No longer skipping lunch, Monte Metal, a seventh-grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, said he is eating more and receiving straight-A's this year, what he says is partially due to improvements to the school food program.

"I don't know what they did, but the food is very good," Metal said. "I really think the lunch has improved my grades. You can actually think after you eat."

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed mid-year budget cuts to K-12 education may decrease funding for the food program. The Berkeley Unified School District would face an estimated $3.5 million budget cut if the state legislature passes the proposal, said district Superintendent Bill Huyett.

The district food budget is a little over $3 million for the 2008-09 academic year, according to Ann Cooper, the district's director of nutrition services.

The food program is primarily supported through state and federal reimbursements, but this academic year the school district is budgeted to contribute $200,000-an amount that may decrease if the governor's proposed cuts take effect, Cooper said.

"That $200,000 is the money that we probably have to cut out of our

budget going forward," Cooper said. "We will definitely have to tighten our belts a little bit."

The proposed cuts would force district officials to change the way they buy food, but not necessarily change the menus.

Since Cooper began her tenure as nutrition director in October 2005, officials have eliminated high-fructose corn syrup, trans fat and almost all processed food from school menus. Schools got rid of dessert, chocolate milk and almost all refined sugar and flour. Food is 30 percent organic and produce is regional, Cooper said.

However, low participation in the meal programs continues to be an issue. While participation district-wide has gone up-three times as many meals are served than when Cooper took the job-only 10 percent of Berkeley High School students eat the campus-served meals, Cooper said.

In order to cope with the cuts already implemented to the district, totaling $2.5 million, and to raise participation, Cooper said a pre-pay meal deal has been implemented that gives students 20 meals for the price of 19.

The school district hopes that by increasing participation for the food program, the revenues alone can sustain the program in the near future, Huyett said.

"What we are doing now is working hard for involvement and participation from our students as much as we can," he said.

Parents said they are supportive of the food program and that improvements have made their children more enthusiastic about school lunches.

Jules Jacobs, father of two district students, said he appreciates that the district offers organic and healthy meals.

"It's important because in my house we stay away from pork and beef and try to eat organic when we can," Jacobs said. "It allows my daughters to make better choices during lunchtime.

Jacobs said he opposes the governor's cuts, whether or not they will directly affect the food program.

Madeline Metal, mother of Monte Metal, said her low-income family relies on the school lunch program and gets the school lunches for free, but even if she had to pay, the quality of the food is worth the cost.

"If you look at what you spend on groceries, ingredients and the time it takes to pack the lunch, I think it would be worth it even if you paid out of pocket for it," Metal said.

Tags: LUNCHES