How an Arizona nutritionist champions for better school lunches

Angela Gomez runs the Instagram page @laveenchildnutrition and in August she started an Instagram page @schoollunchadores to talk about food justice. The School Nutrition Association recently spotlighted her during Hispanic Heritage Month and she also spoke on a panel about planning inclusive menus, hosted by the Central Arizona Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. But Gomez wasn’t what people would call a health nut in her younger years.

The registered dietitian, who works as a nutritionist at Laveen Elementary School District, recalled growing up in Glendale and, during one phase, eating only pizza and cookies every day at school. Later at Phoenix College, where she played soccer, she wouldn’t even wake up early enough to eat breakfast, she said.

Her journey to becoming a dietitian began when she started looking into the impact food had on her athletic abilities. After her collegiate soccer career ended, that path eventually led her to an internship rotation at a public school district. The six-week experience completely shifted the way she thought about school lunch, she said.

Now Gomez has made it her mission to advocate for school nutrition — from free meals to “speed-scratch” cooking to better wages for cafeteria workers.

Learning starts with nutrition, and nutrition starts in cafeterias 

In the 2018-2019 school year, Arizona public and charter schools served students 50.76 million breakfasts and 103.31 million lunches, according to the Arizona Department of Education. Yet school nutrition is often treated as an afterthought, Gomez said.

“Nutrition is the base, they need that first and foremost before learning can even come into play,” Gomez said. “If we want our children to be nourished and the best they can be in all the ways they should be, they need nutrition first and foremost.”

As a dietitian, Gomez said she approaches food with inclusiveness in mind.

“I approach nutrition in a way that is maybe not the most popular — I like to approach it in a non-diet kind of way, a weight-inclusive kind of way, considerate that people are neurodiverse, taking cultural differences into account,” Gomez said.

Prior to her internship, Gomez thought working at a public school would be dull, she admitted. But she quickly learned that school nutrition departments face so many challenges, from limited resources to U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations to children’s palates, it actually requires a lot of creativity and problem-solving to provide meals that are both nutritional and tasty, Gomez said.

After getting her degree in nutrition dietetics at Arizona State University, Gomez spent four years working in school nutrition. She joined Laveen Elementary School District in fall 2019.

Changing the perception of school lunch

School lunch has a negative connotation, Gomez said. The nutritional quality of school food took a nose dive in the early 1980s when the Reagan administration slashed nearly $1.5 billion from federal funding of child nutrition programs. To make up for the reduced budget, food portions shrunk while cost to the student per meal went up. For adults of a certain age, school lunch conjures up images of rectangular pizza slices, corn dogs, Jell-O and sliced peaches drenched in syrup.

But school food has improved drastically since then thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, spearheaded by Michelle Obama, Gomez said. The legislation strengthened nutrition standards for food and beverages served at schools and set aside $4.5 billion in new resources for various meal programs.

Gomez pointed out a Tufts University study that showed how school foods have changed since the “ketchup as a vegetable” era.

The Tufts University study analyzed 21,000 U.S. children from 2003 to 2018 and found significant improvements in the nutritional quality of school food over time. Not only was the improvement equitable among children by race, ethnicity, education and household income, but children overall got their healthiest meals at school.

More fruits and vegetables are being served, and the familiar staples of burgers and chicken nuggets aren’t the same ones of 20 years ago.

“Cafeterias are much different from what they used to be,” Gomez said. “Pizza is made with whole-grain crust and low-sodium sauce, lower-fat cheese, lean protein.”

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Making healthy school lunches that kids will actually eat

While school meals have to meet tighter nutritional requirements than they did in the 80s and 90s, it doesn’t necessarily mean children will like what’s on their trays. Gomez said that’s why it’s important to conduct taste tests, and offer fruits and vegetables in a variety of ways.

This school year, for example, Laveen Elementary School District introduced roasted buffalo cauliflower and roasted broccoli. She went to a cafeteria to serve students samples and asked them how they liked roasted vegetables compared to steamed, she said. Herbs and spices can be another way to dress up vegetables, she added.

Since school meals have low-sodium and low-fat requirements, the children might think their food tastes different than what they get at a restaurant or at home, she said. The only way to know is to include students, ask their opinions, and let them ask questions themselves, she said.

Right now she’s working with farmers at Spaces of Opportunity, a community garden in south Phoenix, to try to bring local fruits and vegetables to school, she said. She wants to also film short videos with farmers so children can connect with where food comes from, she added.

This school year Laveen Elementary School District is working with the Life Time Foundation to provide staff more culinary training, implement speed-scratch cooking, and reduce highly-processed foods on the district’s menu.

Speed-scratch cooking combines ready-made food products with fresh ingredients, Gomez explained. It’s like a faster version of homemade food, she described.

That could mean taking ground beef that’s already pre-cooked, but adding a sauce made in the kitchen, or getting pre-chopped tomatoes for pico de gallo, she gave as an example. This semester, staff at Gomez’s nine schools have learned how to make homemade ranch dressing for the roasted buffalo cauliflower.

Meal planning with her team and seeing children enjoy the meals is one of the most rewarding aspects of her job, she said. One time her team introduced fruit with a low-sodium version of Tajín seasoning. More than half the students at Laveen Elementary School District identify as Hispanic.

“Kids loved it because it’s a flavor familiar to them,” Gomez said. “It connects them to culture and loved ones. It’s important for kids to feel welcome in their cafeteria.”

‘Voice to the table’: Arizona schools add Native American foods to lunch menu

Why this nutritionist wants universal free school meals

One of Gomez’s biggest wishes is to see universal free school meals become permanent. Typically, under the USDA’s National School Lunch Program, only students who qualify and apply can receive free meals. The federal government then reimburses districts for those meals.

In the 2018-19 school year, nearly 600,000 students in Arizona, or 55% of all students, were eligible for free and reduced-price meals.

But some students who qualify for free lunch might feel embarrassed, Gomez said. Some families avoid applying for free or reduced lunch out of privacy concerns.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA extended the Summer Food Service Program during the regular school year. The program allows public school districts to give subsidized meals to anyone under 19, regardless of income. The federal reimbursement for those meals can go toward getting kitchen equipment for speed-scratch cooking and paying cafeteria workers a more livable wage, Gomez said.

Investing in better school meals also means investing in kitchen training for staff. The relationship between cafeteria workers and students shouldn’t be taken for granted, Gomez added. Cafeteria workers supply more than meals — they’re supplying affection, remembering food allergies, checking in on students and making them feel seen, she said.

She recalled how in sixth grade, after the death of her father, a cafeteria worker would always set aside an extra chocolate chip cookie for her. At a time when her family was hurting, this small gesture made her feel remembered, she said.

“The cafeteria staff are among those on campus that get to see most of the kids, when they first come in the morning for breakfast,” Gomez said. “When the kids are distraught, they get to talk and interact with them. Your food is communal and… cafeteria staff build relationships with kids consistently throughout the week.”

The free meal program, which includes subsidized breakfast and lunch, will continue through the 2021-22 school year. But Gomez is urging people to write to Congress to pass the Universal School Meal Programs Act, which will make free meals the standard.

“I would encourage people to think about what it’s like when they feel hungry,” Gomez said. “Where is their focus at when they’re hungry. Now think of a child who may live in… in a food-insecure home and they may not have access to foods. If they’re hungry, they’re not going to be able to learn or play or grow the best they can.”

On the frontline: How free meal program helps feed kids during COVID-19 pandemic

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