Bring A Brown Bag—Some Hoboken Mothers Unhappy With School Lunch

First Lady Michelle Obama has made it one of her top priorities. Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver is devoting a television show to it. And now, Hoboken mothers are speaking up about it too: school lunch. 

A couple of weeks ago, Peta Moran—mother of a 5-year-old who is enrolled in the St. Francis Early Childhood Center on 310 Jefferson St.—noticed that her daughter Olivia was hungry when she picked her up from school. Olivia told her mom that she didn't like the school lunches and that she wasn't getting any fresh fruits or vegetables.

A little bit concerned, Moran, 33, decided to check out the school lunch for herself. Since that first day (on March 15), she has been going to lunch at the pre-K program every day, taking photos and publishing them on her blog EatHoboken.

"It was worse than I thought it was," Moran said. 

On one of the first days she checked out the lunch, she found the children were eating chicken nuggets. Upon a closer look, she noticed blue spots on the nugget. Moran, fearing that the nuggets were moldy, asked the food director, who assured her it wasn't mold, but stains from the pan. But the thought of the children eating teflon didn't make her feel much better, Moran said. 

The food the children at St. Francis are eating is prepared by Chartwells, a food provider that serves academic communities. The food is prepared locally, mainly in two big kitchens—one in Hoboken High School and one in Wallace Primary School, said Chartwells' Hoboken Food Director Sean Walsh. Some of the food is also prepared in the kitchens of individual Hoboken schools, Walsh said.

Because St. Francis is a small school with limited facilities, the food is brought in from the other kitchens in town. 

Walsh—who has been working in Hoboken for three months, but for Chartwells for the past 10 years—said he is aware of Moran's blog, but didn't want to comment on it. He said that Chartwells always "meets and exceeds" USDA School Meal standards. 

"We're always looking to improve what we're doing," Walsh said.

He said he prepared a statement to be put on the Hoboken Board of Education's Web site, explaining Chartwells' commitment to providing healthy, balanced meals for children. The statement also read that Chartwells promotes dialogue and encourages feedback (the statement had not been published on the Web site as of Wednesday afternoon.)

After seeing Moran's photos, not only did Hoboken mothers Vanessa Falco and Rachel Bucci decide to no longer buy their children school lunches, they revived an existing business plan. 

Together they are forming Time For Nutrition, LLC, a service that delivers packed lunches to children in schools. Parents can order from a menu for about $5 a day (school lunch from Chartwells is $2.75 a day). The meals are then delivered to the different public schools for the kids to eat at lunch time. All food will be natural and some of it will be organic, said Bucci, 28. 

"This will be an added service where parents are able to select our lunch if they're not satisfied (with the current school lunch), which we believe they are not," said Falco, 39. Falco has two children in the Hoboken public school system. 

Moran said she sat down with the children at St. Francis last Friday, to partake in "Pizza Friday," and eat the lunch herself. The menu had improved from the prior week, she said, and included a salad of mixed greens with tomatoes, a slice of pizza and a small carton of milk. Some other dishes include: breakfast for lunch (pancakes and eggs); Philly cheesesteak sandwich (which Moran described as a "Philly Cheese Mystery Meat sandwich") and chicken parm with pasta. 

According to Hoboken-based nutritionist Inna Topiler, children's lunches shouldn't be too heavy on carbohydrates. Carbs become sugar, which cause so-called sugar highs. Once that high wears out, Topiler explained, the children crash. Too much sugar can also result in high blood pressure and behavioral problems, Topiler said. Meat should always be white meat, rather than "mystery meat," explained Topiler, who has been a nutritionist in Hoboken for five years. 

A healthy lunch for a child should be around 300 calories, and has to be a healthy mixture of protein (egg or chicken), carbohydrates (whole wheat pasta or brown rice), vegetables and "good fat," such as olive oil. 

Topiler recommended that the children drink watered-down juice with their lunch, or water. Sometimes the lunch includes skim chocolate milk. Although that milk includes less fat than regular chocolate milk, it actually has more sugar to make it taste better (things don't taste as good once the fat is taken out, Topiler said).

Fresh fruit is also allowed, but fruit from a can—often in sugary syrup—isn't good for the children, Topiler said. There is a fruitbowl with fresh fruit available at St. Francis. On at least one day last week, the children ate fruit from a can. 

Moran said that one day the children got half an orange, still in the peel—which made it hard for them to eat. 

Moran, whose photos appeared on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360º" last week, said her goal is to raise awareness and make sure a wellness committee, in charge of nutrition and education about healthy foods, is established. She said she could not find a wellness committee or policy listed on the Board of Education's Web site. 

Moran said she e-mailed Superintendent Peter Carter and all nine members of the Board of Education on March 24, but didn't receive any answer. 

"My wish is for all children to have access to the opportunity to live a healthy life, which is why a Wellness committee is so crucial," Moran wrote. 

Falco and Bucci said they will have their lunch service up and running by September. They said they are hoping for the public schools' cooperation. 

"A child who's had a healthy lunch will perform better," said Bucci. Bucci's 5-year-old is currently enrolled at St. Francis (the same school where Moran has been taking photos of the lunches). Come September, her 3-year-old son will also be going into the Hoboken public school system. 

"It's a win-win situation," Bucci said. "Hopefully the schools will see that."