BCSD a la carte menu stirs up concerns among local parents
The Berkeley County School District’s a la carte menu, in school cafeterias around the county, has served up some uneasiness for several parents in the Daniel Island community.
“There are a couple different reasons why it concerns me,” said Daniel Island School Parent-Teacher Association Wellness Chair Courtenay Fisher. “One is I felt the offerings weren’t the best for the kids.”
Other local parents sounded off on social media about the food options on the menu, which include cookies, french fries, ice cream, pizza, chicken chunks, cupcakes, eggrolls, and fruit snacks.
“With a handful of exceptions, there is nothing healthy or nutritious about the options on this list,” posted one parent. “Getting our kids to make healthy choices is challenging enough without the school endorsing junk food.”
“I find the list disappointing,” stated another.
“How is this helping our children to develop good habits?” asked a parent.
“I’m not saying my kids eat super healthy,” commented another poster. “But I control what goes in the lunchbox.”
“I do not agree with offering this stuff at school, but it has to start at home,” added another parent.
But the a la carte menu is nothing new, according to BCSD’s Director of Nutrition Services Linda Fairchild.
“We have sold a la carte items for years in Berkeley County,” she said.
Fairchild asserts that all foods served in Berkeley County, including what’s seen on the a la carte menu, follow the proper nutrition guidelines. She also noted that the feedback she has received on the menu thus far has been mostly positive.
“We are a USDA-funded program, so we follow all USDA guidelines and regulations,” she said. “And these are Smart Snack approved a la carte items.”
Smart Snacks in Schools is a system that promotes healthier options, focusing on fewer and fuller calories.
Fisher states that parents should “see what we can do to add or supply alternatives that might be a little more nutritious.”
Daniel Island School has severely limited the a la carte menu in their cafeteria by only offering it on Friday, and Philip Simmons Elementary has slashed it from their menu entirely.
“We did have some parents who expressed some concerns,” said Daniel Island School Principal Kori Brown. “Previously, we had not been serving the ice cream portion of it and so the items on the a la carte menu were previously available every day.”
Brown said that the menu change was recent, occurring in the “past couple of weeks,” and believes that the addition of ice cream to the menu created the recent stir among parents.
The power to do away with or limit the a la carte menu lies with the principals, Fairchild states. And, although it’s their decision when to offer it, the Nutrition Services Director wants parents to be informed that they can opt their child out of the a la carte menu at any time.
“They can send us a note, call us, email us, and say ‘I don’t want little Johnny or little Susy to purchase any a la carte items’ and we’ll make note on their account so they can’t get it,” she said.
Additionally, Fairchild advises BCSD principals not to allow the a la carte menu to supplement the standard lunch room items.
“I wouldn’t recommend selling all of those items. Just pick the three that you think your children would like and put those out there as an option, just for a treat, once or twice a week,” she stated.
Some parents posting on social media indicated that they had been informed that the options on the a la carte menu were directly caused by budget shortfalls, particularly from unpaid balances on student lunchroom accounts, and that the quick additional food items are a way for Nutrition Services to pull in extra revenue. But, Fairchild claims this is not true.
“A la carte items are a way to help generate some extra funds, so we can buy the fresh broccoli and the fresh apples, fix the equipment, and pay our employees, but it’s [overdrafted accounts] not the main driving force for us having a la carte,” said Fairchild.