MICHIGAN, USA — A parent reached out to 13 ON YOUR SIDE with concerns over the lunch offerings at her child's elementary school. The parent said her child came home hungry.
Friday at MacNaughton Elementary School in Tri County Area Public Schools, the school lunch menu read: "hard boiled egg, Cheez-Its, celery, and fresh apple." Thursday, it was: "granola, yogurt, cheese stick, baby carrots, fresh orange."
The district's food service director said the menu did meet USDA guidelines for school lunches.
The superintendent for the district, Allen Cumings, also pointed out those two days were half days of school for the elementary students. On those days, they like to give cold options for lunch, so the students can take them home if they like. Also, the elementary students at the K-2 building are eating in their classrooms due to COVID-19 protocols, and have limited options.
However, the district did not even need to offer school lunch on those days.
"Schools are not actually required to serve lunch on half days," said Diane Golzynski, director of the Office of Health and Nutrition Services at Michigan Department of Education, "But if they do serve lunch, it will still have to meet the same requirements as if it was a full day of school."
The requirements for a school lunch menu are made by the federal government. Golzynski said each menu must contain a protein (either meat or a meat alternative), a whole grain, a fruit, a vegetable and a fluid milk.
The amounts of each of those categories varies by student age and grade. For example, students in elementary school are required to be served eight to ten ounces of meat a week, with a minimum of one ounce per day.
"I think the biggest thing for everyone to remember right now," said Golzynski, "is that the school food service directors are really trying. They're really trying hard, and their hands are just tied between lack of staff and lack of ability to get the product."
A spokesperson from Chatwells K12, the food service provider for Tri County Area Schools, issued this statement:
"We always welcome feedback from students and parents about the meals we serve so we can continue to create a best-in-class school meal program.
Families can rest assured that we have a Registered Dietitian on our team who reviews all of our menus to ensure every meal we serve always meets the strict set of guidelines and standards set forth by both the Michigan Department of Education and the USDA, which include serving protein, whole grain, fruit/vegetables, and milk with every meal.
Our team encourages parents to share any concerns or feedback directly with our Director of Dining Services. We will continue to adapt and update our menus and are committed to working together to serve up happy and healthy every day."
Cumings also said he would be exploring options with the food provider to give more lunch options for elementary school children.
Golzynski said many schools are also facing challenges with supply shortages both in food and lunch supplies. This is a national trend. Many districts are finding ways to source ingredients locally to keep up with the requirements. Staffing in lunch rooms is also a challenge.
"I had another food service director talk about he's so short staffed, that he's basically running one person in a building who has to cook, serve, clean up and everything in a single building," said Golzynski, "And he's had to call EMS twice for the stress on his staff, because there's just there's no there's not enough staff to go around."
RELATED VIDEO: Latest national shortage: school lunch food
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.