Parent urges Mill Creek board to overhaul school meals, recommends sugar limits and end to fast-food fundraisers

Amanda Austin, a parent representative on the Mill Creek wellness committee and mother of a kindergarten student at Asbury, urged the Mill Creek Township School District Board of Directors on March 24 to make immediate changes to student meals, saying current breakfast and lunch menus include items she called overly sugary and nutritionally poor.

Austin read a list of recent breakfast items that she said “have no nutritional value,” including sprinkle-filled pancakes, cinnamon rolls, Trix French toast, Trix cereal bars, Rice Krispies treats, frosted Pop-Tarts, chocolate-chip muffins and donuts. She said recent lunches included “many types of breaded and fried chicken, fried pizza bites, French toast sticks, pizza, corn dogs, hot dogs, and nachos.”

“These foods contain an incredible amount of sugar that quickly spikes and then plummets blood sugar levels,” Austin said. She urged the board to seek a new food supplier and recommended four local steps: set a sugar limit for meals (for example, eliminating chocolate milk and juice as frequent options), make water and plain milk the default beverages, replace sugary cereals and pastries with low-sugar cereals or oatmeal and make higher-protein breakfasts such as eggs or yogurt the default.

Austin also called for a ban on artificial food dyes, citing studies she said link dyes to hyperactivity and behavioral issues, and urged the district to discontinue fast-food partnerships and fundraising days with Domino’s and McDonald’s, which she said function as marketing to children.

She acknowledged structural constraints, including the district’s Aramark contract and the loss of commercial kitchens that complicate preparing fresh meals, but said local policy changes could reduce sugar and junk-food marketing in schools. Austin said wellness committee members had succeeded in removing some snack sales at elementary breakfasts but urged broader, district-wide steps.

The board received Austin’s comments during the public comment portion of the meeting; trustees did not engage in discussion with the speaker during the meeting, per board protocol.