For those who haven't seen the show “Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution,” here's how it goes: The well-known chef goes into school cafeterias, examines the food — which is mostly processed — and how it's prepared — usually just frozen and reheated — and then proceeds to try to teach healthier alternatives. Oliver is often met with quite a bit of hostility, as lunch workers who have gone through the same processes every day for 20-plus years don't want to change their ways and usually view his efforts as pretentious. Administrators who appreciate Oliver's aspirations are soon hit with a big roadblock to change: money.

Here in Summit County, parents seem to think the school district is doing a pretty good job with the money it's allowed, but there's still some improvements to be made.

“Any public school system can do better in general,” said Daniel Lewis, whose daughter goes to Breckenridge Elementary. “This one is better (than most), but you can still do things to improve.”

Lewis said his daughter, a second grader, stopped taking hot lunch — of her own accord — after watching how cafeteria food was prepared on Oliver's show. Lewis said there's definitely some good choices at the school — like the salad bar, or the occasional turkey pita pocket — but overall, much of the food served in any school is processed.

“How do you make the change?” he said. “We can't change, because it's all state-mandated. We can give our input, but it's just a bigger picture of guidelines.”

USDA regs

The Summit County School District's food program is designed by Chartwells, a food service company that helps design meals for schools, kindergarten through college. Chartwells is a division of Compass Group North America, a food service management company whose parent company, Compass Group PLC, operates in over 50 countries.

“Regulations come down from the United States Department of Agriculture; there's nutrition and menu standards that schools have to follow,” said Terri Lloyd-Jones, dietitian for Chartwells schools in the West.

Jones said individual state agencies oversee school meal programs to make sure districts are adhering to nutritional guidelines. Each student must be offered: a minimum of 2 ounces of a meat or protein item (including cheese, beef or turkey); 1 ounce of grain or bread; and a minimum of two different types of fruits and vegetables equivalent to 3/4 cup. Potatoes count as a vegetable — even if they're fried — and the breading surrounding a corndog or chicken nugget counts as a grain, as long as it's manufactured with a certain amount of “credible grain.” Summit schools do offer a salad bar, with various veggies, fruits and home-made pasta salads.

Entrees options for next week's menu at Breckenridge and Frisco Elementaries include: mini corn dogs, turkey and cheese sandwich, teriyaki chicken and rice, breakfast sandwich and meatball sub. Each entree is listed with a vegetable or fruit, choice of milk, and salad bar.

Michael Burgess, food service director for the school district, said about 75 percent of the food comes from Sysco, a distributor of food service products; some proteins are attained through the USDA Commodity Food Network; bread comes from a local bakery; and milk from a dairy distribution center. He said they try to offer as little frozen produce as possible, and that Sysco lets them know when produce is local.

Lloyd-Jones said the company is trying to serve healthier options, choices like whole grains, dark greens, orange vegetables, lower-sodium products, and low-fat milk.

Too refined?

Parent Amelie Colleen, whose son goes to Summit Cove Elementary, said she would like to see a reduction in refined flours and sugars, and highly processed foods like meats or french fries.

“A lot of the kids have an unsustained energy burst after eating all that,” she said. “It affects the whole classroom when those kids are acting out.”

Colleen said the school does a good job with the budget it has, and she loves some of the healthier alternatives the schools provide — such as the salad bar or meal selections like vegetarian chili. But, kids don't always pick those options.

“The children usually go for the high-salt, high-fat food, just because it's there,” she said.

Parent Justin Pollack — who has two children in Frisco Elementary — doesn't think the lunch program is horrible, but he would like to see some fresher options in place of canned or pre-prepared foods. He said the option of chocolate milk — which is made with high fructose corn syrup — is offered alongside low-fat milk with the reasoning that it contains calcium. Lewis' daughter said most of the children in her school pick the chocolate milk, and Lewis suggests the schools just do away with the sugary option. (That's a view strongly promoted by Jamie Oliver.)

Burgess said the schools educate children within the classrooms about healthy options in the cafeteria, in the hopes students make better choices.

“It's tough to get (children) to try new things,” Burgess said. “I read it takes a child 15 times of trying something before they develop a taste for it. We just try to educate them as much we can to get them on board with trying new things. We try to work away from processed items.”

Of course, the biggest factor at work is budget. Burgess said the district aims for a cost-per-meal of about $1 to $1.15 per student. (The district charges $3 for lunch and $2 for breakfast.)

“One of the big chores is trying to keep those costs in line,” he said. “We do have a goal where we would like to be.”

Currently, Burgess said nutritional information is only available through phone calls to the school. He said the district is working towards an interactive informational guide, to be posted online.