By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - Paul and Laura Evers of Morrow were among dozens of senior citizens who used to think the county's Meals on Wheels program delivered tasteless food that sometimes was dried out and brown.

Their resounding complaints this summer about a change in the vendor ultimately led the Warren County Community Services in Lebanon to go back to preparing the food. Now, an agency survey shows that most seniors say the food tastes better.

"They're well-cooked and well-prepared, except the vegetables," says Paul Evers, who has received meals for more than a year. "My wife likes her vegetables cooked and I don't like mine too cooked so sometimes there's a problem. But you can't please everyone."

The Meals on Wheels service annually provides more than 200,000 hot dishes and chilled meals that can be heated later. That includes home deliveries to 510 people a day.

Of the 337 seniors who responded to the survey, more than 80 percent said the meals tasted good and 87 percent said the food looked good. The favorite dish by far is macaroni and cheese, which elderly services director Karen Hill says will be served at least once a month.

It's a sharp change from this summer's controversy, after community services hired a different food vendor - Valley Services of Carthage - to prepare chilled meals instead of the previous hot ones cooked from scratch.

About 30 percent of the seniors dropped the home delivery program. Meanwhile, county commissioner Mike Kilburn, who ordered the meals for two weeks, said the food was unacceptable and pushed for change.

Community services will do another survey early next year, Hill says.

"If that survey result indicates that things are better, I'm tickled to death," Kilburn says. "It's like any other service you provide, you have to stay focused in the long term. There's going to be problems from time to time, but we want to try and do the best we can."

---

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com