Hold the fries? Not entirely, schools say

Middle and high schools will sell fries by the cup, but won't offer them as a vegetable choice with a full-price lunch.

By KELLY RYAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 5, 2001

Pinellas students, this is the news you have been waiting for with bated breath: French fries are officially getting chopped from middle and high school full-price lunches.

The much-anticipated decision came late Thursday, after the proposal was presented to Pinellas' 16 high school principals. The message from the district's leaders: You might not like it, but it will be good for you.

"We all agreed we would say it is the nutritionally right thing to do," said food services director Gray Miller.

Last month, a committee of cafeteria managers and nutritionists recommended that middle and high school students no longer be able to choose fries as one of the vegetables on the full-price lunch. But they didn't push for fries to be eliminated. Instead, middle and high school students will be able to get fries a la carte, for $1 for a 12-ounce cup.

Here's the skinny on the radical proposal: Government guidelines say that, when averaged over a week, only 30 percent of school lunch calories can come from fat. To meet that requirement, nutritionists said, fries had to be downsized.

Miller said the conversation with the principals went well, though they did ask whether students would miss the unlimited access to fries. After discussing the rise in youth obesity and the dangers of high-fat diets, the principals happily went along with the proposal, she said.

"We really spent a great deal of time talking about the nutritional values of french fries," Miller said. "It was a pretty positive conversation."

Cafeteria managers have promised that students won't go wanting for starch. In place of fries, schools will offer items such as oven tater tots, roasted and seasoned red potatoes and twice-baked potatoes.

The change takes effect when the 2001-2002 school year begins Aug. 22.

Another change will make meals healthier. Instead of offering desserts five days a week, desserts will be on the menu only twice a week. Unlike the fries change, the dessert change affects elementary, middle and high schools.

While high-fat items like fries and cakes are being cut, the district is trying to add other items that will satisfy students' appetites. For instance, the district is on the hunt for a veggie burger and is planning to add wrapped sandwiches, like those offered at fast-food restaurants.

"I think we have a lot more to offer," said Carol Workley, cafeteria manager at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg. "I would love to go a couple of days without fries."

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