Questions posted earlier this week on NyackNewsAndViews about the Nyack School Lunch Program were forwarded to the school distrct. Carleen Millsaps, Assistant Superintendent for Business, responded on behalf of Nyack Public Schools.
We share all questions raised regarding our school lunch program and the responses with our Wellness Committee. The work of the Wellness Committee involves looking at issues related to the health and wellness of our students and making carefully considered recommendations to the District.
Questions and Answers:
- What brand of chocolate milk is served in the schools and does it contain high fructose corn syrup?
The milk is purchased from Crowley Dairy and high fructose corn syrup is listed as an ingredient. High fructose corn syrup is an ingredient that is widely used to sweeten food and is in many items including most bread products and ketchup.
- What brand(s) of yogurt are being served? What is the serving size and if different, what are the different prices?
We serve low-fat ‘€œDannon’€ yogurt. At the High School and Middle School the serving is 6 oz. and is sold for 95 cents. At the elementary schools the serving is 4 oz. and is sold for 55 cents.
- Do we serve Land O’Lakes cheese products and if so which ones?
Yes, we receive government commodity Land O’Lakes American cheese.
- Do we sell coffee to students, and if so, what brand are we offering?
Yes, coffee is sold at the high school level in many school districts.The brand we offer is ‘€œCory’€.
- In which schools do we have salad bars?
The High School is our only cafeteria where the design allows us to set-up a salad/fruit bar. We provide pre-made salads to the other schools.
- Are any of the schools still deep-frying any items?
No, there is no deep-frying in any of our schools. Items such as ‘€œfries’€ are baked.
- Is there a way to find out which items on the monthly menu arrive at the District pre-cooked and frozen, and if any do, where the meals come from?
There are companies that sell prepackaged frozen meals but we do not purchase or sell any prepackaged, precooked frozen meals in our school lunch program. We do purchase frozen pizza from Sysco Distributors for our elementary schools since those kitchens are not set up to allow us to make our own pizza like we do in the secondary schools. The frozen pizza is prepackaged, but not precooked.
- What foods served contain textured vegetable proteins?
When our government commodities are processed into chicken patties, turkey breast or hamburgers, textured vegetable protein is used. The Child Nutrition Program Administration directs the amount of protein per serving, and textured vegetable protein cannot be used to meet the protein requirement of the meal.
- What foods served in the school lunch program contain trans-fats or hydrogenated oils.
The foods served in our schools do not contain trans-fats or hydrogenated oils. We have been preparing a list of ingredients of the foods served in our school lunch program and we anticipate that this list will be completed and available on our District website in the very near future.
The school lunch program is highly regulated. We work closely with the Child Nutrition Program Administration of the State Education Department (Room 55, Albany, New York 12234). This office provides the general specifications that we must use when we bid our food service contract. Once the bid is awarded, the State Education Department Child Nutrition Program Administration must approve the contract between the District and the food service company. Without approval of the contract, we would not receive federal and New York State reimbursements.
The District encourages community members to ask questions to clarify any issues that are not understood. Questions can be directed to our Public Information Office at 845-353-7013 or emailed to info@nyackschools.com. Our committee meetings are open to the public. Anyone that would like to come and listen is welcome. At the end of committee meetings we would certainly entertain questions from the audience.
