Dear Parents of Elementary School Children: 

 

In preparation for our meeting on November 16, I personally read each parent concern that was emailed to the district regarding the elementary lunch program. After reviewing the comments, I created a topical outline based on the specific issues raised about the program and addressed each one in turn. Since many of the parents could not attend the meeting, I will recap the issues discussed at the meeting.  I want the Mamaroneck community to know that Whitsons is keenly aware of the issues facing the program, and how we plan to improve it.  

 

Issue: Menus not healthy. Too many fried items.

 

Response: In the past, the menus were not written with the proper menu descriptors. Normally, the menu descriptor is the communication device that gives the parent confidence in the nutritional soundness of the product being served. This was an oversight by the school lunch director and has been corrected. In school lunch, at the elementary level, all menu items are baked. Whitsons does not fry anything. Additionally, Whitsons does use whole wheat products on hamburger buns and sliced bread. Whitsons will also be adding fresh fruit to the menus once a week. The remainder of the week Whitsons will serve canned fruit in juice, not syrup.  

 

It’s worth mentioning that in school lunch, all pre-made products used in the center of the plate meal have been labeled CN, which stands for Child Nutrition. The CN label certifies the exact portion size needed for each child so they receive U.S.D.A. required nutrition for that meal.

 

Issue: Food not appealing.

 

Response: After reading the comments, I believe the concerns were directed at the hot food, not cold. Since the district does not have functioning kitchens in the three elementary schools being served by this program, Whitsons has had to establish a production site in the middle school. The food is prepared then portioned, heated or refrigerated, and placed into thermal containers (both hot and cold) for transport to each school. At each school, the food is then placed into a warming vessel or refrigerator for holding during the service period. From there, the food is distributed to each table by class or picked up at a central table. Since the hot food needs to be properly heated and held at the right temperature throughout this process, about three hours in duration, there will be some deterioration in food quality. The food is completely safe, but the quality of the food is lessened over time under heat. That said, for the most part, the menus are based around items that are kid friendly and hold up well under these conditions. Occasionally, there have been mishaps that occur during transportation, and these have been rectified.  Whitsons is aware of the comments and is actively working to improve food quality. Whitsons is also aware that the Mylar bags currently used to hold the individual portions of hot food have been difficult to open. We are researching other holding bags that will be easier for the students to open.

 

Issue: Milk shortages and the use of chocolate flavored milk as opposed to just plain milk.

 

Response:  Whitsons acknowledges that there have been shortages of milk in each school from time to time. We have redoubled our efforts to ensure this does not happen moving forward. All milk used in the program is 1% low fat. Whitsons offers students two milk choices each day, plain low fat milk and low fat chocolate milk. The vast majority of the students who participate in the program choose low fat chocolate milk. As a result, the cold portion of the meal is packed with the low fat chocolate milk choice.  The selection of milk options offered in the school lunch program is the same throughout all schools in the district. From a nutrition perspective, it is important that the children consume milk with their lunch. Not having the low fat chocolate milk option available for the children will result in less students choosing milk with their meal. Whitsons is aware that there are some families in the community that do not want the low fat chocolate milk offered to their children. Therefore, Whitsons will make sure that additional plain low fat milk is available to any student wishing to exchange the low fat chocolate milk.

 

Issue: Limited menu selection. Running out of food for enrolled students.

 

Response: The program operating at the elementary level in the Mamaroneck School District is unusual in the world of school lunch. As I mentioned before, the district is not equipped with kitchens to handle a traditional school lunch program. Therefore, an alternative solution had to be devised to serve the community. Initially, Whitsons designed a simple order entry system using spreadsheets to manage the enrollment process. The spreadsheets were linked to daily production sheets, which are used to determine how much food to order and produce each day. The system was (still is) labor intensive and is susceptible to scribing errors. The scribing errors left enrolled children off the production lists for the day, which in turn, led to food shortages or missing meals for students—we agree that this is a completely unacceptable condition.

 

To reorganize ourselves and to reduce the chance of scribing errors, the district and Whitsons agreed to a limited menu selection in November. This I know is the source of many comments from the community. In December, the menu selection has been increased to one hot and one cold menu choice per day. From there, we will reevaluate each month, ultimately adding one additional menu choice. While many of the scribing errors have been corrected, as a backup, Whitsons will continue to send more meals than have been ordered, just in case. Looking ahead, Dr. Grucci is evaluating an on-line order entry system in which the parents can enroll their children, make menu selections and pay by credit card. Should the district ultimately elect to move forward with this order entry system, the current manual system for enrollment will still exist for parents who choose that option.

 

Issue: Food Service Director not responding at all or in timely manner to parent inquiries.

 

Response: Whitsons provides a service to the community, and as such, should respond timely to any inquiries or questions parents may have. Our food service director is Mrs. Debra Donleavy. Currently, two communication options exist: email or telephone. The email address is Whitsons@mamkschools.org or to contact the food service department directly by telephone, dial 220-3000 extension 4390. Please allow adequate time for a return call. During service hours, 7:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m., the director and assistant are often out of the office visiting and reviewing each schools lunch program.

 

I hope this answers many of the questions the parents of the community have.

 

John Whitcomb

Vice President, Whitsons Culinary Group