AISD: "Our Revolution Started Long Before Oliver's"

Jamie Oliver

 One of the newest shows on TV right now is one that's making a lot of people question their eating habits, and go on the defensive about their children's eating habits.

It's called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on the ABC network.  He went to the "unhealthiest city in America," Huntington, W.V., and took Central City Elementary by surprise.  On the show, he found out that kids eat pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch, and nearly every item on their tray is a processed food.  Even the milk, he discovered, is loaded with sugar and artificial flavoring.

At one point, Oliver noticed the "thud, thud, thud" of the cafeteria trays pounding against the garbage can, where whole fruits were thrown out, and everything bad was consumed.  This is going to make me cry, said Oliver.

Austinites certainly had plenty to say about the plight of unhealthy food in their own child's school.  Ethan Jones, father of five year old Eliot, wondered if she'll ever be offered healthy lunch items at school.

"The food supply in this country is seriously messed up, and I hate that the institution deemed by our government to be responsible for teaching our kids about this stuff is pushing obesity on them all!" exclaimed Jones.

One person commenting on a web site about the show said the Central City Elementary cooks had bad attitudes, and Oliver had to cut through a tremendous amount of red tape from the government in order to stay within the nutrition guidelines already in place.

Students eat lunch at AISD. Photo from AustinISD.org

That's why The Austin Citysphere wanted to know exactly what school leaders in central Texas think about the revolution, and their policies on nutrition.  Chris Carrillo-Spano, Director of Nutrition & Food Services in the Austin Independent School District, answered several questions about that and how he feels AISD stacks up to the school Oliver visited for his revolution.

"The Texas Nutrition Policy places limits on fats, carbohydrates, and calories," said Carrillo-Spano.  "AISD also has a local Wellness Policy that prohibits food-fundraising of any type during the school day, bans all carbonated beverages on campuses and disallows foods of minimal nutritional value in vending machines."  

Carrillo-Spano said the district follows the Texas Nutrition Policy and is more stringent than federal regulation.  "AISD is not the typical school district that is being portrayed in the Jamie Oliver series," Carrillo-Spano said.  "We offer a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables daily in all of our schools and non-meat alternatives frequently.  AISD participates in the Eat Smart program of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH).  AISD school menus meet the standards of CATCH, providing students the opportunity to select mostly “GO” foods, some “SLOW” foods and only rarely a “WHOA” food," he added.  "Entrees are specially purchased and prepared as lower fat versions of student favorites.  Vegetables are seasoned without butter or margarine.  The french fries have never been fried and only contain 1.5 gram of fat.  Fresh fruit is available daily for breakfast and lunch.  Sandwich bread, hamburger buns, rolls and bread sticks are made with whole wheat.  Milk is offered in the lowest fat varieties of skim and one percent."

Carrillo-Spano told The Austin Citysphere by e-mail that he believes healthy eating habits start at home.  "Schools can help educate students on proper nutrition, and can provide the healthiest meals possible, but reinforcement at all levels - home, the media, community events, local government - is needed," he said.

Carrillo-Spano said he thought Oliver's show seemed staged and over-dramatized.  But parents appear to be listening to what Oliver has to say, and are eager to hear more about how he plans to revolutionize school cafeteria menus, starting with Central City Elementary.  As one viewer put it, "It shows clearly that America does not take healthy eating seriously for themselves or their children... demonstrated without conscience by the school cooks and the local government entities that have the power to promote change.  The gals in the kitchen should be damned ashamed of themselves after watching themselves give the attitudes to Jamie for simply wanting to help the children get healthy food."

Districts like AISD feel their policies on nutrition are helping its students eat right, grow up right, and places a strong emphasis on nutrition education at home.  I asked, "Would you like a food revolution to happen within your district?"  Carrillo-Spano said, "Our revolution started long before Oliver's."

Below you can find an explanation of the Eat Smart Menus mentioned in this blog, provided by Carrillo-Spano.  Also, the Texas Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Division has a  resource on the state's square meals program and can be found here.  Additional nutritional information for AISD menus can be found here.

“EAT SMART MENUS”

AISD participates in the Eat Smart program of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) program.  AISD school menus meet the standards of CATCH.  The goal is to help students choose mostly GO foods, some SLOW foods, and rarely a WHOA food.
 
Here is the criteria for CATCH: GO, SLOW and WHOA menu items.

Main Dishes

WHOA
Over 23 grams of fat

SLOW
16+ - 23 grams of fat

GO
0 – 16 grams of fat

Vegetables

WHOA
Fried

SLOW
Added fat or cheese

GO
No added fat

Fruits

WHOA
Larger amount of added sugar. And/or added fat (butter).

SLOW
Small amount of added sugar

GO
No added sugar

Breads

WHOA
Regular crackers

SLOW
Not whole grain. (white breads, low fat crackers)

GO
Whole Grain such as whole wheat or white whole wheat.

Milk

WHOA
Unflavored or flavored 2% or whole

SLOW
Flavored Skim or 1%

GO
Unflavored Skim or 1%