Kids' waistlines vs. bottom line

To break even, cafeterias must make money on popular, fattening choices

Connor McCauley and John Wallace, two freshmen at Raleigh's Millbrook High School, don't mull the cafeteria's offerings at lunchtime. They dig into spicy fries and the Clux Delux chicken filet sandwich, a combo that packs 875 calories.

When asked why they don't choose a chef salad or mixed vegetables, Wallace replies as if such items never cross his mind, let alone his lips. He asks, "Salad and veggies?"

So much for teenagers choosing long-term health over immediate, greasy gratification.

Officials in Wake and other Triangle counties say they are doing what they can to help fight a national childhood obesity epidemic. In 2006, a quarter of North Carolina's children ages 5 to 11 were overweight -- as were 30 percent of those 12 to 18.

But students will eat what they want, and it is tough to sell salads with the smell of fry oil in the air.

Those responsible for school lunches on the district level say they are not to blame for the tempting and fattening food still offered. They point to federal and state lawmakers who have created a system that requires them to fulfill opposing mandates: Deliver nutritious meals while marketing and selling enough extra food to keep the books balanced.

What will high school students pay extra for? French fries. Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. Pizza Hut pizza.

"It's very simple: We have to pay our bills," said Nadine Goodwin Blake, executive director of child nutrition services for Durham Public Schools.

The situation is further complicated by a U.S. Department of Agriculture requirement that school cafeteria meals provide a minimum number of calories. Nutritious foods alone often fall short, forcing schools to add high-calorie dishes or risk losing their federal free- and reduced-price lunch subsidy.

A la carte sales vital

The pressure to add foods that add pounds is particularly strong under North Carolina's financing system.

In Wake County, last year's child nutrition budget was $43 million. Of that, $25 million came from the federal government to pay for free and reduced-price lunches. The lunches must meet strict federal dietary guidelines on calories, fat, salt, and so forth. Five million dollars came from students who paid the full price. The remaining $13 million came from "supplemental sales," or the sale of a la carte french fries and Pizza Hut pizza or extra milk, sandwiches and cookies.

A little more than half of $760 million or so spent annually for North Carolina school lunch programs comes from federal reimbursements for each of the 1.2 million meals served daily in the cafeterias. The rest of the budget comes largely from sales of a la carte foods.

"We have to have a la carte," said Beth Taylor, director of child nutrition services of Johnston County schools. "It's how we make money."

Other school nutrition directors across the Triangle agree that they couldn't meet their budgets without "a la carte" sales. For instance, when school cafeteria workers, like all other state employees, received a 4 percent pay raise this summer, lawmakers didn't provide money to cover the increase. So, Moody said, "I've got to sell more cookies to give a raise."

And to buy a new $80,000 truck when the old one breaks down. And to cover the rising cost of milk. An 8-ounce carton costs 6 cents more this year.

In 2005, the legislature devised new dietary guidelines and set up a pilot program to test them in seven school districts. To cover budget deficits in any of those districts, $25,000 was provided.

"Collectively, the school districts lost 15 times that amount in five months," said Lynn Hoggard, section chief for child nutrition services at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. "We had to stop the pilot."