A similar mandate is found in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. It also does not provide funding for the regulation. Because the USDA says there is no nutritional value in water, Binkle says, water is not considered part of a reimbursable meal. As a result, the cost of providing water falls solely on the shoulders of foodservice directors.
Another issue is how the water must be distributed: water fountains, bubblers, pitchers of water in cafeterias? Yet another factor is how that water is given to students to drink: cups provided by foodservice programs, cups or containers brought from home?
Like California, Massachusetts also passed a bill requiring districts to provide water to students. Andover’s Koutroubas says she thinks the requirement is a good one. Before the legislation she offered water for 50 cents, but she had never thought about giving the water away for free. “[The requirement] is really simple to implement. You have to offer the water for free. You have to provide the cup. We use a container and we keep it in an area where we can monitor it.”
Koutroubas adds that because the water requirement is unfunded it’s important for directors to make sure district administrators know the budgetary constraints the child nutrition program are being put under. “We have to educate our superintendents so that they understand what we’re up against, so they see us more as a part of the school budget versus contributing to the school budget,” she says. “The small amount of money that we receive should be going into the lunch, not the lights or the custodians.”
“The water mandate is a challenge,” agrees Eric Goldstein, chief executive of the Office of School Support Services for New York City’s 1,700 public schools. “We are working with the health department to put in water bubblers to see if that’s the best way. It’s a little expensive. Alternatively we can put in more water coolers. It’s a less attractive way to do it, but it does work. [Offering free water] is a good idea. If money weren’t an issue, if it were funded, we would put in water bubblers. We give [students] cups for free. [Buying cups] does add up quick, but what allows us to do it is we buy in bulk and it drives the cost down.”
Another hot topic in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is the proposed meal pattern changes. The new meal pattern requires one cup per day of fruit for breakfast, an increase of one-half cup. There also are increases in the amount of fruits and vegetables that must be served at lunch. In addition, the law mandates a weekly requirement for dark green and orange vegetables and legumes, and limits the amount of starchy vegetables that can be served.
aww, poor guy
