Students at Clearview Elementary School now have a choice when it comes to what they eat for lunch. Nov. 1, St. Cloud District 742 began offering additional meal options at all their schools.

 

After spending time in lunchrooms across the district, the new supervisor of nutritional services, Joseph Happe, determined expanding students’ options for what they ate for lunch would ultimately be in their best interests, as they were out of luck if they didn’t like what the school was offering on a particular day.

 

“Every day each school now offers at least one hot option and one alternative option,” said Happe. “Ultimately, I’d like to also bring in a third option.”

 

Talking to Clearview students during lunch, he asked them what they’d like to see on the menu and overwhelmingly he was told pizza and taco in a bag. Taking their request into consideration, he brought in pizza Fridays to the school for November, serving Tony’s cheese pizza along with a yogurt parfait as the second option.

 

“It’s vanilla yogurt with fruit topped with granola,” he said. “It’s really been working well for us. It’s been extremely popular, even though it’s served on pizza days.”

 

“I think they really like the options,” said Clearview First Cook Judy Hommerding. “It’s good they can make their own choices.”

 

Big Daddy Pizza is now offered at the middle and high schools, made with whole grains, low sodium and real mozzarella cheese. The high school’s soup line had to be eliminated to bring in the pizza, however, it wasn’t a very popular option anyway.

 

“The low-sodium soup we offered wasn’t very good,” said Happe. “It’s hard to find a good soup that fits dietary guidelines. We’re still looking, chili might be a solution.”

 

To explore that possibility, he’s hosting a chili cook-off during the district’s next head cook meeting. He’s especially a fan of his grandmother’s homemade chili recipe, which he’s modified to make healthier.

 

“Whichever recipe wins the cook-off will be the district’s new chili,” he said. “It may be my grandmother’s, it may not. We’re trying to keep it fun as we evolve and change.”

 

The school has also been trying to do more “from scratch home cooking,” so new recipes have been explored.

 

Recently a student asked him if they could serve Dutch waffles one day. Happe had never heard of them so he researched the product, discovering they were like waffle cones except baked instead of deep fried. He tried one and Dutch waffles are now on the district’s menu.

 

“It was good,” he said, “I try everything before it’s offered to the students. If I don’t like it I won’t serve it to the kids.”

 

All public schools are required by law to follow strict dietary guidelines concerning meals served to students, such as limiting saturated fat and portion sizes. Meals contain a fruit, vegetable, protein, grain and milk. The goal is to offer food choices that taste good and are good for them.

 

“Exposing students to more options and letting them choose for themselves now will hopefully help them make better, healthier choices when they get out in the real world,” said Happe. 

 

District 742’s nutritional services are available on their website at isd742.org.