Risk of Unintended Consequences If Prohibiting Polystyrene School Lunch Trays

by Ernie Koschmieder

As the [legislature’s Environment] Committee and the public discuss the topic [of polystrene products], we are providing information to put some much needed context around the impact that prohibiting styrofoam trays will have on food service programs throughout the state.

School districts have few choices when it comes to implementing this prohibition. Many school districts will have to increase meal prices or request additional support from taxpayers for food service operations. The added cost of alternatives to styrofoam trays would be an unfunded mandate for our schools.

Per USDA regulations, School Nutrition programs are required to operate separately from the school district budget. Breakfast and lunch meals are funded by federal reimbursements, meal and a la carte sales. The current maximum federal breakfast and lunch reimbursement rates are below.

In 2018, 45,844,748 lunches were served in Connecticut. Sixty-four percent of these lunches were served to free and reduced priced students. Connecticut schools also served 17,947,327 breakfasts to students, eighty-two percent of which were served to free and reduced priced students. Many schools cannot raise prices to offset the increased costs, as they are serving free and reduced priced meals ($.30 for breakfast and $.40 for lunch) that have a fixed federal meal reimbursement rate.

“With over 150,000 children in Connecticut eating school meals daily, these proposals would require dramatic statewide changes to these critical programs.”

In a survey conducted by the School Nutrition Association of Connecticut, more than half of the fifty-three respondents representing almost one third of Connecticut’s school districts required subsidies from their local Boards of Education to cover their expenses. My district is self-supporting ; however, it operates on fractions of a penny “profit” margin to be reinvested in our programs and reserves.

Reusable trays are an alternative, however, many Connecticut schools do not have the proper amount of space and/or utility resources that are required to have stations set up for tray washing. These practices also require additional labor and utility costs. Not all Connecticut schools have dishmachines (49% of respondents to our survey said they do not have dishmachines in all their schools) . Besides the additional labor and utility costs, dishmachines are not environmentally friendly, as they use a significant amount of water and electricity.

A disposable alternative to styrofoam are paper or fiber trays. These trays can cost up to three or five times the cost of a traditional foam tray. The cost increase for a single disposable item is of great significance to many programs and could hinder their ability to offer students the same variety of breakfast/lunch options if a larger portion of their budget is focused on paper/fiber trays. In the survey we conducted last year, 75% of our respondents are currently using a foam disposable tray.

As 1 in 6 children in Connecticut live in food insecure households, child nutrition programs are a first line of defense against hunger and malnutrition. With over 150,000 children in Connecticut eating school meals daily, these proposals would require dramatic statewide changes to these critical programs. Please take this into consideration as you discuss these bills and ensure that the language does not adversely affect Connecticut’s students.

Ernie Koschmieder is President, School Nutrition Association of Connecticut, and Food Service Director, Groton Public Schools. This was submitted as testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly’s Environment Committee this month.