SALT LAKE CITY — Maria Valdez works hard to ensure the students at Liberty Elementary are well fed in her cafeteria.
But she also observes how much time they get to eat.
"You see the schedule over there? They have like 20 minutes to be here in the cafeteria," Valdez told FOX 13 News, motioning to a schedule posted on a wall.
But Valdez said sometimes things get in the way. The lunch line may be long, classes are running late and it cuts into how much time children have to actually eat. She said older kids do OK.
"The little ones, the pre-K, Kindergarten, they are playing, they are talking and the people who take care of them, they have to encourage them to eat their food to be on time according to the schedule," she said.
Concerned about how much time students actually have to eat their lunches, Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, is planning legislation to mandate a certain amount of time for eating.
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"I want to make sure that our kids have at least 20 minutes, sitting in the seat to be able to eat lunch," she told FOX 13 News on Friday.
Rep. Auxier said some schools right now simply are not allocating enough time for students to eat lunch. The Utah State Board of Education has a policy of 20 minutes but it doesn't always work out in practice. Some schools, she pointed out, offer only 15 minutes.
"That does not include transition time. And transition time is leaving class, washing their hands, getting their line and going through. Some kids? They have 15 minutes for that. By the time they sit down, we’ve got five, six minutes they’re just shoveling food as fast as they can because the next classroom is coming in," she said.
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Rep. Auxier noted that the Utah State Legislature allocated more money to ensure students don't go hungry in response to news reports about student lunch debt.
"If this really is the most substantial meal of the day and we’re providing with taxpayer money? Let’s make sure it’s getting in their bodies and not in trash cans," she said. "It’s estimated that students throw away 39 pounds of food from school lunch per year."
She isn't looking to expand the school day, but will explore those transition times and whether that could offer up a little more time. Rep. Auxier said she is also exploring putting recess first so children aren't motivated to eat fast or skip a meal just so they can run outside and play. The bill, which is still being drafted, may be limited to elementary school or go all the way through high school.
"We just want to make sure that all children have the same time to eat and be able to feel nourished," Rep. Auxier said. "As adults, we get breaks. We get lunch breaks and I think our kids deserve the same."
