Rising food costs beginning to hit BISD

The drumbeat of rising food costs that is all too familiar to grocery store customers is beginning to hit the Brownsville Independent School District's Food & Nutrition Service.

School meal programs have been mostly insulated from the higher prices consumers are paying at grocery stores because schools buy their food in bulk and take bids on most items in the spring. As a result, BISD students are eating food today that was priced more than a year ago, said Terry Mendez, BISD Food & Nutrition Service administrator.

"Right now we're at the point of planning for next year and how to deal with what's to come," Mendez said. "Everyone's telling us to expect high prices."

That should come as no surprise, with fuel prices hitting record levels and a significant chunk of the nation's corn harvest diverted to ethanol production.

"The problem is the rising cost of everything," finance coordinator Ray Marshall said.

Marshall said food costs generally are up about 7 percent, although the increase is concentrated in certain areas. Mendez said the price of milk and fresh fruits and vegetables is increasing the most.

Besides, BISD's situation is more complicated than a simple percentage increase.

For one thing, it can't just raise prices. The district provides free meals to all students and is compensated by the federal government, making up the difference for non-compensated meals in a la carte sales and other cost savings. The current compensation rate is $2.47 per free meal, up from $2.40 in 2007. The new rate will be set in July based on the Consumer Price Index.

On top of that, BISD can't sacrifice quality to save money.

"What's critical to understand is that we operate on a nutrient-based menu planning system, so we can never sacrifice nutrition to save money," Marshall said. "Whatever we serve the students, regardless of the prices we pay, is going to be a nutritious meal."

BISD also is insulated because it receives surplus commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning it gets basic foods like chicken, pork, beef, flour, rice, beans and cheese for free.

BISD gets to pick from a list, so if the choice is between beets, lima beans and pinto beans, the later gets the nod, Marshall said.

For other needs, the district belongs to a food cooperative that includes all school districts in Region I, which stretches from Brownsville to Laredo. Membership makes it possible to wait out fluctuations in the food supply system.

"When crops go bad we have had to not buy for awhile until prices stabilize," Mendez said, citing tomato prices when there's a freeze in Florida and a recent spike in the price of apples.

"We make small adjustments and also have a fund balance to work with," Mendez said. "Hopefully, the government reimbursement goes up."

BISD's Food & Nutrition Service operates on an annual budget of about $28 million, of which it receives about $1 million annually in surplus commodities. The biggest expense is wages and fringe benefits, Mendez said.

Next year's budget is in the process of being approved and "will be tight," Marshall said.

Mendez and Marshall both said the nutritional content of the meals is the most important thing. The district serves 47,000 lunches and 28,000 breakfasts daily. Fat content cannot exceed 30 percent and saturated fat no more than 10 percent. Protein and vitamin content also must meet government standards.

"We sort of pride ourselves on the food we serve," Mendez said. "We try to serve the kids the best meals we can afford to serve them, and give them the new stuff we know they're going to like."

Referring to the USDA reimbursement rate, Marshall said BISD can "put out a meal for about that price, but it's not easy."

By the numbers:

(Product and consumption per week)

Beef: 3¼ tons

Chicken: 6¾ tons

Turkey: 3 tons

Pork: 5½ tons

Vegetables: 8-10 tons

Potatoes: 3 tons

Biscuits: 21,000

SOURCE: BISD