Debate over school snacks continues in Wallingford

As published in the Record Journal Friday June 21, 2013

By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ

WALLINGFORD - The school system’s cafeteria account made $142,787 in snack sales at the elementary schools during the school year. With a new snack program starting in the 2013-14 school year, it’s likely the revenue from snack sales will dip. Despite this, administrators, dieticians and town officials believe it is more important to promote healthy eating.

“We recognize that there is a potential loss of revenue; it was discussed at the committee meetings and the principals knew about it, too,” said School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo.

At the start of the next school year, elementary school students will be able to purchase snacks only on Wednesdays, rather than every day.

“My biggest thing is we don’t want to sacrifice the healthy implications of this for potential revenue,” Menzo said. “We’re trying to make the best decisions, and the board will review where we are and where to go from there.”

Town Councilor John Sullivan believes there is a “middle ground” by offering students healthy snacks every day. Sullivan said he’s concerned about obesity and believes snacks could still be offered five days a week, so long as the snacks are low in calories.

“Revenue is certainly important,” Sullivan said, “but the health of the children is more important.”

But Food Services Director Sharlene Wong said the snacks being offered are healthy and approved by the state.

“The snacks we provide are already healthy; they’re on the state Healthy Food Certification list,” she said. “We only sell snacks at elementary schools that are on the state Healthy Food Certification list. The meals we serve are highly regulated by the feds and state.”

The snacks named on this list must meet “stringent requirements to be a healthy snack,” Wong said. While the snacks are on a state list, Maryann Meade and Betsy Crisafulli, registered dieticians in Wallingford and Southington, respectively, said the snacks aren’t as nutritious as other food.

“For chips, it doesn’t matter if they’re low-fat or not. They’re not exactly the most nutritious. It’s a treat food,” Meade said. “Ice cream is also a treat food; it doesn’t have as much calcium as milk. They aren’t nutrient dense.”

“That sounds like junk to me,” Crisafulli said of the list of approved snacks. “Even though those foods meet the healthy snack list, they just sound like empty calories. As far as nutrition, they don’t sound exciting to me.”

Meade and Crisafulli agreed that reducing the number of days elementary students can buy snacks is a good idea. Students should be encouraged to eat school lunch, since it is meets healthy guidelines, Meade said.

Reducing the number of days students can purchase snacks was done for health and wellness purposes. During the Board of Education meeting Monday night, one parent said she knew students would buy a lunch and throw it out and opt to eat the snacks instead. Another parent was worried about the potential weight gain a student can experience by eating the snacks. She said she found out her daughter was purchasing snacks during lunch and attributed her weight gain to it.

After the American Medical Association recently identified obesity as a disease, parents may be right to be concerned. But Wong said placing the blame for a student’s weight gain on the snacks is wrong. Wong said she “doesn’t believe it’s the snacks making the children overweight, because the children are only eating a small percentage of meals in school.”

Meade agreed, adding that to keep healthy, students should eat the lunches provided by schools. “You can never say that, because that’s only one item five days a week,” Meade said. “There are many things contributing. You can hardly say snacks are a major contributor. You want students at a healthy weight and nourished. They can get what they need, the calories they need and nutrition they need by eating the lunch.”

Sullivan said obesity has to be a large concern and that schools can’t be completely responsible for a student’s health.

“Parents have to take an active role too,” Sullivan said.

The Board of Education will review the snack program in November to determine whether changes have to be made. Menzo said he recognizes it’s a drastic change, but the students’ best interests were kept in mind.

“It’s a challenging scenario and everybody wants to be conscious of all sides of the discussion,” Menzo said. “We’ll take it one step at a time. The board is open and I’m certainly open to listening to parents’ questions and concerns.”