(Editor's Note: This article includes a multimedia feature calculating calorie and other nutritional information for 10 popular items on the Rye school lunch menu. Click here to access this feature, after you read our comprehensive article, of course :)

The debate about what kids are eating at school has become increasingly political.

On one side of the issue are nutrition experts and reform advocates who argue that rising childhood obesity rates are one reason the federal government needs to impose stricter and more uniform nutrition standards at schools across the country.

On the other side of the issue are organizations that say local districts need more funding for school lunches, but not more mandates from the federal government.

A bill currently moving through Congress—the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010—is seeking to get an additional $4.5 billion in funding for child nutrition and school lunch initiatives. Among other things, the bill would increase the reimbursement rate that schools get for serving free and reduced lunches; establish national nutrition standards for all foods sold at school; provide mandatory funding for school gardens to get more local foods in cafeterias, and update the requirements for school wellness policies. The bill would also establish professional and qualification standards for all school food services employees and, it claims, help schools protect their food service budgets by establishing guidelines for allowable charges to school lunch accounts.

Though the emphasis of the bill is on providing healthier school lunches in lower income areas, which have more children getting free and reduced lunches, advocates of the bill say it will help reform school lunches everywhere and set standards that will improve the nutrition and health of children.

Rye Patch decided to see how the food service programs operate at local schools, and what affect the current legislation moving through Congress could have on school lunches in the Rye City and Blind Brook school districts. Today, we'll profile the lunch program in Rye, and tomorrow our story will focus on Blind Brook.

So, just how healthy is your school?

Rye Food Services Operates on a Tight Budget

Though the Rye City School District is wealthier than many others across the country, and provides its students with some organic and healthy food options, it could benefit from the proposed school lunch bill.

According to Rye Food Services Director John Rubbo, more students in the district are getting free or reduced lunches. Though only five percent of the district's 3,200 students currently qualify for these meals, the bill does include an increase in reimbursement that could help Rye's self-funded food program. The program operates on a $1 million budget that is completely funded based on revenue projections from lunches students buy at school.

Twenty-five years ago, the school district outsourced its lunch program to Aramark, a professional food services company. However, having all the food prepared within the district has given it more control of what is being served, Rubbo said.

Though the food services program has to be mindful of its budget, Rubbo said the emphasis is on nutrition, not cost control.

"I agree with the concept of more healthy lunches. Part of what I was looking at when I came to work for the school district is what do I want to each for lunch today?" said Rubbo, who has been director for almost 11 years. "When I had a difficult time deciding whether to buy that processed ham or to buy some of that processed food, that's when I said we need to make some major changes."

Students at Rye schools are given several food options. They eat the Type A meal, which is the meal designated by the National School Lunch program. It contains an entrée with a protein, starch, vegetable, dessert and milk or juice and has no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat. Students can also choose from an a la carte or vegetarian menu, though all meals vary throughout the elementary, middle and high school levels.

A Move Away from Processed Foods

One of the cornerstones of the Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act is to set standards for all food sold at schools.

Rubbo said the food services program has undergone a major shift in recent years, moving from processed foods to healthier and fresher options, such as some organic products and a variety of 10-12 fresh salads every day. The district even controls what foods are sold in vending machines; the machines only sell items such as baked chips, granola bars and flavored juice drinks such as Gatorade.

Rubbo said the program relies on several vendors from Long Island and New Jersey, but sometimes the food comes from as far away as California, Florida or even overseas.

"We choose the vendor first based on the price and then we look at their service and the quality of the merchandise they have," Rubbo said. "So, if one can give us a cheaper price on something, but the quality is not what we're looking for, then we go to the next vendor."

Rubbo said school lunch menus are repeated about every month.

"We basically work off a five-week cycle. During the course of the five weeks, we'll monitor what items the children like better than others," Rubbo said. "Basically, since we're a self-funded program, the largest participation that we can get, the better off we are. So, we're always looking for things that kids will like."

Chicken ranks as a favorite among students, Rubbo said. In recent years, the district has moved toward less processed chicken products. Its chicken nuggets are coated with wheat bread and are cut from whole chicken breast, though these items are pre-prepared, packaged and frozen and then baked in the school kitchen.

Pasta and pizza are also favorites. The program uses Barilla Plus, a multi-grain pasta, for many of its dishes, but it also uses some pre-prepared products, such as frozen stuffed shells from Arrezzio, a brand sold by food wholesaler Sysco. The pizza served at the school is made from a mix of white and wheat flour with part skim mozzarella cheese. However, once a month students are served pizza from Piazza Pizza or Sunrise Pizza in Rye. Rubbo has also tried healthier options, such as whole-wheat pizza, to the dismay of many students.

"The whole wheat stuff was not a hit," said Board of Education member Bob Zahm, who has a fourth grader in the district.

"Has every dish from food service been a hit? No, but taste is very subjective," said Kendall Egan, a member of both the Board of Education and the district's Wellness and Nutrition Committee. "What's delicious to one kid is disgusting to another and food service does a good job of balancing feedback and making adjustments."

An Emphasis on Wellness

The school district has been getting input on health and school lunch issues from its Wellness and Nutrition Committee, which was established four years ago.

Members of the committee include Rubbo, Egan, school nurses, physical education and health teachers and parents.

Rob Castagna, chair of the committee, said it has informed parents and kids about healthy choices through its wellness policy and brochure, and has made several recommendations, which have been implemented by the district.

"We've made recommendations such as having more vegetables readily available for kids and having them right there, so that they can grab and don't have to go looking for the vegetables," Castagna said. "[We've also recommended] only offering french fries a certain number days a week, reducing foods that are cooked in certain oils, limiting ice cream at the elementary schools and monitoring the bake sales."

Much of the emphasis within the school lunch bill is on surging childhood obesity rates. In Westchester County, 34 percent of school children are obese, Castagna said the issue isn't as pronounced in Rye, though he said the school district hasn't done any studies to confirm that belief. He said the committee has focused more on mental and physical wellness issues rather than obesity.

"It really wasn't a concern of ours," he said.

Rubbo also echoed the same point.

"It's really more of a wellness issue than an obesity issue," Rubbo said.

The Rye City School District's wellness policy includes key components such as nutrition education and physical activity.

Castagna said the committee has organized health fairs featuring speakers and presenters such as a nutritionist, skin doctor, fitness expert and exercise physiologist. Physical education, which includes activities like tennis, ultimate frisbee, soccer and weight training, is also part of the school week. Middle school students get 40 minutes of physical education a day, while elementary and high school students participate in physical education two to three days a week, respectively.

The committee has also worked with teachers to make sure that food isn't offered as a reward, Castagna said.

"When doing a classroom activity, we encourage teachers to come up with other prizes or some motivational things for the children, not to always reward them with candy or food," he said.

Joanne Nardone, the principal of Milton School, said no one is allowed to bring candy or soda into the school and that parents are becoming increasingly mindful of what their children and their classmates are eating.

Nardone said the school also tries to educate kids about having a balanced meal, teaching them about fat, sugar and the salt content of foods, as well as the food pyramid. The school also started a sustainable garden three years ago, and students eat the harvest from this garden twice a year.

"I see that children are eating more vegetables than in years past," she said.

Nardone said one of the best ways to improve children's nutrition is to make connections between what they're learning in the classroom and what they're eating in school. 

"I think we're making headway and there's definitely room for improvement, [but] taking an interdisciplinary approach where you're linking it to the science, to the exercise, to character education, all of that together makes a huge difference because children can see relationships."

Differing Arguments for Improving School Lunch

While the Rye City School District has made some efforts to change its food culture, like other school districts, it still has more progress to make.

Opinions about how best to implement reform in school cafeterias differ depending on what interest group you ask.

Recently, the New York State School Boards Association issued a call to action, stating that the Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act would take power away from school districts.

"The legislation infringes on the ability of local districts to determine the best nutritional approach for their students, resorting instead to the time honored governmental approach of  'one size fits all and we know best,'" the association said. "NYSSBA will continue to advocate strongly on behalf of recognizing local school board authority to address issues of student nutrition."

However, those in favor of school lunch reform argue that government input is necessary.

"It's wonderful that many states and school districts have established nutrition standards through wellness policies, but in some places that's just not the case," said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association, a group that supports the bill. "The cafeteria is a classroom. Students are getting the message about nutrition education when they walk into the cafeteria."

She said that the standards the bill seeks to impose, such updating nutrition standards, imposing calorie limits and serving more fruits and vegetables, won't be a burden to school districts.

"It's something that's achievable and that many schools are already doing. We just recommend that it's nationwide," she said.

Aime Hamlin, executive director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods, said that the bill could go even further in pushing nutrition standards.

"It's disappointing there can't be more understanding of how crucial this issue is" Hamlin said."There doesn't seem to be the political will to fund it at a level that is truly life-changing for the children so that they can eat healthy food."

Arguments against school lunch reform have focused on parental accountability. The Rye Food Services Program does have an online payment system that allows parents to view their children's lunch account and see what purchases they are making. However, some people argue that since children get most of their meals at home, the onus should be on the parents to monitor their nutrition, not school districts.

"How are the parents teaching the kids to make decisions about food choices?" asked school board member Bob Zahm. "Ultimately, it's a parental child development issue as opposed to a district food issue."

"I think it's a question of lifestyle," Zahm added. " When the kids are getting rides to school every day as opposed to walking or riding their bike, that's what I think is necessary.

But school lunch advocates, like Aime Hamlin, argue that school districts have as much of an obligation as parents.

"When children enter the front door to the school, the schools are making a promise to the parents that we'll do the best for your child and protect them," she said. 

Rob Castagna said overhauling the nations food policy, rather than just increasing federal dollars, is key. He said schools should lessen their use of foods with ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, an artificial sugar found in foods such as cereals, yogurts and fast food items.

"In my view, if they're going to get serious about it, I think they have to really look at the ingredients they're allowing schools to have in the foods being served to kids."

One area for improvement in Rye could be using more foods from local farmers and allowing more time for children to each lunch. Rye elementary and middle school students currently get about 30 minutes for lunch, while high school students get 45 minutes, though these times include waiting in line while the food is prepared and served.

Some school lunch advocates, such as Jamie Oliver—whose ABC show "Food Revolution" promotes a total revamp of school lunch—have suggested cooking meals from scratch as the healthiest alternative.

However, some disagree.

"I think that's insane," Zahm said. "I don't think that anybody is willing to pay what that would cost. Just because something is pre-prepared and frozen doesn't mean it's not healthy."

Rubbo said the food service program does do some scratch cooking, such as preparing fresh soups every day. About 40 percent of the products served in Rye schools come frozen before they are prepared, but Rubbo said he would love for the district to do more cooking from scratch. However, he estimates it would take 30 to 40 percent more time for his staff to prepare.

"With Jamie Oliver, what he's doing and where he wants to go," Rubbo said. "There's no question that that is the right thing."