New health standards create challenges for Ceres school clubs

For many seniors at Central Valley High School, the once highly anticipated event Food Court has become a bitter disappointment.

Since the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 went into effect in the 2014-15 school year, all items that are sold at Food Court, or throughout the school day, must meet strict guidelines. Items must have fewer than 200 calories, less than 230 milligrams of sodium, less than 10 percent of calories in saturated fat, 35 percent or less of calories from sugar or fat, and 51 percent whole grain. The guidelines have effectively limited the options for clubs that raise money during Food Court – an event held once every quarter.

“There have always been standards in place for nutrition during the school day; the standards just got more strict with the new act passed and signed into place,” said Kristin Lilly-Porter, the student activities director at Central Valley High School. The Associated Student Body “has always had to follow guidelines, so when the new laws passed, we had to hold several meetings and talk to our vendors about products and new items we could sell.”

Those new items that meet the guidelines must be approved by the Ceres Unified School District board of trustees before they can be sold by clubs. “The new standards have created some challenges for us with fundraising, but we have still been able to see profits, and vendors and restaurants in our area have created healthier options on their menus,” Lilly-Porter said. “We continue to send in items to be approved each month by our board of trustees, and our list of approved items is growing.”

Though new items are being approved, some students still dislike the new standards. “The food for sale is disgusting and is simply not worth the money,” said Mikayla Carrillo, a senior. “Why would I pay for food that is healthy but unappetizing? These new standards are just hurting clubs who are trying to raise money.”

For some clubs, the benefits of Food Court were not worth the cost of buying the food to sell. “We did not participate in Food Court this quarter,” said Nikko Womack, president of the Newspaper Club, “because the new food restrictions make it hard to bring in a decent profit. In the past, we’d be making 300 or more dollars selling McDonald’s, but we simply cannot make that type of money selling items that meet the health standards.”

With the loss of revenue, clubs are looking at options to raise money. “We are thinking of new ways, such as holding evening fundraisers at local restaurants or selling more advertisements, to raise money for our paper,” Womack said, “but I would be lying if I said that the new health standards didn’t hurt us.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 10:49 AM with the headline "New health standards create challenges for Ceres school clubs."