COOKING FOR THOUSANDS: SCHOOL CAFETERIAS AIM TO PLEASE

Judy Bangert and Lisa Elfrink do their grocery shopping in a big way.

Each week Bangert buys enough food to serve 2,000 people a day; Elfrink buys enough to serve 2,400 daily.

Both have the task of providing nutritious-yet-tasty meals for thousands of hungry but extremely picky school-age children, many of whom have been raised on fast food and junk-food snacks.

Bangert is director of the food service program for the Jackson School District, and Elfrink is director of the Cape Girardeau School District's food service department. Together, they are responsible for purchasing and preparing food for over 6,000 students.

Needless to say, they don't buy the bulk of their groceries in grocery stores; instead, most of it arrives in trucks.

The food comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's surplus commodities program and wholesale vendors that call on the schools each month.

For example, this week Bangert and Elfrink are receiving USDA shipments of sliced apples, vegetarian beans, frozen French fries, turkey roasts, ground beef and cherries. Elfrink also is expecting a shipment of tater tots, barbecue ribs, sausage links and frozen corn.

Schools that participate in the USDA's school lunch program can also order a variety of other commodities, including vegetable oils and shortening, flour, butter, macaroni and spaghetti, powdered milk for baking, oats for cookies and apple crisp, dried beans for chili, and the old, reliable staple of school lunch menus, peanut butter.

Other supplies such as canned green beans and corn come from private vendors, which also supply other schools and large institutions. The canned vegetables come in large No. 10-size cans. Vendors also provide ready-to-use pizzas, hamburger patties and hot dogs.

Bangert said a typical food order for a week may include 72 cans of green beans, 2,800 half-pints of whole and skim chocolate and white milk, four, 50-pound bags of fresh carrots, and 144 heads of lettuce.

The weekly meat order consists of 2,304 pizzas, 2,620 hamburger patties, 1,920 frankfurters, and 1,500 fish patties.

Most of the fresh produce and dairy products served each day come from local vendors, while the canned goods and frozen meat come from national vendors.

Bangert prepares her master menu list each month based in part on what kind of shipments will come in from the USDA.

"I always try to run pizza because its a favorite of the kids," said Bangert. "Other favorite menu items they like are chicken nuggets, taco salads, chili, and hamburgers and fries."

In the elementary schools a "breakfast" lunch of French toast, sausage patties and hash brown potatoes sometimes is served. It's very popular with the students.

The routine in all of the Jackson school cafeterias begins around 7:30 a.m., when the full-time staff arrives to begin preparing food, including making dough for homemade yeast dinner rolls to be served at lunch.

Part-time help comes in about 10:30 a.m. to serve food during the lunch periods. The first lunch period is at 10:50 a.m. and the last at 12:10 p.m.

The routine is similar in Cape Girardeau school cafeterias, except at Washington and May Greene schools, where a breakfast of milk, juice or fruit, cereal, or meat and biscuit is served before school.

"We started the breakfast program at Washington School Feb. 1," said Elrink. "The response has been pleasing. We were expecting about 75 students but we got 90. It was wonderful."

Elfrink said the weekly breakfast menu consists of sausage pizza, a favorite of the students; French toast sticks; biscuits and sausage; fruit muffins; cinnamon toast; pancakes and cereal.

"We receive federal funds for the breakfast program at both schools. We can also use our USDA commodities in the program," she said. "If possible, I would like to expand the breakfast program to Franklin and Jefferson schools."

Another program that began in mid-December is an a-la-carte breakfast at Central High School. The menu consists of milk and cereal, juice, doughnuts and snack cakes.

Said Elfrink: "We decided to try it because a lot of our high school students are not eating breakfast at home. By the time they get to school they are hungry, and study after study has clearly shown that hungry students do not learn very well."

Elfrink said response to the breakfast at Central has been marginal, but "Every day we see more and more kids come in. It's very difficult to change high-school-age eating habits."

A problem both school districts contend with is student participation in the school lunch program. Both Central and Jackson high schools have an open-campus policy. That means students may leave the campus to eat. As a result, participation isn't as good as is in the elementary schools.

To attract students, the food service department spent $12,000 last year to renovate the Central High School cafeteria. "The results are encouraging," said Elfrink. "We're starting to pick up more students every day. We are also one of the few school districts that offers two entrees on our daily lunch menu."

Elfrink said serving of sack lunches at the junior and senior high schools is popular. She said: "The kids love them. They contain a meat-and-cheese sandwich, vegetable stick, potato chips and milk. We also have a salad bar in the junior and senior high school cafeterias."

The food service department operates the school lunch program with federal and state funds plus revenue from the sale of student and adult lunches. The department receives no money from the district's general revenue fund.

Elfrink said food service is a self-supporting department. As director she reports directly to the school superintendent and business manager. The department uses its own funds to make repairs or purchase new kitchen equipment.

This year Elfrink's budget is $703,170. Of that $352,000 is federal money. The amount varies with individual school districts, depending on how many free and reduced-price lunches a district serves each day.

In addition, Elfrink receives $12,700 from the state, but most of that money is used to pay for the transportation of food stocks to the district. The remainder goes into the school lunch program fund.

The other half of the operating funds, $338,000, come from the sale of student and adult lunches and the a-la-carte program.

Elfrink said charges for the school lunch program in Cape Girardeau schools are: breakfast, 75 cents, and reduced charge, 30 cents; elementary lunch, $1, and reduced charge, 40 cents; and secondary (grades 7-12) noon lunch, $1.10, and reduced charge, 40 cents.

The current budget for the Jackson food service department is $522,000. Of that, $152,000 is federal money, $10,000 comes from the state, and $360,000 from local funds, including the sale of student and adult lunches.

The lunch price for all students, grades 1-12, is $1.20. Reduced charge lunches are 40 cents.

All reduced charge meals are subsidized by the federal government.