his staff are committed to improving student health, particularly in the area of obesity.

He said the program "will both lower the fat and salt content of the meals we serve, and educate children and parents on the essentials of good nutrition."



</B>The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Just a reminder, most of you prob know that PCRM has d---- few physicians in its membership, estimated less than 1 % as I recall, and has been censured by the American Medical Association for wilfully distorting facts in pushing its agenda. So why does the media pay any more attention to them than they would to comments about our school system from the Aryan Nation or the Klan? that's the big question.

Whereas I disagree with the PCRM on many issues, replacing some of the meals served in school with vegan meals would be an improvement. Let's face it a lot of schools serve highly processed, nutrient-poor C-R-A-P

Also keep in mind that a lot of PCRM's funding comes from PETA. What more need I say.

I do agree that schools are feeding kids a lot of crap and have snack and soda machines available as well. I think a lot of the nutritional education needs to be done at home, but then what do most ADULTS know about nutrition? Next to nothing unless they are going by the infamous food pyramid. I think the kids need to be given more healthy alternatives in school cafeterias, but I also think it's going to be a long time coming. Most school districts are strapped for funds and feed cheap foods (carbs) to try to maintain some type of budget. They also make money on the vending machines, at least this is the rational I've heard bantered about as to why vending machines have been placed in schools at all.

shortstuff

What about the "choice" to bring your own damned lunch?! I never had a school lunch until I was 15 and working to pay for it. If parents disapprove of what's being offered, isn't it their responsibility to provide the alternative? You can't please everybody.

At least PCRM is starting to show its true colours. I loved this comment: "It's a little like being flunked by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association for not serving beef three times a week, said Sue Hoggan..."

You mean mystery meat isn't a health food? This fellow made me say that.

Actually, I used to have to eat several lunches a week at various schools (foster care caseworker visiting kids) The food was pretty awful - very starchy and greasy. Meats were stretched with the addition of bread, pasta, etc. and the veggies appeared to have been tortured into submission - and in some cases - creamated. It would have been impossible to eat my current WOE from school lunches.

I have to agree with Angeline - vegan options would be an improvement given the fact that the kids are getting tons of carbs in that food - their high carb diet would allow the saturated fats and trans-fats to do the maximum damage. Vegan choices would be likely be lower in at least saturated fats.

I'm sorry, but I've cooked some really bad vegan meals in the past as far as trans fats (margarine) and high-glycemic foods go (potatoes). Just because it's vegan, doesn't mean it will be anywhere near healthy. Especially, since if you just go by no meat products, you open the door to all sorts of processed carbs -- and the schools won't be putting out vegan food that follows the spirit of that WOE, it's too expensive.

Not to mention rice and pasta! Just because it's vegan doesn't mean that it's healthier. I'd also like to point out that sugar is vegan as well as fruit juice and corn syrup.
Improving school menus is a great idea, but implying that the only way that this can be done is through vegan choices is downright misleading but then that's very typical of PCRM's tactics.




Touche', Ms. Hoggan and nicely said!

A clarification:

While LC would certainly be the best option for school lunches, several have noted that costs constraints will likely make this unacceptable to most school systems.

What I was saying earlier was that since the kids are going to be eating a high carb diet, reducing the trans-fats and saturated fat will help reduce the damage from eating that way. While trans-fats are bad for us no matter what else we are eating, saturated fats require insulin surges (caused by high carb eating) to do their damage. So lowering saturated fat in the high carb school lunches would likely be healthier for our kids. The healthiest option would be LC as Lisa and Deb noted, but realistically, that isn't likely to occur due to the costs.

I agree with Kristine re: sending lunch with your smaller kids. I did that with my own children when they were school age. As they get older, my experience has been they tossed much of what I sent and bought the pizza, cokes, 'mystery meat' burgers etc. at school

My daughter, in High School, complains that the only low carb lunches she can get is a hamburger with no roll, the veggies, fruit and milk are all higher carb. She is getting tired of celery, hamburger patty, and water.