Wyckoff Pulling Out Of School Lunch Program

The Wyckoff Board of Education is pulling out of the National School Lunch Program — foregoing thousands of dollars in subsidies — in its efforts to provide a healthier lunch at a reasonable cost, according to school officials.

“We think we can do a better job at a fair cost,” said Wyckoff Public School Superintendent Rich Kuder. “The only thing that might be affected is the cost of milk, which may go up ten to twenty cents.”

The board is also in the process of getting started on a $171,880 renovation plan to improve the cafeteria at .

The plans call for such changes as a new panini station and a redesign to boost efficiency of student traffic at lunch time.

But as for post-NSLP plans going forward, students can expect reasonable prices: $3.00 will buy a freshly made sandwich using premium meats, a salad, a piece of fruit and a milk. $2.60 will be enough for a traditional hot cooked entree, salad, fruit, and low-fat milk. Healthy snacks include the very popular frozen yogurt and protein bars.

“We take pride in providing a nutritionally sound variety of freshly cooked foods as well as fresh fruits and vegetables — nothing canned,” said Director of Food Services Marie Fox, who said she makes sure the students are educated on healthy choices.

Eisenhower has about 830 students in grades 6 through 8 and serves lunch to approximately 300 students per day — that number rises to 400 on pizza day. All of the other four elementary schools have themed lunch days catered by a variety of vendors serving sandwiches, salads and pizza.

Principal of  Debra Hirsch initiated a lunch program modeled after schools in Franklin Lakes, which added a twice-weekly delivery from Whole Foods in Ridgewood.

With childhood obesity on the rise, many schools are reassessing their own offerings, eliminating sugary snacks and drinks from their buildings.

“Obesity begins at home,” said Fox, who maintains that inappropriate snacking in front of a computer or TV, accompanied by hours of inactivity is often to blame.

“Our lunches have improved dramatically over the past four years,” said Fox, citing the watchful eyes of the Pomptonian food service owners Mark and Cindy Vidovich who are constantly improving quality with the help of staff nutritionists.

But what about families who cannot afford school lunches, who often benefit from subsidies such as NSLP in hard times. According to board statistics, that number is less than 1 percent of the population they service.

“We will handle those cases individually as we have in the past,” said Kuder. "Those who qualify will be taken care of internally.”

“We will not pick up brown boxes of government meat that come through Port Newark,” said Fox.

The meat referred to in the news as “Pink Slime” is a meat filler — washed in ammonium hydroxide to eliminate dangerous bacterium such as E. Coli and Salmonella — not used in Wyckoff.

“We want to provide consistent, healthy lunches in a bright, pleasant atmosphere,” said Kuder who added that the NSLP made frequent, erratic, and often contradictory changes to the quality and quantity of its food requirements.

“There was the mandated stick of butter melted over each tray of warmed food, different percentages of milk fat allowed from year to year and most recently, a nearly 50 percent reduction in the protein on a sandwich for the same price.”

“The withdrawal from the National School Lunch Program will shift the emphasis away from overly processed, warmed foods to fresh, healthy and inviting foods,” said Kuder who thinks that the change will attract more diners.

Fox predicts that the revamped program may even make money to further enhance the program.

“Nutritional education starts at home,” said Fox as her eighth grade son chowed down on a special barbecue lunch. Fox, who knows many of the students by first name, is known for passing around a 50 serving salad bowl, pushing greens on her “kids.”

“New equipment such as the giant comb oven will bake, broil and even steam foods. The salad bar, which already features Asian, Caesar, Italian and Buffalo chicken salads will be expanded with something for everyone,” said Fox with enthusiasm.

Chrisitina Jankuloski, an eighth grade math teacher, said that she “loves having healthy choices on days when I can't pack my own lunches.”

Student Morgan Salvi was one of several students who gave the new initiate a thumbs up — she enjoys having a fresh salad.