By Kaitlyn Mattiace
Staff Writer
Breakfast eateries in Pittsboro receive a lot of business from Northwood students before they start their school day. However, students have had to learn the reality of bringing food from an outside source, or competitive food, into school—it will be thrown out if it is seen by administration.
Although the policy is difficult to regulate, there is a reason why students cannot bring competitive foods into school: the administration needs to ensure that Northwood will always have funds from the federal government for free and reduced-price lunches, or else some students won’t have access to what might be the only meal of their day.
“The problem is that if you allow it, and if the evaluator, [who] is someone that just goes around and pops in school cafeterias, were to walk in and see it, they [would] immediately pull all of the lunch funds for your school system, which for Chatham County would mean millions of dollars…. We can’t afford that,” said Principal Chris Blice.
Under the North Carolina State Board of Education Policy for Nutritional Standards in School, food that is served or consumed by students during school must meet certain health guidelines in order for it to be provided to the students. Any food that is sold to students (regardless of where it comes from) during the hours of operation of the cafeteria and does not meet the guidelines created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is considered a competitive food.
Another reason why competitive food sales are not allowed is because they are low in nutrients and high in fat, added sugars, sodium and calories. The FDA considers these foods of “minimal nutritional value.”
Loosely translated, this rule applies to food that is brought into the school from an outside source, like McDonald’s. Therefore, students cannot walk into school with a clearly marked McDonald’s bag or cup in hand.
Mikkie Gallagher, a senior, learned about this policy the hard way: During her first two weeks at Northwood, she was asked multiple times to throw away her breakfast.
“I don’t like [the policy]…if I don’t bring my lunch from home, I’m not going to eat here. I don’t eat [school food] at all,” said Gallagher.
While students may not agree with this policy, “We are not the food police,” Blice said.
“If you bring your lunch from home and you bring it in a plain bag, that’s ok. If you were to, inside that bag, have a hamburger from McDonald’s that is sitting in a plastic container or wrapped in a baggy, who knows where that came from…. There’s a limit on how far I’m going to go with it,” Blice said.