Cascade Food Services outlines nutrition wins, challenges to board

LEAVENWORTH — Cascade School District’s (CSD) food services program operates under strict dietary requirements, limiting sodium, sugar, fat and requiring nutritious variety — yet misconceptions about school meals persist, Food Services Director Teresa Disher told the school board during a Jan. 12 meeting.

“How can the board support us? You guys already come to the schools and eat. Please keep doing that….Then also, help correct misconceptions about food service,” said Disher. “I've heard, ‘Oh, they're not healthy.’ They're probably the most healthy, [and have] the least amount of salt, the least amount of sugar, the least amount of fat.”

CSD has two schools that offer free breakfast and lunch, Peshastin-Dryden and Alpine Elementaries, through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). Meals reimbursed under NSLP and SBP must follow federal nutrition standards, which follow the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

“Specific number of servings of meat is still standard…Every single week you have to have X amount of dark green vegetables, beans, peas, lentils, red orange vegetables, starchy vegetables, and what they call ‘other,’” said Disher.

At least 80 percent of the weekly grains offered in the school lunch and breakfast programs must be whole grain-rich. Disher said the district was aiming for 100 percent. Saturated fat in meals must also fall under 10 percent in a weekly average, and trans fats are not allowed, according to Disher.

For the last several years, average sodium limits per meal for grades K-5 are about a third of a teaspoon (1,110 milligrams) for lunch and an eighth of a teaspoon (540 mg) for breakfast, with limits increasing for middle and high school students. By 2027, those limits are scheduled to lower to 935 mg for lunch and 485 mg for breakfast, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which finalized the standards in April 2024.

Added sugar limits are being implemented starting this year, limiting breakfast cereals to no more than 6 grams of added sugar per dry ounce, no more than 12 grams per six ounces of yogurt the final rule also establishes a dietary specification limiting added sugars to less than 10 percent of calories across the week in the school lunch and breakfast programs.

Flavored milk cannot have more than 10 grams of added sugar per 8 fluid ounces or, for flavored milk sold as a competitive food for middle and high schools, 15 grams of added sugars per 12 fluid ounces. Starting in the 2027-2028 school year, added sugars will have to be limited to less than 10 percent of calories across the week in the school lunch and breakfast programs.

“The whole country knows that these are the requirements, and so the companies you buy these products from, they are making these products for schools. They know that we have to come within the threshold,” said Disher.

Because of this, Disher said she would be “opening the door to a thoughtful, data-based conversation” with the board in the near future about bringing chocolate milk back into the schools. 

The biggest challenge Food Services faces is adhering to the Buy American Provision. Starting this school year, non-domestic foods may only account for 10 percent of total commercial food costs. The cap is scheduled to lower incrementally to 8 percent in the 20280-29 school year and to 5 percent in the 2031-32 school year.

“That's really hard with fruit. So how do we get more locally grown fruits?” said Disher. “It's not only that, it’s what can you afford?”

In terms of sustainability, Disher added that the schools were well prepared for the recent enforcement of the state’s organics management law, which requires business and public entities generating at least 96 gallons of organic waste per week to have some type of organic materials management arranged as of Jan. 2026. The school district has been composting through Winton MFG Compost Works for several years. CSD Food Services has also taken additional steps to reduce waste, such as replacing single-use silverware, plates, and bowls last year, and buying more commodities in bulk this year.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media