In last year's sour economy, Utah's schools served nearly 2 million more free student meals than the year before, through the federally funded National School Lunch Program.
In 2007-08, roughly 16,738,159 free meals were served; last year, there were 18,713,290, according to Charlene Allert, the assistant director of the child nutrition program for the Utah State Office of Education.
"So I would say that we increased by quite a bit last year, and these are only preliminary numbers," Allert said.
More students coming into the schools might have been a factor in the increase. But the number of "paid" lunches and reduced-priced lunches stayed roughly the same as in the past few years. The total number of school lunches served in the state was roughly 56,677,699, with 31,549,660 paid for by parents.
And this year the number of free lunches is likely to rise again.
"We send out letters every year to families on the Food Stamp Program or the Family Employment Program, telling them they qualify for the school lunch program," said Allert. "In August 2008, the state sent out 29,000 letters. This year, we sent out 42,000 letters. That's a function of how many more people are now on food stamps or the Family Employment Program."
She added, "If families are having a hard time making ends meet, they should fill out an application form at the school or in the registration packet and see if they qualify."
While some students casually turn up their nose at school lunch, for others, it's the best meal — and possibly the only meal — of their day.
"Certainly for a lot of kids that receive free meals, this is the most well-balanced meal they receive during the day," said Allert, adding that the federally funded National School Lunch Program is "a lifesaver for many families."
Meanwhile, some school districts are trying harder to make the meals more nutritionally sound.
The new Canyons District is putting parsnips, cauliflower, jicama and other much-maligned fruits and veggies on its cafeteria menus.
Sabasthian Varas, Canyons' director of nutritional services, said such menu items may sound like they wouldn't go over well with picky children, but they have proved to be successful in trial runs.
Other changes include whole grains in breads, rolls, pasta and rice.
Deep-fat fryers have been nixed; the "fries" will be oven-baked and include strips of good-for-you sweet potatoes.
To go along with these changes, the nutritional services department launched a "Harvest of the Month" program to educate kids on nutritional benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
In September, watermelon and tomatoes are the focus.
The "better-for-you" lunch push seems to be building nationwide. Whole Foods Market and chef Ann Cooper, self-proclaimed "Renegade Lunch Lady," have launched a free national "School Lunch Revolution" campaign.
Their free Web site, thelunchbox.org, is a resource for food service directors wanting to replace processed foods with fresh, made-from-scratch foods in a realistic, cost-effective manner.
There are recipes with nutritional and cost analyses, and videos of cooking techniques.
Also Hidden Valley Ranch has kicked off its fourth annual Love Your Veggiesgrant program. The initiative will provide $10,000 grants to 10 public elementary schools in the United States to support increased access to and consumption of fresh produce during school meals. Readers can apply on behalf of their schools at LoveYourVeggies.com.
— Valerie Phillips