Cafeteria boycott continues

TALKEETNA — It’s still potluck at Su Valley Jr./Sr. High as the cafeterial food boycott begins its fourth day today.

Volunteers continue to bring food for protest potlucks in support of students who are looking for changes in the school’s hot lunch menu.

“I think it’s been good for us, bringing a bunch of people together to fix an issue we all care about,” Su Valley High Student Body President Amanda Crosby said. “We’re not going to give up.”

While there is talk of the school district forming a campus food advisory panel, which students and administrators view as progress, students say they will stretch the boycott until at least Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are school conference days. Students will not be in class those days so parents and teachers can hold meetings on student progress and conduct.

Crosby said students told Mat-Su Borough School District nutrition staff that the food boycott could happen again at any time even if it were ended this week.

“They weren’t very happy about that,” she said.

Students began boycotting breakfast and lunch offerings on Thursday, citing a lack of fresh food and few meal options. The student council organized parents and other community members to bring food and supplies to school portables. Lunch hours have turned into potlucks, with few students buying food.

District Nutrition Services Supervisor Cindy Reilly said the boycott will have an impact on her department’s budget, but the exact financial hit is not clear yet.

On day one of the boycott the Su Valley food server prepared 70 meals. “He threw out 58,” Reilly said.

School lunches cost $3.50 each. The state reimburses the school for subsidized means, but it still costs $6 per meal to purchase the food and transport it to Su Valley. The district does not collect the 40 cents it might for low-cost lunches because Reilly said administering that fee is more expensive than letting the fee go uncollected.

Reilly said it was good to hear students voice their concerns and to explain the economic and practical challenges of feeding students at a remote campus while adhering to federal guidelines.

“We walk a fine line between getting enough protein, enough fiber, enough fat,” she said.

Nutritionists must also balance their menus against a trio of challenges — strict U.S. Department of Agriculture rules, the school district budget and the fact they must offer will kids buy and eat, Reilly said.

The food served at Su Valley is a larger version of the nutrition center’s elementary school lunches, and is nutritionally balanced to every federal mandate except for cholesterol levels, a new requirement, she said. The district will comply with cholesterol rules by December when those rules become mandatory.

Mat-Su Borough School District Superintendent George Troxel said the district liked one suggestion made during an impromptu meeting with students Thursday, the first day of the boycott — a food advisory group of district officials, parents and students.

Reilly said she would welcome the formation of a campus food advisory panel. “We would love to have a district-wide one, but some of the schools aren’t interested.”

The district is exploring having a salad or soup bar at Su Valley once a week. Reilly said paid lunch participation is low at the campus, and the services offered could depend on the number of kids who participate.

“A lot of kids bring their own lunch,” she said.

New schools trustee Susan Pougher is, like other board members, constrained by a board policy stating that official comments from board members about school issues should come from the board president.

Pougher is also a former head of district nutrition services and said she has a personal concern that the more than 50 percent of Su Valley kids who must eat subsidized lunches could feel stigmatized when they return to the lunchroom. She hopes that will not happen.

“On a personal level, I’m glad that the students feel empowered to be able to protest,” Pougher said.

Crosby, the student government president, said the meeting with nutrition services cleared up a lot of questions. Students were invited to tour the nutrition center to see for themselves how and where their food is prepared.

Contact John R. Moses at john.moses@frontiersman.com or call 352-2270.