During an appearance with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, LAUSD Supt. John Deasy says the Los Angeles school system will stop offering high-sugar chocolate and strawberry milk.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/jY4to6
Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy, pictured in January, announced this week that the LAUSD will stop offering chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk in its schools. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / January 13, 2010)
DOCUMENT: Letter from Supt. John Deasy to the school board
April 28, 2011 - Los Angeles schools will remove high-sugar chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk from their lunch and breakfast menus after food activists campaigned for the change, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy announced this week.
Deasy revealed his intent, which will require approval by the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education, during an appearance with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Tuesday night.
The policy change is part of a carefully negotiated happy ending between the Los Angeles Unified School District and Oliver. The chef's confrontations with the school system became a main theme in the current season of the TV reality show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution."
The timing of the flavored-milk ban, which had been under consideration for some time, gave Oliver a positive outcome and allowed the nation's second-largest school system to escape the villain's role. Deasy quickly alerted the school board to the deal before going on television.
In early episodes, Oliver's show had presented former Supt. Ramon Cortines and school board members with unflattering sound bites and camera angles. But with Deasy, the British chef gushed that he'd enroll his own child in L.A. public schools, if he had one here.
L.A. Unified led the nation in efforts to ban junk-food snacks and sodas, but its meals could be healthier, despite exceeding federal standards.
"A popular breakfast offering of Frosted Flakes doused in chocolate milk with a side of coffee cake and a carton of orange juice contains 51 grams of added sugar (or 79 grams of total sugar counting those that occur naturally in the milk and the juice)," wrote USC school-nutrition experts Emily Ventura and Michael Goran in a recent Los Angeles Times editorial. A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of sugar, they noted.
Food activist Matthew Sharp called the impending ban, which would take effect in the next school year, "an important teaching tool for students to wean off the sweet tooth" that again puts L.A. Unified among national leaders in nutrition.
The high-sugar chocolate milk has been banned in other districts across the country, including Fairfax County in Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Other steps to improve school food in Los Angeles could include swapping out burgers in favor of sandwiches and offering pasta and soup rather than chicken nuggets, said Sharp of the nonprofit California Food Policy Advocates.
Healthier offerings could cost more, however, and prove less popular, jeopardizing federal funding if student consumption drops. That same concern holds with eliminating flavored milk, although the menu change itself will have no added cost.
About 75% of milk sold is flavored, Oliver noted on the Kimmel show.
Sharp said he anticipated a slight, temporary drop in milk consumption. But, he added, "it's a little tough to know how the real audience of students will react."
TEXT OF DEASY’S INFORMATIVE TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE
Los Angeles Unified School District
Office of the Superintendent
TO: Members, Board of Education
FROM: Dr. John E. Deasy, Superintendent
SUBJECT:ELIMINATION OF MILK WITH ADDED SUGARS
INFORMATIVE Date April 26, 2011
I am recommending the elimination of flavored milk with added sugars in all LAUSD schools in anticipation of the renewal of milk contracts by the Board of Education on June 14, 2011. This change will benefit our students by offering them only milk products that lack the higher amounts of added sugars. The District should not experience any appreciable difference in revenue received from the federal reimbursement program.
BACKGROUND LAUSD cares deeply about student nutrition and our goal is to be the premier school food establishment in America. LAUSD is already a recognized national leader in the effort to promote healthy food and lifestyles to combat diabetes, obesity and other health issues- including the banning of sodas and other drinks high in sugar, sale of junk food, elimination of foods with added trans fats, and the increase of access to fruits and vegetables.
Over the past decade, the Board of Education has done an outstanding job in establishing meal nutritional standards exceeding the USDA requirements. The District's nutrition policies are more stringent than any school district in the United States. To this end, the elimination of flavored milk with added sugars further strengthens the District's goal of providing a balanced nutritious meal for all students. Added sugars in our flavored milk products provide an additional 6 to 13 grams of sugars to the milk products served to our students. With the increasing rates of obesity and diabetes of our student population, it is necessary that the District make this decision to promote healthy outcomes for our students.
In mitigating the possible decrease of milk consumption by students, District staff will be involved in various awareness campaigns via different mediums on the importance of drinking milk which is a high source of calcium and other essential nutrients. This information campaign will include, but not be limited to, utilizing the assistance of KLCS, parent groups and other nationwide initiatives. LAUSD is committed to providing our students and parents the most up-to-date information about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. We strive to continue working with the greater community to provide the best quality school food to all our students.
If you have any questions, please contact me or Enrique Boull't at (213) 241-4133.
c: Michelle King
David Holmquist
Enrique Boull't
Judy Elliott
Jefferson Crain
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