Two schools pilot new food programs

Aramark Corp., in its 15th year of partnership with Springfield R-XII food services, is working to dispel the reputation of school cafeterias nationwide and in Springfield through two new pilot programs.

Glendale now has eggplant purple, pumpkin gold, pickle green, turquoise powder, tranquil blue and harvest gold paint on the walls of its cafeteria, dubbed The U.B.U. Lounge.

“Our school cafeteria does not look like the traditional institutional cafeteria. It’s exciting,” Glendale Principal Gary Prouty said.

Along with the new paint colors, track lighting above the menus, music, inspirational posters and plastic furniture, including an orange couch, yellow chairs and blue retro end tables, have transformed the school cafeteria into The U.B.U. Lounge.

Pershing Middle School pilots a similar program also developed by Aramark this year called The 12 Spot, named for the location of the hands of a clock at noontime.

Funding for both pilot programs comes from Food Services, said Steve Smay, director of food service for Springfield R-XII District. Meal prices where the programs are implemented will remain at the regular price: $2 for middle schools and high schools.

Smay said he expects the price tag for implementing The 12 Spot program at Pershing to cost about $16,000 to $18,000 and The U.B.U. Lounge to cost less than $25,000.

Aramark works with more than 180 schools nationwide, said Kate Moran, communications director for Aramark Education.

“The idea is to create the right atmosphere to encourage students to engage in the cafeteria and also to make it a place that’s relevant and inviting for them,” she said.

The two programs also provide a vast array of healthy, tasty recipes for schools to choose from.

Those healthy food options include additional fresh fruit choices and yogurt. At The U.B.U. Lounge, students can purchase wraps, sub sandwiches, grilled chicken Caesar salad and sesame chicken. But Smay said although there are plenty of new menu items to choose from, traditional favorites have not been thrown aside.

“But as we move forward, the new recipes and the new menu ideas are targeted to be in a more healthy direction,” Smay said. The two programs are part of district efforts to fight obesity in youths.

“We believe that these two brands will make us in the food service program better stewards of our responsibility to do our part in terms of fighting obesity, but we also recognize there are a lot of other elements that go on,” Smay said.

Success of the pilot programs will dictate whether they are implemented in other Springfield schools, Smay said. Food Services will evaluate their success based on student participation and whether they are fiscally sound.

So far, there have been nothing but long lines at Glendale during lunch periods. Prouty and Smay both said they’ve heard only positive comments about The U.B.U. Lounge.

Changes to either program, such as the food options, music and graphics, will be driven by the student voice, to be heard at regular meetings between student leaders at both schools and Food Services throughout the year, Smay said.