Healthier lunches on horizon in Lombard schools

Students in Lombard Elementary District 44 may be eating more nutritional school lunches by as early as March.

The district is locked into its food service contract until summer 2012, but a group of parents and administrators say they're optimistic changes can be made to create healthier lunchtime offerings.

“It's my understanding that there are changes that can be made without the cost going up right away,” parent Brigitte Baur said.

An advisory committee of about 10 parents, administrators and representatives of the district's food service vendor, Addison-based Arbor Management, agreed this week to apply to a program organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that promotes nutrition and physical activity and recognizes schools for focusing on such issues.

Called the Healthier U.S. School Challenge, the program evaluates schools based on the energy and nutrition in their lunches, as well as age-appropriate portion sizes and offerings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy items.

Spokeswoman Jay Wojcik said the district will use the program's checklist of food guidelines to shape any future changes made to the meals.

“That will give us a nice rubric to build from,” Wojcik said.

The advisory committee also charged administrators and Arbor Management with looking for healthier foods that can be swapped into lunches without increasing the cost of the meals. Baur said any new foods will not be available until March because items already have been ordered for menus planned through February.

School lunch improvements became a priority after a November school board meeting when Baur presented a petition with signatures of 438 parents asking the district to provide one healthy lunch a week with more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

The district responded by forming the advisory committee and promising to be open to parents' wishes to offer more nutritious midday foods. Superintendent Jim Blanche said in November that District 44's lunches already meet federal nutrition guidelines, but still leave much room for nutritional improvement.

“So far the administration and Arbor seem very willing to try to make some changes,” said Laura Johnson, a parent and advisory committee member. “I'm really kind of shocked by how much progress we've made.”