During the North Colonie Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 27, Board members were treated by the school district’s food services department to a taste of the new school cuisine. Board members, currently holding meetings for annual reviews of district departments, met with Lisa Ostrowski, director of Food and Nutrition Services for North Colonie, to discuss revised federal regulations for school lunches and the challenges the program faces. “The food and nutrition program’s success depends on customer satisfaction,” said Ostrowski. “We are selling things our customer has not seen and are not accustomed to.” Board members tried new meals offered by North Colonie schools to fit the regulations, but with familiar spins for the kids, like mini “calzonettes,” made from whole grain toast, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, and fish breaded in pretzels or Cheetos. In the elementary schools, cafeterias now offer whole salads with low-fat dressing for an alternative meal. If students have no time to eat in the cafeteria, they can take a “to-go” bag, consisting of either yogurt, a whole-grain muffin, cheese and veggies, or hummus, veggies, cheese and pita bread. Ostrowski told the Board that since the Healthy Hunger for Kids Act in 2010, drastic changes have had an impact on school nutrition programs nationwide. Schools now have “reimbursement” meals and “a la carte” purchases — any food bought outside of the reimbursement meal. A reimbursement meal consists of three components of the meal pattern set by United States Department of Agriculture standards to receive government reimbursement. The meal pattern consists of a meat or meat alternate like cheese, grain, vegetables, fruits and dairy. Children must be served a three-fourths cup of vegetables plus a half-cup of fruit per day. Grains should be 51 percent or more whole grain, and the dairy fat-free or one percent flavored or unflavored. As for snacks, the USDA enacted “Smart Snacks in School” to regulate what foods could be sold between meals to a “whole grain rich,” or fruits and vegetables. Beverages are limited to water, milk and juice. Foods that do not qualify as a “Smart Snack” cannot be sold during the school day from midnight to thirty minutes after the last class bell. New York State offers no exemptions for fundraisers. Clubs and organizations cannot sell candies or bake sale items during the designated hours, which means no more going from homeroom to homeroom with boxes of chocolates, Ostrowski said. Ostrowski’s presentation also outlined the effects of the federal regulations. The total number of lunch meals served in the 2013-2014 school year was 373,518 compared to the 379,995 of the 2012-2013 year. The number of paid meals bought for the 2013-2014 year dropped nearly 20,000, while the reduced lunches dropped 1,000 from the previous year, and the free lunch meals rose over 10,000. Ostrowski said the drop in paid meals may in part be due to more students qualifying for the reduced and free meals. Ostrowski’s addressed concerns she’s heard from parents about kids getting hungry, and said that the program still faces problems that need to be worked out. She believes that in order for kids to eat the more complex meals, lunch periods need to be longer. Kids also used to be served 20-plus grains per week, Ostrowski said. The limit is down to nine. Shaker High School had been seeing 32 dozen bagels going out each morning for the breakfast program, but that is now down to eight to 12 dozen. “We were buying our bagels from a local company, but we can’t use them anymore due to the grains,” Ostrowski said. She said she received a call this summer from the company saying that, since the district no longer uses it, it must lay off employees, so the strict regulations affect local businesses as well. Schools are also being given items, such as brands of whole grain tortilla chips that are not being sold in stores. “If we’re selling something in the school food line, and the kid goes home to Mom and Dad and says, ‘Hey, this is good,’ but they can’t find it in the store, what are we doing?” asked Ostrowski. Programs are in the works to make the food and nutrition program better in North Colonie. Ostrowski said she wants to try catering in the classroom for when kids get back from field trips past their lunch period, and having the district bag its own apple and carrot dipping packages for snack options. In spit of the stricter guidelines for meals, the school cafeterias have been seeing little waste from the kids, and the new options provided to students have been received with enthusiasm. Ostrowski said she remains optimistic about the nutrition program’s future.