OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) – The menu is shrinking for north central Florida students. The number of items available, and even the plates they eat off of, are in short supply.
In two of the region’s biggest school districts, the rise of inflation and supply chain issues have led administrators to make some significant changes.
“We have seen some price increases,” Jamie Lovett, Supervisor of Food and Nutrition for Marion County Public Schools (MCPS) said. “We have had to limit our menu options due to supply chain shortages and staffing shortages.”
At Marion County elementary schools, instead of offering three lunch options a day, they’ve had to limit it to two. At secondary schools, they went from seven options per day down to four entrees.
According to a recent study from the School Nutrition Association, out of more than 1,200 school districts polled, unavailable menu items, as well as supplies and packaging, were the top challenges they faced this year.
“Mainly it’s been paper goods that we’ve struggled with,” Caron Rowe with Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) Food & Nutrition Services said. “Students eat with their eyes so we want to make sure that not only is the food [of] quality but it is presented in a nice fashion as well,” she added.
In Marion County, Lovett said they anticipate this to continue, just not as severely.
“We’re hopeful that with some proper planning and working with our vendors we can limit the number of substitutions and [items] out of stock,” Lovett said.
By the end of this month, school lunch could potentially no longer be free for all students. Once it became available, Rowe said, ACPS has taken advantage of the Seamless Summer Option.
The Seamless Summer Option was a COVID-19 initiative through the USDA to offer meals to children 18 and younger for free, but at this point, it’s unclear if Congress will renew the program. It’s set to expire on the 30th, which would impact the next school year for educational institutions across the country.
“So that’s still in limbo to know if we need to go back to the traditional way of having students fill out the free and reduced meal application,” Rowe said.
But for now, parents can rest easy knowing that their kids will still get fed this summer. Through the Summer Food Service Program, supported by Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, MCPS will offer free meals at 33 locations.
Anyone 18-years-old and younger is eligible for this program. Meals will be available Monday through Thursday from June 6 through July 14 (except the July 4 holiday). The district is closed on Fridays during the summer.
ACPS runs Your Choice Fresh Food & Nutrition Services to host its summer meal program. Through this program, all meals must be consumed onsite. Again, anyone 18 and younger can eat for free until July 22.
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