FOCUS: FOOD PRICES
Rising food prices pinch school lunch programs
Cooperative purchasing among districts may blunt rising costs
By Barbara O’Brien
Updated: 05/06/08 2:23 PM
-
- Fourth-grade pupils, from left, Kole Marquardt, Courtney Parrilla, Kelly Rodgers and Mario Giacobbe pick up their lunches in the cafeteria line at Lindbergh Elementary School in the Town of Tonawanda.
More Photos
Related Content
Related Stories
Before they opened the bids for next year’s school meal products Monday, area “lunch ladies” knew that prices would be going up.
Schools have swallowed the increases in food prices this year, but what they’ve seen is enough to make them gag: A 50-pound bag of wheat jumped from $12 to $32. Bagels went from $8.75 a case to $10.97. Milk is up by 25 percent.
Some increases already are being felt in the cafeteria.
In Buffalo Public Schools, where 29,000 meals are served each day, pennies add up. Cafeteria workers have been told to add more spinach and drop down from three grape tomatoes to two in the spinach salad. Children still will get the required half-cup of fresh vegetables.
It’s not just the city schools. Lancaster is getting deliveries less frequently to cut down on the gasoline surcharge some vendors have added.
Akron is making more items from scratch to save money on processed foods.
“I think everybody is struggling,” said Buffalo Food Service Director Bridget O’Brien-Wood. “I think parents will still find it as an economical alternative to brown bagging it.”
Food service directors say rather than jeopardize healthy meals, they will probably have to raise lunch prices next year. They got a glimpse of how much when bids from eight vendors on more than 800 items for breakfast and lunch for 34 participating districts were opened Monday at Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services.
The 16 directors spent the day reading off the bids, writing them on a master sheet and comparing them.
“It’s a scary thing this year because of all the increases everywhere,” said Barbara Albi, food service director at Depew Central School District and member of the board of the Erie County School Nutrition Association.
“We believe the cooperative bidding will be our saving grace,” said Barbara Goodman, food service director of Akron Central Schools, referring to the added purchasing power gained by bidding through BOCES as part of a larger group instead of each school district soliciting bids individually.
But before setting prices for next year, school cafeterias have to get through this year, which has seen milk and wheat products soar in price.
“What we charge for milk, that hasn’t changed,” said Susan Birmingham, food service director at Frontier Central Schools. “Our prices are set for the year. I’m not taking in the revenue to cover it.”
With its warehouse on East Delavan Avenue, the Buffalo school system is able to handle large loads of food, sometimes on short notice. A federal commodities supplier recently asked if the system could take a truck full of frozen strawberries. Absolutely, was the reply.
“I just got a truck load of brown rice, and that will get us through next year,” O’Brien-Wood added.
School cafeterias must be self-supporting. They keep prices low through government reimbursements and make money on a la carte items. Those used to be high profit items like French fries and sugary snacks like cupcakes.
Today, with district wellness committees pushing for more nutritious school lunches, it’s fresh fruit, yogurt and trail mix.
Federal and state reimbursements for free school lunches add up to $2.53 per lunch, or $2.55 per lunch in districts like Buffalo, where more than 60 percent of the students receive free lunches.
The reimbursement for reduced- price lunches is $2.28 per lunch in most districts and $2.30 in Buffalo. For each full-price lunch, most districts receive 29 cents, while Buffalo gets 2 cents more.
Akron charges $1.35 for elementary school lunches and $1.70 for high school lunches. But when Goodman calculated the cost 18 months ago, it was about $2.90 a meal. Cafeterias have to make up the difference somewhere, but directors say they won’t sacrifice healthy foods.
“I would hate to think I’ve got to take a step back and reduce the amount of fruits and vegetables we’ve been offering for the last five years,” said Frontier’s Birmingham.
Kim Roll, food service director at the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District, said it has been a struggle to get vendors and manufacturers to start offering the healthier foods, like whole wheat rolls and hamburger buns. It also takes a while to get children used to things like wheat bread and brown rice.
“The struggle was to get manufacturers to get products that would fit [the guidelines],” she said. “Now the products are there for us, they cost a little bit more.”
She and others praised manufacturers like Perry’s Ice Cream for coming out with a line of low-fat ice cream that still appeals to children.
Districts point to the acceptance of cooperative bidding among numerous districts and to government commodities as the best ways to save money. They also say they are preaching conservation of food and paper products.
“We’re trying to make it a team effort in the district that people are aware of conserving and preventing waste,” Goodman said.
She said many cafeteria directors look to buy local produce when it’s in season each spring and fall. They can get a good price, and the transportation cost is lower. She’s also having workers bake more items from scratch. They’re fresh and can cost less.
Kevin Kornowicz, food service director at Lancaster, said delivery charges can really eat into a budget, so he’s planning on fewer deliveries.
“We’re going to try and cut that in half for next year,” he said.
It will take several days for next year’s food bids to be analyzed.
