Anderson High one of first to go 'green' in its cafeteria

HEALTHY CHOICES: Students at Anderson Union High School are receiving fresher foods made on the spot thanks to a new initiative to go green and healthy.

The Anderson Union High School District's Food Services is going "green" and creating healthy solutions.

The first high school to change from regular plastic to corn-based plastic is West Valley, but they will not be the only school site to change, Anderson Union High School and Anderson New Tech High School will also be converting to this new plastic as well as other schools within the district.

"About 75 percent of the food we serve is in plastic because it's easier for the kids to see what they're getting," said Barbara Camacho, AUHSD Food Services Supervisor. "The new plastic doesn't work well with the hot food items because we have to keep the food at 160 degrees and the containers start breaking down, but I'm confident technology will get there in the next few years and then we can accomplish our goal of going completely green."

The goal is to also phase out Styrofoam because it is worse for the environment than plastic. According to Camacho, they have replaced the Styrofoam cups with paper cups and very few school sites use Styrofoam.

Another positive for the district is the price of the "green" plastic, it is less expensive than the plastic containers they were using.

The other big change for the district's food services is the menu and the push to serve healthy alternatives.

"We used to serve baked potato wedges with every entree but now it's a nice side salad," said WVHS Head of Food Services Laura Spromberg.

"We have tri-compartment containers that separate the food from each other and the kids just love it."

According to Camacho, everything on the menu is made from scratch, so it's like giving the kids a home cooked meal.

The pizza sauce was changed and now includes pureed beans to add more fiber and is served with a side salad.

New this year to the menu is the introduction of a vegetarian salad.

"Because the kids have more of a variety, they are eating healthier and making better choices. We are also serving fresh fruit, which the kids seem to love," said Spromberg.

There has been a push on breakfast recently because of its impact on concentration, studying, and test scores. Camacho says the emphasis has really been on protein in the new menu because it stays with the students longer and they are not hungry through out the day.

"We are serving less cinnamon rolls and offering scrambled eggs and waffles, fruit cups, bagels with meat and cheese, and yogurt parfaits," said Spromberg. "We're also going to try hot cereals this winter, and I think the students will like them."