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"Nutritious meals are available in high school cafeterias; it's up to the students to choose high-nutrition foods when they go through the line." Sandra Matheson is Executive Nutritionist with Canada's largest national caterer to school cafeterias. She says that in the 10 to 15 per cent of schools large enough to offer a full hot meal programme, different eating patterns emerge according to the foods chosen by students.
"In some schools we hardly sell anything but French fries; in others, French fries are rare." The school cafeteria is often the first place that students can buy foods away from a supervised situation. Most students have anything from 25 cents to a dollar to spend on food, either a complete meal or a drink to go with their packed lunch. To encourage students to choose nutritious foods, the company has introduced an information program called 'Four Plus' based on the four food groups of Canada's Food Guide. Posters highlight each group with a numbering system, 1 for milk and milk products, 2 for meat, 3 for breads and cereals, 4 for fruit and vegetables.
Foods in the cafeteria are labelled according to their food groups, with a big '+ ' on high-calorie foods. A carton of skim milk would be labelled as '1', milkshake as '1+' and a ham and cheese sandwich as 1, 2, 3,so students know what they are buying.
Food groups alone don't do justice to teenagers' eating habits. They need a calorie indicator because although they require at least 2,000 calories a day for growth, so many foods pushed at them through advertising are high calorie-content that it's easy to go over that. Students need an understanding of both nutritional values and calorie content to make food choices.
What improvements would Ms. Matheson like to see in school cafeterias?
"Obviously we aim at putting more nutritious foods into the cafeterias. One of the problems is packaging. In a larger school you may have 2,000 hungry students converge on the cafeteria in an hour. They're anxious to eat and don't want to stand in line for long.
"We want to get more nourishing pick-up foods that fit into the express-line concept without losing on variety or nutrition. And we have to do it at rock bottom prices."
Ms. Matheson explains that fast-food chains can offer fast cheap food because they have a very limited menu with little choice. "I want the fast food concept so students don't have to wait in line, but I want to keep nutrition and variety as well." Even with nutritional foods in the cafeteria, there's no guarantee that students will pass over the chips, French fries and pop.
"It's disconcerting to see the number of packed lunches thrown away in cafeterias. We often find discarded sandwiches, vegetables and fruit. Students may have eaten French fries instead.
"There's a need for more nutrition education, both in schools and outside. The food industry could certainly do better, particularly in advertising. Ads that appeal to the social aspects of eating could be made to emphasize the healthy aspects, for instance.
"We try to work with school food committees made up of students and teachers, but often find that their requests aren't the best nutritional choices. We also operate on a market basis. When sales of a food go up, we'll meet the demand. But it's up to students to choose the nutritious foods."
Are fast foods nutritious?
How much food value do you get when you grab a bite at the nearby hamburger or fried chicken outlet?
In a recent survey of fast-food meals, Consumer Reports found that nearly all the meals sampled were heavy on calories and none provided much Vitamin A. Fast foods are not, however, a nutritional disaster zone.
Some of the survey results (converted to metric units) are shown in the chart. The chicken and pizza are well above the 43 to 54 grams of protein that Nutrition Canada gives as a daily requirement for 13 to 19 year-olds. At 40 grams, the hamburgers are also good protein value.
Each meal provides over half the daily adult calorie requirement, so you should eat carefully for the rest of the day. Other meals and snacks should include sources of Vitamin A such as leafy and yellow vegetables.
Some fast food chains now offer coleslaw, tossed salad or a salad bar, and fruit or tomato juice. By choosing from these you are adding to the nutritional value of your quick meal.
Hamburgers containing good portions of salad trimmings such as lettuce and tomato are a nutritional rung above the meat-on-a-bun variety, which is something to remember when looking for the best hamburger in town.
Assembly- line eating
Fast food outlets are the assembly lines of the restaurant business. For about two dollars you can get a meal of hamburger, French fries and a drink, or a chicken take-out dinner. The food is filling and judging by the line-ups, Canadians find it tasty.
The success formula is reduced labor costs plus a limited menu of portion-controlled pre-packaged foods that need only be heated and served. Kitchen labor is reduced, and customers often provide their own labor out front by serving themselves.
Because food is delivered already processed, no trained chefs are needed at the restaurant. The preliminary processing is done in food processing plants, so the only labor in the kitchen is unskilled and therefore cheaper than trained chefs.
How does this affect the food production industry? It has resulted in the growth of food processors who produce the semi-prepared portions. Meats are cut, ground, mixed, sliced, wrapped, frozen and boxed in food plants. Vegetables are prepared mostly by machine. Relishes are pre-packaged. As far as possible, labor is transferred from the kitchen to the central plant.
Hamburgers usually contain the less expensive cuts of meat and some may contain meat extenders or fillers such as skim milk powder, breadcrumbs or cracked wheat which help to hold the juices and make a tastier pattie.
An important factor in the fast-food business is standardization. Food must be of a consistent quality, and relatively low-priced. To the farmer this means gearing production to a standard product, usually on a large scale, to meet industry needs.
Canadians eat out for one meal in three
The average Canadian today eats one meal in three away from home. By the early 1980's it is estimated that restaurants, cafeterias, fast-food outlets and take-out services will provide one meal in two.
Why are Canadians leaving their dining rooms and eating out more? The trend is largely a reflection of changing lifestyles. With the number of working women increasing, there is more money to spend on food and less time to spend on its preparation. With the trend, especially in cities, to fast-paced but more casual living, the three-meal-a-day routine is to some extent being replaced by less regular snacks. Few working people are able to eat their noon meal at home. Large schools serving a wide area have resulted in more students eating in cafeterias and lunch rooms.
Eating out is also becoming more popular as a form of relaxation and entertainment. Whether it's at a drive-in or a formal restaurant, a meal away from home is a social event.
Kitchen dilemma: open a package or mix it yourself?
For a snack or a meal, the question of using convenience foods or starting from scratch has faced us all. Cans, mixes, packaged and frozen foods usually save preparation time but are often more expensive than assembling the dish from your own ingredients. The other thing to consider is flavor.
As far as cost is concerned, it's generally true that the more convenient the food the more expensive it will be because you are paying for other people to do the preparation. Mini-puddings in cans, for instance, are more expensive per serving than pudding mixes.
On the other hand, you can save with some convenience foods because they have been mixed in bulk. Cakes from mixes are often less expensive than home-made cakes, and instant coffee is cheaper than fresh perked. Compare prices when shopping.
The greatest advantage of convenience food Is the time it usually saves. Canned soups, frozen pies, canned or frozen vegetables and instant puddings can save hours of peeling, chopping, mixing, boiling or baking. But there is little difference in the time taken to make pancake batter from flour, eggs and milk and the time spent opening a package of mix and adding water. The same is true for macaroni cheese dinner. The final test, the taste, is a matter of personal choice. Flavor differences and usually higher costs must be weighed against time served. Is it worth it toyou?
Processing: it's a natural, says food expert
Several methods of food processing imitate natural processes, according to Lois Hurst, Director of Agriculture Canada's Food Advisory Division.
"Ripening and drying are processes that are just like nature's own," said Miss Hurst. "For instance, when foods such as tomatoes ripen in the sun, they give off ethylene gas. Tomatoes that are picked before they are ripe, packed, and then treated with the same gas, will ripen without sun. This enables growers to pick and ship their crop before it is ripe, thus avoiding crushing and spoilage."
One of the oldest methods of preserving food is by drying, a process which Miss Hurst pointed out is a replica of natural drying by the sun. In Canada, fruit and fish are the best examples of dried food products.
Most food processing methods help preserve the food. Milk, and sometimes honey, is pasteurized to prevent or arrest fermentation. Fruits and vegetables are canned or frozen so they can be stored and transported for consumption throughout the year.
In fact, you'd have difficulty finding foods that have not been processed in any way.
"Few people would think of eggs as processed food; but they've been washed, graded and packaged,"
Miss Hurst pointed out. "Washing is a minimal form of processing, but it's essential for many foods, such as fruits and vegetables."
Asked for an example of an unprocessed food, Miss Hurst replied: "Nuts!-those still in their natural packaging, their shells, and not the shelled, salted and wrapped varieties."
Unprocessed foods unpalatable
Ever tried nibbling a soybean or tasting maple sap? Uninteresting to say the least. These are just two examples of foods that must be processed before they are ready for consumption.
Important sources of vegetable oil such as cottonseed or rapeseed are unpleasant to chew. Grains are husked, milled, ground or rolled (ever eaten an unrolled oat?) ready for furthur coqking.
If it weren't for processing we would have to do without some foods that we now enjoy: it's processing that gives them their taste.
Imagine a dill pickle without the dill or unsmoked bacon: they just wouldn't be the same!
©1999 TG Magazine/Le Magazine TG
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