School kitchen won't be same without Greendale's kitchen manager

Greendale - Pat Muth's weekly grocery bills average $7,500.

Each month, she provides about 3,000 meals to some pretty picky eaters: Greendale School District students.

Muth, 63, is the district's kitchen manager, as is her formal title. And she has been an innovative force in cutting costs and inserting healthy menu choices for a population that prefers burgers, fries and shakes to fresh fruits and vegetables, said Superintendent William Hughes.

"It wasn't just about turning a profit," he said. "She's always been very much of an advocate for healthy food."

Plus, she's not the stereotypical uncaring lunch lady with hairnet.

"She paid attention not to just getting the food prepared for the kids, but she paid attention to the kids personally," Hughes said.

At the end of the school year, Muth, of Greenfield, is retiring after 30 years with the district. During her tenure, she's worked her way up the food chain - starting as a substitute dishwasher to baker to, about eight years ago, kitchen manager. Her training has been on-the-job. "I'm not a dietitian," she said.

But definitely a pro, said Hughes: "I've worked with her for the past 15 years as superintendent. She always was a leader in food service."

And her background has served her well. "I come from a family of 13," said Muth, who is originally from the small town of Prentice. "You sort of make due with what you have."

If there's a run on, say, pizza, her no-nonsense response is: "They can eat the other choices we have."

"I treat it like I do at home," said the mother of two.

So with her shopping habits. "If I get a better price at one vendor than the other, I switch."

She's also involved the district in a food co-op. "I think that saved a lot of money in our grocery bill."

Saving money and eating healthier don't always go hand-in-hand, as anyone who has walked down a supermarket produce aisle can attest. Yet Muth's been making it happen.

She's making fresh fruits and vegetables more available to students, and she started a Greener Lighter Corner for those who want to make healthier choices. "Instead of lettuce, we use spinach. A tuna wrap - we try to get fish in there - is served with a cottage cheese side. Everything we made came with a fresh apple or orange rather than canned fruit. If you want to eat healthy, you can find healthy food."

Muth said soda's not offered by the schools anymore to cut down on sugar intake. "We'll give them Powerade, but only the 12-ounce bottle. Vitamin water is offered."

She tries to choose food products that are lower in sodium, too.

White bread is not offered. "Sandwiches are all whole wheat," she said. "Even our grilled cheese sandwiches are made on whole wheat bread."

Fat's another ingredient Muth takes a close look at. "We're pushing the salad bar and fresh fruit rather than french fries. We got rid of the deep fryers totally. Now we serve bake-able fries.

"We do a lot of turkey instead of ham, we do turkey ham. Even our pepperoni for our pizza is turkey pepperoni."

Muth, who has a staff of 16, said menu offerings are sometimes dictated by the Department of Public Instruction.

And at the high school level, where students have open campus, the school cafeteria competes with McDonalds. Not easily deterred, the district created its own breakfast version of the Egg McMuffin.

"The Panther Muffin, an English muffin with scrambled eggs and cheese," she said. "That's the healthy option."

Participation in the Greendale School District lunch program increased from 454 students in 2001-02 to 1,049 in 2010-11. Likewise, revenues increased from $516,841 to $853,825 during the same period, according to Director of Business Erin Green.