FOOD SERVICE IN RURAL SCHOOLS 67 



plied in other lunch rooms, particularly those with services comparable to 

 that of Schoolhouse F, with its appalling preponderance of rich sweets. 



The food service in Schoolhouse H, described below, is a striking example 

 of what may be accomplished by brains and ingenuity, without much money, 

 and its description is presented as that of a service almost ideal for the con- 

 ditions under which it must operate. The lunch room occupies the top story 

 of a six-room, six-teacher building, having 170 pupils in the first six grades, 

 90 of whom are furnished transportation and consequently always remain 

 over the noon hour. The lunch room also serves some pupils from a nearby 

 building which houses grades 7 and 8 and the Iiigh school. More than three- 

 fourths of the elementary school children who stay at noon patronize the 

 service, and from 100 to 115 pupils are served every school day from the first 

 of November until the end of school in June. The service is sponsored by the 

 school committee; stove, dishes, and other equipment bought out of school 

 funds. The woman who manages the service pays for her own time and that 

 of her assistant out of the proceeds of sales, in addition to meeting the entire 

 cost of food. In view of the fact that she serves the children with excellent 

 food at a flat rate of 15 cents per child per day, this is an achievement of 

 no little merit. 



The lunch room is light and clean and good order is maintained during the 

 serving period. All the children come at one time and are served simultan- 

 eously. The tables are set with utensils and cold food shortly after the morn- 

 ing recess; hot food is served just as the children arrive. The manager and 

 her helper do all the work, including planning and marketing, except for the 

 "work of six high school girls who help with the serving of hot food and get 

 their own lunches free in return for this labor. 



Sample menus are given below. Servings are ample and the food excel- 

 lently seasoned and served with much neatness. An attempt is made never 

 to repeat a menu in its entirety and not to repeat a highly flavored food 

 oftener than once in two weeks. In the cold weather cocoa (two-thirds milk) 

 is a staple; when the days are warmer, milk is served instead. Two slices of 

 'bread are always served; whole wheat bread with butter and white bread 

 witli peanut butter. The manager said the children had expressed a prefer- 

 ence for this arrangement and she did not, therefore, attempt to vary that 

 item in the menu. 



Menu 1 Menu 3 



Lamb stew with vegetables (potatoes. Beef stew with vegetables (potatoes, 



onions, carrots) carrots, onions, rice) 



Bread Bjead 



Cocoa 'Milk 

 Orange (fresh fruit) cornstarch pudding Raisin bread pudding with top milk 



with top milk 



Menu 2 Menu 4 



iCreamed eggs on toast Codfish chowder with crackers 



'Bread Bread 



-Cocoa 'Cocoa 



Tapioca cream pudding Apple sauce and two plain cookies 



During the school year 1927-1928 the manager of the lunch room, serving 

 such food for 15 cents a day, not only paid for all food, for her own services 

 and those of her assistant, but also at the end of the year had a profit of 

 ten dollars, which was spent for additional kitchen equipment. 



