New Haven Independent

A Snapple In Every Knapsack

by Allan Appel | February 4, 2009 3:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

(Updated) The nutrition-conscious Board of Ed ordered $100,000 worth of Snapple — 10 cans per student.

The board’s Administrative and Finance Committee approved the allotment at its meeting Monday night. It’s the same amount of Snapple that the city ordered last year.

What’s different this year is that the board has meanwhile embarked on a project to make school food more healthful.

How does so much Snapple in the school cafeterias’ coolers square with that initiative?

The types of Snapples ordered this year have changed.

“It’s not Snapple iced teas and that junk, but all juice,” said Tim Cipriano, the new director of food services (and Channel 3’s “Food Dude”). “It may be a blend of different juices, with water, and from concentrate, but it’s juice and approved by state law.”

The approval, Cipriano said, comes from the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Child Nutrition Office. “They must certify that all products we use meet the healthy food and beverage standards.”

“The Snapple products we are selling in our schools are 100% juice not a juice drink.,” Cipriano reported. “For example the green apple juice has 39 grams of sugar. The sugars are derived from natural sugars not added.”

Will Clark, the Board of Ed’s chief operating officer, noted that Snapple juices are also part of the food regime when it was run by an outside company, Aramark. They system switched control of the program this year to the Food Dude to promote more nutritious fare and more local control over purchasing.

“We have made,” added Clark, “and continue to make strategic changes where and when we can. But with that said, we must remain cognizant of purchase prices and availability of product.”

Cipriano made his appeal for more Snapple at Monday night’s meeting mainly because a clerical error in the purchasing order had called for only $5,000 worth of Snapple to be purchased this school year.

So, more Snapples are on the way. The provider, with whom the contract is struck, will be Tomasetti Distributors, headquartered in Meriden.

Food Dude Delivers
The Snapple kerfuffle aside, Will Clark was at pains to point out that in general Cipriano has in his view more than earned and justified his Food Dude moniker since his arrival in town last summer.

He has brought more whole-grains breads; fresher, more locally grown foods; reengaged unionized food service workers to take pride in their work; and explored potential collaborations, such as bulk purchasing with Yale University’s dining services, in order to increase quality and further reduce costs.

“When Aramark left,” said Clark, “we had to establish a whole new in-house purchasing system. Many were skeptical that Tim and the rest of the crew could have 20,000 meals prepared a day, as it were, overnight, but we have, and then some.”

Clark appeared particularly of initiatives such as the fresh fruit and vegetable stations installed at the new Columbus Family Academy in Fair Haven and several other schools.

“There’s no question,” said Clark, “that many fewer brown bags are being seen in the school system’s cafeterias. That is, thousands more meals are being prepared and consumed daily, and the kids are liking them.”

Will there still be a deficit in the food service budget line? Yes, said Clark. The biggest piece of the food deficit comes from what Clark says is a far too low reimbursement rate per child per meal from the federal government. “That reimbursement rate has to increase,” he said, “but it’s a political thing, and we can’t do it alone.”

However, what the Food Dude and the system in New Haven have done, said Clark, is increase the number of kids who qualify for the reimbursement. Clark estimated that 80 percent of the kids in the system meet federal income/poverty levels, but only 70 percent of the kids in the system have had their families fill out the paperwork to make the reimbursement, per child, kick in. That’s an increase over previous years, but still below the reality of New Haven’s school population.

Watch out, Kids! Salmon is Coming

The Food Dude has other initiatives to put on the table. He wants to move from fish sticks to real fish in weekly school menus..

A father himslef, the Food Dude knows kids can’t be yanked off chicken nuggets and shifted to Atlantic char over night. Still he’s proud of what’s been accomplished. The chicken still comes in from the USDA programs — although the government came up with much less than was expected in the first semester of the school year. However, whereas Aramark just turned the chicken into nuggets and various other rubberized same-tasting shapes, the Food Dude has instituted a separate intermediate step.

“We send it down to Tyson, and they roast the chicken.”

So it comes to New Haven still being a chicken. Then each bird is divided into eight parts to feed eight kids.

Coming up this semester, the Food Dude says he’ll try to introduce salmon or pollock, more fish in general that still appears to be fish.

“And what about growing the fish, as well as vegetables through hydroponics down at the Sound School?” suggested Clark, with a wink. What swims and grows at one school gets eaten at another?

“One step at a time,” said the Food Dude.

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Comments

Posted by: Daniel Casey | February 4, 2009 8:50 AM

It would be nice to see the BOE also try to work into the schools (at the very least the smaller ones) actual food, say through City Seed. A great way to create a synergy between state education and state farming.

Posted by: Bob | February 4, 2009 9:02 AM

Why not just give the kids a bowl of sugar for lunch? That is all these drinks contain. Look at the label, almost all calories come from sugar. Do we actually pay money to people like Cipriano to poison our children? I think its all part of the conspiracy to get rid of all the blacks on who's backs and sweat this country was built. Boo on Cipriano and his supporters. I call for his termination.

Posted by: New Haven mom | February 4, 2009 10:24 AM

I think that Mr. Cipriano is doing a fine job as a former Aramark employee and mother of a son in a New Haven public school. Keep up the good work!!

My son likes the food its healthy and getting better everyday!!!

If people only knew how hard it is to put a healthy breakfast and lunch on the table with the reimbursements that this program get from the State no one would complain.

Posted by: The Big Ragu | February 4, 2009 10:41 AM

Water, milk.
That's it.
Fruit juice contains just as much sugar as soda...and Snapple is even worse. There are fruit juices out there that are actually good for you, but the price tag is most likely too high for any board of ed to afford.

Posted by: anon | February 4, 2009 12:44 PM

"I think its all part of the conspiracy to get rid of all the blacks on who's backs and sweat this country was built."

Care to explain exactly what you mean?

Posted by: fedupwithliberals | February 4, 2009 12:55 PM

What, Foxon Park not good enough? How great would it have been to support local manufacturers.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | February 4, 2009 1:58 PM

I smell Kick Back!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: john john | February 4, 2009 2:33 PM

I agree w/ Carmine Ragusa on milk and water, but would add tomato / vegitable juice, and perhaps a low sugar yogurt drink.
Big Ragu, did you ever date Pinky Tuscadero? I had the biggest crush on her.

Posted by: Ned | February 4, 2009 3:32 PM

The biggest piece of the food deficit comes from what Clark says is far too many people popping out kids they can't afford to feed, then dumping them on the public schools to prepare them to be obedient wage slaves and cannon fodder, fatten them up with dead animal flesh and rot their teeth out with glorified sugar water" he said, "but it's a political thing, and we can't do it alone."

Posted by: i'm an endocrinologist | February 4, 2009 7:09 PM

"The Snapple products we are selling in our schools are 100% juice not a juice drink.," Cipriano reported. "For example the green apple juice has 39 grams of sugar. The sugars are derived from natural sugars not added."

There's 39 grams of sugar in a 12 oz can of regular coke. Sugar is sugar as far as the body is concerned. And Snapple costs a fortune. I think they should dump the Snapple altogether and spend the money more wisely.

Posted by: robn | February 5, 2009 1:12 PM

"Sugar is sugar as far as the body is concerned" I'MAE,

I'MAE,

Coca-cola is made with high fructose corn syrup which has a higher fructose-sucrose ratio than refined sugar and which a lot of medical people believe is pretty bad for you.
No?

Posted by: robn | February 5, 2009 2:11 PM

heres a good one...

Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake
2,600 calories
135 g fat (59 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fats)
263 g sugars
1,700 mg sodium

http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/20-Worst-Foods-2009/1_The_Worst_Food_in_America_of_2009.php

Posted by: Peter Cottontail | February 5, 2009 8:12 PM

So if Juice is bad should we tell our kids not to eat fruit?
Hey Farmer's can you hear me??? Stop growing Fruit. SHH, Don't tell anyone but it has SUGAR in it!

Posted by: Brian V | February 6, 2009 12:31 PM

I love the last 2 paragraphs GROW IT In New Haven AND EAT IT in New Haven.

THAT IS FORWARD THINKING!

Too bad Will Clark won't run for mayor....
Or will he?

Posted by: Let us not forge | February 6, 2009 3:35 PM

Will Clark for Mayor? I do not remember seeing Will Clark Mayo or the mayor at any of the get rid of Aramark events. In fact it was the Unions that made that happen.I am glad the food service is going in the right direction and the kids are eating healthy.But come on Will give credit where credit is due. Thank the Unions for doing what you mayo and the Mayor were trying not to do.You do remember that don't you hey if not for the Unions Aramark is still here and that is a fact!!!!

Posted by: anonymous | February 6, 2009 4:46 PM

Thank you let us not forget
It seems that all of the bigwigs at 54 Meadow st (Board of Ed headquarters) and City Hall want to take credit for all the hard work Local 217 and Local 287 did to get rid of Aramark. By these Unoins actions we alone saved the City of New Haven thousands if not millions of dollars. To me Mr Mayor that should be these 2 Unoins concessions.

Posted by: dom | February 6, 2009 5:14 PM

IS THE SALMON FARMED RAISED OR WILD CAUGHT

Posted by: 10th Ward Dem | February 6, 2009 7:45 PM

Unions under ARAMARK - over a decade.

Clark inherits ARAMARK - gone in 9 months.

Yeah, I am sure he had nothing to do with it.

If you folks who did the same thing for years and years want to fight over the credit knock yourself out,

I will take the guy who had the nerve to do what is right for the kids of New Haven and the taxpayers.

Posted by: Edward_H | February 8, 2009 12:32 PM

The Big Ragu

Water, milk.
That's it.

Milk? How can you promote milk when all those methane producing cows are helping to spur global warming! Or is it climate change now? Does anyone know what Al Gore is calling it this week?

Posted by: anonymous | February 9, 2009 6:11 PM

To 10th Ward Dem
Will Clark had absolutly nothing to do with getting rid of Aramark he bowed to Unoin protest and also saw that the food service run by Aramark had a 1.9 million deficit.

A Snapple In Every Knapsack

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