Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part, back-to-school series on wellness initiatives in the Lawrence school district. Today: Nutrition.

Fourteen-year-old Hayley Luna carefully placed cucumber vines on a fence Monday morning at West Middle School so the vegetables would grow up and not out into the walkways.

She also picked ripe tomatoes to sell at a farmers’ market Thursday.

Luna expects cucumbers and tomatoes will be available on the school cafeteria’s salad bar when students return to school next week.

Last year, in its first year, West’s garden supplied the cafeteria with 300 pounds of produce. This year, it’s expected to provide twice as much.

School gardens are just one of the Lawrence school district’s wellness initiatives that have grown during the past few years that specifically target healthy eating.

“When you think of school lunches, you think of lunch ladies plopping stuff on their plate and we’ve really tried to get away from that,” said Lindsay Morgan, a registered dietitian and food service supervisor for the district.

Instead, students pick from a variety of options that include more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The goal is for them to make the same healthy choices for a lifetime.

The district has about 10,600 students and a food services budget of $5.2 million annually. School lunches went up a nickel this year to $2.50 for middle and high school students and $2.25 for elementary students.

Menu, course changes

Morgan said switching to whole grain foods is one of the more expensive changes. She estimated it’s costing the district an additional $15,000 per year. But, at least 50 percent of all grains served daily are whole grains and can be found in bread and waffle sticks.

“We feel it’s important,” she said. “It provides fiber and most Americans don’t get enough fiber in their diet,” she said.

Cooks also are going back to making items from scratch instead of warming up processed foods. Morgan said they now make bean-and-cheese burritos and muffins, and are looking to do more.

“A lot of it has to do with labor so we kind of ease things in. I’m sure as we go along we will find more recipes that we can do,” she said.

The district also is working to buy locally grown foods. It has hired a farm-to-school manager who is researching food policies. Morgan said the goal is to build relationships with local farmers and figure out how the contracts might work. She said the biggest issue likely will be whether local farmers can meet the demand of the district.

Meanwhile, the district received a $173,000 federal grant to introduce a variety of fruits and vegetables in 10 elementary schools this year as part of a snack program.

While adding nutrients, the district has taken away items loaded with sugar, fat and salt. This goes from the lunchroom to the classrooms. Instead of rewards or celebrations with cake and icing, students and teachers are encouraged to bring foods that are no more than 200 calories per serving and don’t contain significant fat and sugar, such as fruit and nuts. Better yet, classrooms are encouraged to celebrate with a game or 5 minutes of extra recess.

Also, 50 percent of school fundraisers no longer involve the sale of food and/or beverages.

The district also has added new wellness courses this year:

• Healthy Living. A mandatory class for all sixth graders.

• Nutrition and Personal Wellness. An elective course for seventh-graders.

• Career and Life Planning. A mandatory course for eighth-graders that includes health.

Setting behaviors

Dan Partridge, director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said it’s important to teach good eating habits at a young age.

“That’s when our behaviors are formed. Learning new tricks as a child is easier to do than as we get older and more set in our ways,” he said.

According to a community health assessment, 81 percent of residents do not eat the recommended five fruits and vegetables per day, and that’s a big concern.

“We have caught up with the state of Kansas as far as poor nutrition habits, and we need to reverse that,” he said.

Partridge said school gardens are a step in the right direction.

There are new gardens at Free State High School, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School, and Hillcrest and Sunset elementary schools. Student gardeners expect to see the fruits of their summer labor in the cafeterias.

Morgan said the gardens are governed by the individual schools and so far, the food services department has not been involved.

She said the gardens provide additional fresh produce to the salad bars, but aren’t able to meet the demands of replacing something on the menu — at least not yet.

T.J. Everett works to turn a compost pile on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011, at the West Middle School garden. Everett has worked on the "Growing Food, Growing West" project since it first began in spring 2009. by Nick Krug

Hayley Luna works to secure a cucumber vine to plastic netting on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011, at the West Middle School garden. Last year, in its first year, the garden provided 300 pounds of produce for the school cafeteria. by Nick Krug

Setting an example

Nancy O’Connor, project coordinator of the gardens at West, Hillcrest and Sunset Hill, thinks they are getting close.

She said the West garden has greatly expanded this season and they’ve planted crops more strategically. For example, they planted cucumbers later this year so they would be producing when school starts. They also planted more cherry tomatoes, which were a hit on the salad bar last fall, and added a watermelon patch.

O’Connor said the West garden is serving as an example to help set food policies locally and statewide. They are documenting where the water and compost come from and how much produce the garden yields.

She also pointed to the new raspberry bushes and fruit trees that were planted this year.

“What’s really cool is that each one of the gardeners planted a tree with the thought that it wasn’t for them. Those were planted for their little brothers and sisters. They really like the idea of leaving a mark at their school,” she said.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL WELLNESS

• Part Two — Physical activity.

• Part Three — Staff wellness.