Hillsborough school district celebrates 'Florida Food Day' ahead of possible national guideline changes

FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Hillsborough County School District celebrated its second Florida Food Day on Thursday, at a time when national school food guidelines could be changing.

The backstory:

Florida Food Day began last school year and continued this year as a way to highlight Florida foods, but offering students a meal entirely sourced in the Sunshine State.

READ: FDA approves 3 natural food dyes

Shani Hall, Hillsborough County Schools' student nutrition services general manager, said the district began ordering more Florida-fresh items during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to deal with supply chain issues. It's transformed into a policy that's beneficial to a lot of people.

Local perspective:

"We started realizing that this is so good for the state, because it takes our money and puts it back into the Florida farmers," said Hall. "Also, it's a win for the students, because it not only teaches them where the food comes from, but also teaches them how nutritious the food is."

Hall said this is part of the district's effort to focus more on healthy options, like fruits and vegetables.

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"We are definitely focusing on scratch-made food and less processed foods," she told FOX 13.

Hall said that's important, with federal guidelines for student meals potentially changing.

Big picture view:

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. promised as much during a recent cabinet meeting at the White House. He said the changes will likely be part of a revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which the secretary said is due out by December, but could be finished sooner.

"We are working very, very fast together. We are going to get it done by the end of the summer in time to drive major dramatic changes in the school foods, school lunch programs over the next school year," Kennedy said.

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Dig deeper:

Kennedy has expressed concerns about the availability of ultra-processed foods in school cafeterias.

The Hillsborough school district, meanwhile, said it's ready to meet any new standards.

"We try to stay ahead of that curve, for sure," said Deborah Ferguson, Hillsborough Schools' culinary coordinator.

Ferguson said she's doubled the number of certified chefs on staff since last year, up to almost 50 now. The district has also already made adjustments to the menu.

"All of our products no longer contain food dye, and we found that that was important for our parents," she said.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer.

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