Media Release

For Immediate Release
Date: March 13, 2006
Contact: Rosemary Reilly-Chammat, 222-5922

Chariho Schools Lead the Way with Healthful Food Choices for Students

This year marks the second academic year since the Chariho Regional School District adopted healthful nutrition standards for food and drinks sold in schools. The District stands out as a state leader as this issue comes to light with a recently submitted legislative proposal that would require the removal of all unhealthful snacks and drinks from Rhode Island schools.

Chariho schools have set a positive example for other schools to follow. According to School Committee policy, unhealthful snacks and drinks are not available to students during the school day. “With a significant change like this, there was some initial concern about how it would impact sales and fundraising,” said Robert Mitchell, Principal of Chariho High School. “But now that people understand and accept the changes, kids just get water and juice instead of Pepsi.”

According to the District’s nutrition standards, food items sold in schools cannot have more than 30% of total calories from fat and no more than 10% of total calories from saturated fat. The standards allow for milk, water, and other drinks that contain 50-100% fruit juice and no added sweeteners.

“People seem very happy with the changes,” commented Barry Ricci, Superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District. “Aramark, our food vendor, is creative about promoting healthful foods and offering attractive choices for the kids. There was an initial decline in sales, but now they’ve come back up,” added Ricci.

For fundraising events held before or during the school day, all of the items offered for sale must meet the District’s nutrition standards. For fundraising events held after or outside of the school day, at least 50% of the items offered must follow the nutrition standards.

Legislation around this issue will be heard this week on Wednesday, March 15 th. There are several new bills that aim to promote healthful snacks and beverages in Rhode Island schools. For more information about the legislative proposals, visit http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Billtext/BillText06/HouseText06/H7459.pdf

For more information about the Chariho Regional School District’s policies, visit www.chariho.k12.ri.us/admin/polbook/default.htm.