One Step Ahead

When new legislation arises to protect students, Director of Food Services Denise Boucher said Arlington schools often already have programs in place to meet the dictates.

On July 27, the Legislature passed a bill that would ban the sale of unhealthy foods and drinks in Massachusetts public schools. Titled, "An Act to Promote Proper School Nutrition," the legislation aims to prevent obesity in childhood and schools by installing healthy eating habits at a young age and directs the Department of Public Health to establish standards for snacks and beverages sold in vending machines, school stores and cafeteria ala carte lines.

The standards are to be in accordance with Institute of Medicine guidelines that recommend sodas be replaced with water, low- and non-fat milk and juice; fat and sugar be reduced in snacks; and fresh fruit and vegetables be made available in cafeterias.

Arlington has taken steps to address students' nutritional needs and mitigate tendencies toward a sedentary lifestyle and obesity, Boucher said.

She pointed out that the legislation will not go into effect until 2012-2013 and the Department of Public Health and Department of Education are currently discussing the precise guidelines.

Judging from what she has read about the legislation, however, Boucher has a good idea of what will be expected of the public schools: limited sugary snacks and soda, baked instead of fried foods, and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

"Essentially, the regulations have already been met in Arlington," she said. "We haven't served fried food in years."

The school system eliminated soda years ago, Boucher said, and doesn't even serve it to adults anymore during catered events.

Rather, the school lunch program serves milk, fruit juice and water for beverages and buys produce from local farmers in unlimited amounts so fresh fruit and vegetables are available to students.

As for vending machines, none exist at the elementary schools and the middle school has one which is only used by teachers.

The vending machine at Arlington High School, Boucher said, serves mainly A-List drinks such as 100 percent fruit juice recommended by the John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition which uses current research and technology to educate and inform Massachusetts professionals concerned with child nutrition and healthy nutrition environments.

The food services in Arlington that can use some change, Boucher said, are "competitive foods" which are snack options not served in the cafeteria lines.

The elementary schools do not offer snacks and those at the middle and high-schools are predominantly from the A-List but there are a few items Boucher said the district will eventually have to phase out such as ice-cream snacks.

In addition, she said students at the high school often hold bake sales that include sugary foods such as cupcakes and brownies.

"They're holding the bake sales for worthy causes so it's difficult to tell them what to do but we will work together on mitigating the sale of extremely unhealthy foods," Boucher said.

State Rep. William Brownsberger, representing Middlesex District 24 which includes parts of Arlington, co-sponsored the bill. He said the dictates of the legislation shouldn't cost school districts extra money because the bill requires change rather than increase.