Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a piece for Civil Eats asking a question that had been on my mind for several years: why are school breakfasts often loaded with added sugars, even after the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act nutritional reforms?
That question was prompted by seeing the breakfasts served in my own district, Houston ISD, where a child selecting from the daily menu offerings could easily choose a meal like this:
In general, I don’t like to publicly chastise Houston ISD for flaws in its meal program. For one thing, I genuinely like the people who run the department and don’t want to embarrass them. More importantly, though, I feel that most of those deficiencies reflect larger forces that are in no way unique to my district. So while I used HISD menus as an example in the Civil Eats piece, I also gave our district’s senior administrator for Nutrition Services an opportunity to comment on them, and I took pains in the story to make clear that sugary school breakfasts are a national problem, borne of a variety of factors which I examined in detail.
The Civil Eats story reached an unusually wide audience, having been picked up by both Yahoo! News and the Houston Chronicle, and despite my efforts to be as even-handed as possible, HISD Nutrition Services management must have felt that its reputation had been damaged. Soon after the Civil Eats piece came out, four Nutrition Services employees devoted what must have been considerable time and effort (not to mention the taxpayer dollars that directly pay their salaries) to write a scholarly article for the Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk entitled “Sugar In School Breakfasts: A School District’ s Perspective.” The piece was essentially the district’s apologia for its sugar-laden school breakfasts, citing many of the same factors I discussed in Civil Eats.
I was somewhat surprised to learn of the journal article, which my friend and colleague Casey Hinds tweeted to me; no mention of it had ever been made during several Nutrition Services Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings discussing sugary breakfasts. But I decided not to comment on the matter one way or the other, because I was so pleased by the district’s promises for significant reform. Specifically, as I happily reported here on The Lunch Tray in October, 2015:
After hearing the concerns of the HISD Nutrition Services Parent Advisory Committee, our school food department informed us yesterday that it has already reduced the number of times juice is served to our children from five days a week to three, that it’s switching over to a lower-sugar (but not artificially sweetened) juice, and that it’s entirely eliminating Craisins (which contain six teaspoons of sugar per serving) from the breakfast menu. This means our kids are now getting more fresh fruit each week, in the form of apple slices, bananas and whole apples. The district also promises to introduce more protein entrees in the coming months, in lieu of sweetened grain items.
Those reforms were all implemented with surprising speed, and I thought the worst of our sugary breakfast problem was behind us.
Now look at this photo of one child’s HISD school breakfast, served this morning:
A glance at HISD’s posted breakfast menus confirms that this meal is not an aberration. Sugar-sweetened Craisins, which were supposed to be “entirely eliminated,” are now back on the menu – along with their six teaspoons of added sugar, the maximum amount recommended for children by the American Heart Association for an entire day.
Further examination of the breakfast menu reveals that the promise to reduce the appearance of juice from five days to three has also been broken. Next week* Late last month, a “fruit juice blend” is was served every single day; during other weeks, juice appears a minimum of four times:
And while the promised protein entrees do appear on the menu, out of 44 entrees offered in the month of October (children may choose from two options each day), only 11 are protein entrees. The remaining 33 entrees are still sugar-sweetened, grain-based items.
To be clear, having researched this topic in detail for Civil Eats last year, I’m perhaps more sympathetic than most advocates to the real difficulties HISD and other districts face when trying to reduce the sugar content of their breakfast menus. What has me deeply concerned this morning is my district’s quiet rolling back of express promises made to PAC members, perhaps with the hope that none of us would even notice.
As I mentioned here last month, as of this fall, both of my children are in a private high school. Technically speaking, this means I should no longer be able to serve on the Nutrition Services PAC, of which I’ve been a member since 2010. But when I raised this issue at a meeting last spring, I was surprised when members of the Nutrition Services staff urged me to stay on the committee, even if I’m not technically a “parent” under its charter. I was pleased by this outcome, as my interest in Houston school food reform has never been motivated by my own kids, who generally preferred the packed lunches I was happy to provide.
But in recent days, I’ve been seriously questioning this decision to stay on the PAC. By filling one of five slots afforded to my district trustee, Mike Lunceford, I may well be keeping other, active HISD parents away from important discussions that directly affect their kids. Indeed, just last week, I spoke to a concerned parent at an elementary school in Lunceford’s district who would be a perfect candidate for the PAC, but it’s my understanding that she can join only if I step down.
And then there’s that sentence I wrote at the start of this post:
“I genuinely like the people who run the department and don’t want to embarrass them.”
The hard truth is, sometimes school district employees – even very nice ones – need to be called out for breaches of trust and for practices that fail to promote the health of the children in their care. And I’m starting to realize that my personal relationships with the people running our school food department may be impeding my ability to speak out as forcefully as I should about some of the very real problems I see.
So, with this post, I’m hereby resigning from the PAC. I do so with some regret, in part because I will lose regular access to information about HISD that has informed my general understanding of how large urban school food programs operate. But I like to think I’ve reached a point in my advocacy and writing career where I can rely on school food professionals around the country, not just those in HISD, to help me fill in those blanks. At any rate, I hope so.
I will, however, continue to serve on HISD’s School Health Advisory Council, of which I’ve also been a member since 2010, as my official status on that committee has always been “community member” rather than “HISD parent.” This committee also has direct impact on school nutrition in HISD, including through the drafting of a new district wellness policy.
Before closing, I must recognize two of my fellow PAC members, Lisa Brooks and Stephanie Dubroff-Acosta, who are the only other parents who have been on the committee with me since its inception. We’ve seen a lot of parents drift in and out of the PAC over the years, some managing to attend only one or two meetings before dropping out, and our little trio has been the only constant over the last six years. I’m so sorry to reduce you to a duo this morning, but I hope you’ll continue to offer your valuable insights and suggestions on the PAC for the good of HISD’s kids.
____
* This post was updated on 9/20/16 at 10:08pm CST to reflect the fact that juice was served daily during a week in late August.
Please also see the follow-up to this post: “Yesterday’s Post: It’s Not About the Sugar”
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Bettina Elias Siegel
Dana Woldow says
You will be a hard act to follow, Bettina, but hopefully among your vast readership, there are some HISD parents who have been inspired by your passion and advocacy on behalf of HISD’s students, and who will be willing to step up and take your place, to keep trying to move forward with better school food. Having done this kind of work myself for many years in San Francisco, I can vouch for how frustrating it can be, and yet, as a parent or guardian who really wants to make a difference in nutrition and health for an enormous number of children, there is really no better opportunity than serving on your local school nutrition parent advisory council. Thank you (and your colleagues) for sticking with this for so long, and may others take inspiration from the example you have set and follow in your large footsteps. Onward!
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you so much, Dana. You’re a real inspiration in the area of school food reform, and your work in SFUSD continues to inspire! I do hope more HISD parents will get involved. We’re lucky in this district to even have a formal committee where parents can be heard, yet out of 45 possible spots, only about 10 or so are filled by volunteers at any given time…
Sally at Real Mom Nutrition says
These broken promises are very disappointing, and you know I share your concern for the crazy amount of sugar in school breakfasts. You have worked so long and hard on this issue and put so much of your energy and heart into it, so I’m sure that’s so hard for you to see. I have by no means dealt with this issue to the degree that you have, but in my experience, these kinds of disappointments are all too frequent–and the wheels of change so incredibly slow–which contributes to people feeling hopeless that the issues will ever improve (and therefor less motivated to pitch in and try to make change). But on behalf of concerned parents, I say BRAVO to the work you’ve done–and will continue to do.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you, Sally! I do remain hopeful that every parent making noise and pushing for change helps move us in the right direction, even if it can feel futile at times. And I really admire all the work you do in this area, including offering parents scripts and other concrete advice for being effective advocates. Though you’ve focused more on cleaning up junk food from sports teams, your advice translates to classrooms and every other setting where kids are routinely offered less healthy food. So thank you for all YOU do! 🙂
Kay says
Yes, Bettina, bravo for the work you have done. I know you will continue in some fashion.
Your vigilance, articulation and tenacity have been appreciated. It is a most difficult thing to keep standards…and it is so very tempting to falter and do the easier choices that sabotage progress. There are “compromises” that sneak in that are unacceptable to health.
I like what you say about nice people sometimes need to be called out. It’s not an easy thing to do.
Kay
PS I look forward to hearing about your (and Lisa Brooks’) further work.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you, Kay!
Lindsey Parsons says
Way to take a stand. Unfortunately, we can’t settle for good intentions and promises but have to rely on changing policy in order to institutionalize change. And after policy change, the hard work of implementation, with committees, parent networks and systems for ensuring changes in practice are sustained and there isn’t drift back to old ways. But fundamentally, sometimes things never change until there’s a leader at the top who is as horrified by things like sugary breakfasts as parents are. That’s why I devote lots of my personal time to helping elect new school board members and educating candidates on this issue.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
These are all excellent points, Lindsey – especially the need to get the school board invested, if possible. I so admire all you’ve been able to accomplish in Montgomery County and look forward to following your continued progress.
Andrea says
I am so grateful to you and Stephanie & Lisa (both of whom I know & deeply respect) for serving so dedicatedly on that committee & speaking up for me & many other parents I know. Your decision makes perfect sense. And I am with you on the Craisins!! I have seen that kind of quiet reversal on school issues before, and it is so dishonest and shows a lack of trust in parents’ ability to understand what may be reasonable reasons for it.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you, Andrea! Any friend of Stephanie and Lisa is a friend of mine! 🙂
Michele Q says
Keep up the fight! I only hope the school district will learn from this. I respect your hard work and as a Massachusetts school employee, I do my best to promote nutritional health.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you, Michele, and keep up the good work in MA!
Mary Klatko says
The employees of this and every other school district in the country are paid from the Food & Nutrition Service Enterprise fund in each district which derives its funding from the operation of the program. You incorrectly stated tax dollars are used for salaries. Nothing could be further from the truth, Employees do not have time to sit around on job time to write articles. They are busy from the time they arrive in the morning until they leave; preparing and serving huge numbers of children their breakfast and lunch. Each program has to follow federal regulations which have no criteria for sugar, What is your criteria for sugar that you can criticize their menu choices? I would like to see a menu you write for the school system, then go to a kitchen and prepare it for several hundred children, serve them and watch their reaction in the dining room, I guarantee you, you will come away with a different view, I agree you should leave the Advisory Committee because you do not have children in this school district and you do not offer constructive input into the program that does not serve you or your family,
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Hi Mary –
I get the feeling you didn’t read my post with much care? Had you done so, I think you’d recognize that I very much DO appreciate the issues and regulations surrounding school breakfast and sugar, having researched it for this article in 2015. That examination included a discussion of the incentives district have to simply please kids and drive participation, which you also allude to in your comment (“…serve them and watch their reaction in the dining room …” etc.)
As a consequence, unlike many parents and other laypeople who are (very rightly) concerned about school breakfasts sometimes containing upwards of 9 or 10 teaspoons of sugar, I do understand the regulatory construct that yields this result – including, as you correctly state, the fact that there’s no sugar cap imposed by USDA.
But to answer your related question, “What is your criteria for sugar that you can criticize their menu choices?” I feel quite comfortable relying on the recently announced standard issued by the American Heart Association, which suggests that children aged 2-18 consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day, not just at their first meal of the day. You might be interested to know that other respected authorities, such as the World Health Organization, would impose an even more stringent cap on added sugar for children.
Finally, let’s talk about that journal article. The four Nutrition Services employees who wrote the article are not engaged in actual food preparation or service. They hold registered dietitian, communications and/or executive positions within the department and while I suppose they could have convened each night after work to write the article on their own, unpaid time, I highly doubt that was the case. As for their salaries, the “operation of the program” is funded through (a) federal reimbursement, which is derived from taxpayer dollars and (b) cash payments from district parents who can afford to pay for all or a portion of their children’s meals. I’m not sure a poll of federal taxpayers and parents would find the time and effort spent by these employees on the journal article – which I personally viewed purely as a form of reputational damage control – to be a worthy use of these funds when other aspects of our meal program are in clear need of improvement. But I suppose that’s a matter open for debate.
On one thing we do agree, though, Mary: with no children left in HISD, I don’t belong on the committee. And that’s in part why I relinquished my seat.
Megan says
Thanks for all your work! I have a friend who has been on the PAC and who has suggested that I get on from all the complaining I’ve done. After two years I finally got my daughter to stop taking the breakfast, but now my son is in pre-k and he takes it regardless of how much I feed him before he leaves (He’s my typical “3 breakfasts eater” on weekends).
It’s hard to get a 4 year old to not take food, when it’s pretty much candy compared to what he gets at home 🙁
Dan Gorman says
Do you know why USDA regs focus on breakfast grains and only offer protein secondary?
Bettina Elias Siegel says
I’m really glad you asked this question, Dan, because I didn’t know the history myself so I dug it up tonight. Looks like the initial proposed rule for school breakfast standards, issued in 2011, would have required both grains and “meat/meat alternates” to be served, but during the comment period there were “cost concerns voiced by program operators” and the USDA ultimately decided to make meat/meat alternates purely optional. Specifically, “Once schools meet the daily minimum grain quantity required (1 oz. eq. for all age-grade groups) for breakfast, they are allowed to offer a meat/meat alternate in place of grains. The meat/meat alternate can count toward the weekly grains requirement (credited as 1 oz. eq. of meat/meat alternate is equivalent to 1 oz. eq. of grain).”
Amanda Liptak, RDN, LDN says
Thank you for advocating for more healthful food choices for our children. And – thank you for standing up to your peers, which may be more taxing the the actual reform itself! We much change our path now, our youth is our future!
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you for the support, Amanda!
Robin Herskowitz says
I am the founder of an Austin, TX nonprofit, HealthStart Foundation. HealthStart builds healthier communities through children’s early, science-based, health education. HealthStart recently introduced a program we call “What Are YOU Feeding?” in area elementary school cafeterias. We use a colorful labeling system to shows students how the food served in their school cafeteria nourishes their brain, bones, muscles and circulatory and digestive systems. As you can imagine, many dishes served do not feed ANY body systems while others may feed several. Kids exposed to the program can easily connect the dots between what they eat and their health. GOOD ON YOU for pointing out that we can do better by our children.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Hi Robin! Thanks for the support and it sounds like your foundation is doing excellent work. I’ll go look at the website now, and thank you for coming by The Lunch Tray.