Valpo Schools Serve Up Nutritious Lunches

valpo-community-schoolsWritten by Cindy Licciardone, Director of Food Services

The revision to nutrition standards in the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Programs were announced Jan. 25. After reviewing all the details of the new meal patterns, the Valparaiso Community Schools determined it had already been meeting some of these standards, and, in fact, has brought a variety of healthier choices to our school cafeterias that address the goals in the new regulations.

For example, VCS already:

  • Serves at least one fresh fruit and vegetable a day
  • Has made the switch to 1 percent or fat free milk
  • Serves whole grain breads and pasta
  • Serves zero trans fat products
  • Makes sure kids are getting proper portion sizes.

Our Food Service Department provides great-tasting nutritious food offerings and good service to our customers, the students, every school day. Our employees on the serving line and cashiers see all of our students every day, and they want their meal time to be a pleasant part of their day.

Child nutrition is a business, and there must be a balance between feeding our students and being financially viable. We budget, plan, use our commodities wisely and strive to meet all mandates and requirements for school nutrition programs. This can only be done through the team efforts of school managers and their staff, office personnel and delivery driver. We provide more than 4,000 lunches and 700 breakfasts daily, satellite service to four schools as well as service four contracted facilities.

Our main goal is to feed the students well while being profitable. A profit allows us to plan more effectively for the increase of food cost, to update equipment and to provide the proper tools and opportunities for training staff so that we can provide a quality product for the students.

Our employees are required to take a sanitation and safety class to give them the skills for providing students with safe food. Workshops and seminars are offered to employees throughout the year so that they are can grow professionally in their jobs. In addition, our facilities are inspected twice a year by the Porter County Health Department, and we have received excellent reviews.

In December 2011, each of our eight elementary schools received a grant to work toward the Healthy U.S. School Challenge award. The goal of the HUSSC is to improve student health and well-being and provide a healthier school environment. Basic criteria of the grant involve healthy menu planning, physical education, nutrition education, and school health policies and practices.

It is believed that children who learn to make healthy food choices and are physically active at school will continue these habits into adulthood. It takes a whole school family and parents to be involved in the initiative to promote a healthier school environment. Our federal child nutrition programs play an important part in children's health, and we aim to promote healthy eating by serving healthy food choices that appeal to students. The Healthy U.S. School Challenge is an opportunity to do more good things for kids.