Have you noticed a change in school lunch recently? Maybe like the addition of orange chicken and fewer nachos? Head chef Lisa Lacourse provided the reason for these new creative lunch menu options.
“There is a problem with the supply chain getting shorted,” Ms. Lacourse said.
On Oct. 6, Banneker was supposed to have guava pastry for breakfast. Ms. Lacourse placed the order but unfortunately, it never arrived. This has been a problem that has been occurring since the start of the year. If the order doesn’t come the chefs have to make their own changes. Meals are decided based on what the students like to eat, she said.
Food and nutrition service make up the menu every week for DCPS students. Due to the shortage and lack of availability of certain foods to order, a lot of the products are not available.
There has been an improvement in how school lunch had been in previous years. There was a ban on chicken nuggets with breading due to nutritional issues, but now chicken nuggets have breading.
“On the menu is chocolate chip or banana muffins but the only kind available when ordering is blueberry and even apple is out of stock right now,” Ms. Lacourse said.
The cafeteria is often affected by the events that are occurring outside of school such as grain shortages that affect the bread products, or even the avian flu, which caused a lack of meat for sandwiches.
Before then-first lady Michelle Obama pushed for healthier school lunches and the change in USDA nutrition regulations (especially in DCPS), more raw products were used to make meals such as fried chicken, fish cakes and fish patties with deep fryers. Now, Ms. Lacourse said, food is pre-packaged and not as fresh.
Even through all these changes, lunches keep students happy and healthy.
