By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
Maria Bisabarros, owner of Hometown Sausage Kitchen, spoke to the East Troy School Board June 22 about her concerns with the schools hot lunch program and what the kids are being served in the district.
Bisabarros said she had spoken to the food service director Sue Brunner about using local supplies such as Michael Fields and Bowers for fresh ingredients and better menus.
“Everybody is on board and willing to help,” Bisabarros said.
Bisabarros said she would like to see a committee formed to look at the issue and was in favor of the district dropping out of the federal lunch program and creating its own program. She said if the district provided high-quality meals, it would get the kids back who no longer take hot lunch to help with the financing of the program.
Bisabarros said it was “unbelievable” to her that with all the farms in the area and the local help available, that it wasn’t being utilized.
“The whole point is do we want to keep feeding our kids crap when we have all these places willing to help,” she said.
School Board President Ted Zess said he wasn’t sure what they could to, because of the federal mandates that are imposed on districts in the federal lunch program.
Board member Martha Bresler said she didn’t see the harm in forming a committee to look at the issue.
District Business Manager Kathy Zwirgzdas said the food consultant the district recently brought in had provided them with a plan and ideas on how to get the program back on track and those changes had made a big difference. The food service program is on track for a balanced budget this year as opposed to the $92,000 deficit it experienced in the 2013-14 school year.
District Administrator Chris Hibner said using local resources sounded like a great idea, but wanted the consultant and Brunner in on any conversation on changing the program. He said the consultant had provided the district with valuable information on how to improve its program and that she should be part of any more changes the district is considering.
Bisabarros told the board the federal regulations were a problem and when they are looked into, they don’t always make sense. She said it was possible to cook far healthier meals outside of the federal guidelines.
“Let’s make our own program,” she said.
Zwirgzdas pointed out that there was a large group of people who want the district to “go back to the unhealthy food because it’s just getting thrown away anyways.”
