White House honors Salida schools' meals

Salida schools head chef Billy Reid will take a bow on the White House lawn Monday afternoon for serving some of the most healthful school meals in the nation.

Reid, director of Salida Union School District Child Nutrition Services, and his team won the Gold Award of Distinction in the HealthierUS Schools Challenge, a part of first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative. Salida's was the first of two such awards in California and among about 60 given nationwide.

The first lady will preside at the Washington, D.C., event and has asked to use Reid's quote from a Bee article in her speech: "I find myself honored to wake up every morning and go out and feed children."

"How cool is that?" Reid said Thursday.

Reid's central kitchen serves all Salida schools, as well as meals at Hart-Ransom, Paradise and Shiloh districts and Petersen Alternative Center for Education in Modesto, believed to be the first alternative school in the nation to share in the award.

Salida won based on a whole-child approach to health — classroom nutrition education, P.E. exercise programs and excellent school meals. Menus had to meet high standards for whole grains, less fat and sugar, and lots of fruits and vegetables.

The Salida kitchen provides about 4,000 hot breakfasts and lunches a day, and supplements tight food dollars with catering gigs, Reid said.

Cafeteria meals are a far cry from his days as a high-end chef, when each plate was art and butter could be used with abandon, but he puts the same talent to work devising nutritious meals that kids enjoy.

"Honestly, in Salida, we've always moved toward a healthier menu, done in a way that appeals to children," he said.

Healthy options

Students in Salida cafeterias have baskets of bright fruits and crisp vegetables in bite-size chunks. Sandwiches and deli-style salads are daily options alongside the hot meal.

The meals' quality wins the awards, but it's the quantity — even during summer months — that pays the bills for school districts, he said. The federal meal repayment for poor children is higher than schools could charge and, with zealous penny pinching, a bit above what each meal costs.

Reid said that, unfortunately, there's no shortage of students who qualify for the free lunch program in this area. Demand for free lunches skyrocketed this summer: Reid said the nutrition program served more than 4,000 lunches in one week compared with 1,500 in the same period in 2010.

"Everybody eats," he said. "And that's what we want, to help people in hard times."

Salida Superintendent Twila Tosh, three Salida principals and all but one of Salida's trustees will head to Washington with him, Reid said. The district and food service budgets will help send employees. Board members are paying their own way, Reid said.

The Salida delegation is leaving today to shoot a portion of a HealthierUS Schools Challenge video on healthful school meals and will return early Tuesday.

The Stanislaus County Office of Education is sending a representative from the Peterson center as well, county Superintendent Tom Changnon said.

Bee education reporter Nan Austin can be reached at naustin@modbee.com or (209) 578-2339.