new FDA regs for school lunches

tsh0ck

I guess with schools starting up again, the new food regs take effect today ... what have you fine folks been hearing from kids/parents/teachers?

I'm all for making better options available to kids, but some of these rules seem off. kids are, for example, required to take 1/2 cup of veggies/fruits daily. I expect a lot of produce will be wasted this school year. crazier, though, is the limits on protein and grains. K-8 are only allowed 1 oz. of protein, while 9-12 are allowed 2 oz. of protein. that's nothing. especially for growing kids! when did protein become a bad thing?

there are also now no seconds allowed. I expect this is because of the calorie caps set on meals. I think for the high school aged kids it is set at 850 max. younger kids was, I believe 600. I'm willing to bet there will be a whole lot of grouchy/hungry kids by the end of the day.

ETA: as was pointed out, the USDA is the bad guy on this one ... and I knew that, just wasn't thinking as I typed. and I guess you can't go in and change topics titles, which is odd. mea culpa.

Ledgehanger

Note to self: Send protein snacks with the kids, and have them pack lunches whenever possible.

That's ridiculous.

monicalosesweight

You've got to be kidding me. One ounce of protein? That's it? Are they nuts?

di2losew8

That is so unreasonable. Some of these kids only eat at school and if they eat anything at home it's junk. You want kids to do well in school? They won't if they can't get enough to eat at lunch so they can concentrate better. I pack my child's lunch just because of those stupid rules.

Birdie

We switched over to premade lunches. You get a hot tray and a cold tray (like a tv dinner). The food is supposed to be healthy but it looks gross. It must be processed somehow so it doesn't spoil. And the schools should be recycling the aluminun trays but they don't. And they won't allow anyone to take them, they must go in the garbage. So they try to fix one problem but create another.

ShannonMpls

I'm all for making better options available to kids, but some of these rules seem off. kids are, for example, required to take 1/2 cup of veggies/fruits daily. I expect a lot of produce will be wasted this school year. crazier, though, is the limits on protein and grains. K-8 are only allowed 1 oz. of protein, while 9-12 are allowed 2 oz. of protein. that's nothing. especially for growing kids! when did protein become a bad thing?

Well, first of all, it's the USDA and not the FDA that regulates school lunches.

But second, while the fruit/veggie rule is new, I haven't seen anything limiting protein to 1 or 2 ounces. Can you provide a source?

ffwife97

Look at the table at the bottom of page 23 on the following link....

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/regulations/7cfr210_12.pdf


As a mom of 6 kids, I almost always pack lunches because I know that what they are getting are things they will eat and are healthy.

tsh0ck

here are the official numbers. so, technically, they aren't limiting daily amounts. they limit the weekly amounts, which is essentially the same thing. not everything here is bad. but they are giving some kids too few calories anyway, and then the one thing that will help fill them up -- protein -- is limited drastically. and then we force them to take veggies many of them will just throw away. brilliant, obama administration.

(and the meat allowance is the protein number, obviously. but that also means if they offer, say, cheeseburgers, the cheese will cut into their 2 oz. cap. so then the burger shrinks to, maybe, 1.5 oz.)

New Agriculture Department guidelines for school lunches will take effect this fall, including the first national calorie and sodium limits for what can be served on lunch lines. A look at what the new guidelines require, according to the School Nutrition Association:

___

Grains:

Grades K-5: 8 to 9 servings per week

Grades 6-8: 8 to 10 servings per week

Grades 9-12: 10 to 12 servings per week

Students should have at least one serving of grains each day, and one-half of offerings must be rich in whole grain.

___

Meats/Meat alternatives:

Grades K-5: 8 to 10 ounces per week

Grades 6-8: 9 to 10 ounces per week

Grades 9-12: 10 to 12 ounces per week

Nuts, tofu, cheese and eggs can be substituted for meat in some cases.

___

Milk:

Grades K-12: 1 cup per day

Fat-free, low-fat and lactose-free milk options are allowable.

___

Fruits:

Grades K-8: One-half cup per day

Grades 9-12: One cup per day

Only half of the weekly fruit requirement can come from juice.

___

Vegetables:

Grades K-8: Three-quarters cup per day

Grades 9-12: One cup per day

Weekly requirements for vegetable subgroups, including dark green, red/orange, beans/peas, starchy and others.

___

Sodium:

By July 2014, sodium levels for lunches should not exceed:

Grades K-5: 640 milligrams

Grades 6-8: 710 milligrams

Grades 9-12: 740 milligrams

A timetable sets targets for further reducing sodium levels by 2022.

___

Fats:

No more than 10 percent saturated fats. No trans-fat, except for those naturally occurring in meat and dairy products.

___

Total calories:

Grades K-5: 550 to 650 per day

Grades 6-8: 600 to 700 per day

Grades 9-12: 750 to 850 per day

tsh0ck

one thing to think about, too, is that starving kids will be going home to eat whatever they can find. and I guarantee you that most of what they scarf down won't be green and leafy.

ffwife97

Thanks for the breakdown. I guess I will be making sure to pack some extra protein for snacks if they do ever take hot lunch.

TooTatToTrot

Yeah, it sucks. Just send your kid with a packed lunch.

amy0716

Yeah, it sucks. Just send your kid with a packed lunch.

Ideas please? My son started kindergarten and we are having such a hard time packing lunch. It can't be heated. (He is very picky but I would love to see some ideas.)
Thanks!!

RebelliousRibbons

I'm betting the protein cap has a lot to do with the fact that protein foods-- meat, milk, etc. are MUCH more expensive than that sh!tty greasy, carby pizza they serve every friday. -.-

tsh0ck

well, no, because they are having to buy a LOT more veggies and fruit, fresh. which isn't cheap. and pizza, with cheese, will be a hit to the protein cap.

but in what world is a school not able to serve a baked chicken breast because it doesn't meet the nutritional guidelines??

printererror

I know, as a high school student, trying to force foods on kids don't work. Just because the school is forcing fruit and veggies on the tray doesn't mean it won't get thrown in the trash (and the fruits and vegetables are hardly "fresh." They really are atrocious). And they tried to stock up our vending machines with healthy snacks, but kids just drop by Wawa on the way to school and pick up giant, family sized bags of their favorite chips instead of opting for whats in the machines.

domsmoms

Yeah, it sucks. Just send your kid with a packed lunch.

Ideas please? My son started kindergarten and we are having such a hard time packing lunch. It can't be heated. (He is very picky but I would love to see some ideas.)
Thanks!!

I need some ideas too... my son also just started kindergarten and so far it's basically peanut butter sandwiches every day. He loves those, and would eat them about 2 of 4 days in preschool, but I am pretty sure he's going to get sick of them fast. He's picky too, which makes it even tougher. I always send some fruits and/or veg too, but he starts with the sandwich, so he doesn't even usually get to those.

Ledgehanger

You've got to be kidding me. One ounce of protein? That's it? Are they nuts?

Nope. Nuts would be too much protein... ;o)

tsh0ck

that one's not comin back.

MissPatty584

I'm not sure people are reading the charts correctly. Those numbers are a weekly average for the RDA- recommended daily allowance.

MissPatty584

Meaning they would be served that on average, daily, for the week

Sorry for the two posts.

This is my understanding of looking at those

tsh0ck

I'm not sure people are reading the charts correctly. Those numbers are a weekly average for the RDA- recommended daily allowance.

right. the limits are per week. so they can serve 3 oz. of protein on Monday if they balance that by taking out 1 oz, essentially, from Tuesday. they are only allowed 8-10 every week. same with the calorie count, I believe. they can have one higher day, but will have to balance it out with a lower day.

MissPatty584

Hmm, I definitely was looking at the wrong thing..
That is terrible. My son won't eat home packed lunches though..

tsh0ck

doing a quick web search, here is part of a story from the Yuma (Arizona) Sun.

Students across the nation will see a change in what is being served in their local school cafeterias this year due to new mandates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Yuma Union High School District student nutrition services director Charlene Story said that the changes have caused them to have to revamp the way they do meal planning for their campuses. Story said that under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, schools are now being required to serve larger portions of fruits and vegetables, while putting a maximum limit on the amount of protein and grains that can be served per week.

She explained that while she is in favor of increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables, the USDA is now saying that students have to take at least half a cup for it to be considered a reimbursable meal.

"We have to serve more fruits and vegetables. That's no big deal because it's good for the students, but that they have to take it -- that's a new one," said Story.

She's hoping that through new marketing strategies, she'll be able to institute more grab-and-go type containers for students to be able to quickly choose fruits and vegetables.

"That will help to keep our lines moving... We have some schools that have 2,800 kids and we serve them in two lunch periods, so that's 1,400 students per lunch and they've got 30 minutes to eat. Our target is to have everyone fed within the first 10 minutes of their lunch so they have time to sit down and eat," she said. "I can't put out a salad bar and have students stand there and pick and choose, it's just going to slow those lines down."

She said that she is contracting through the Department of Defense to bring in new and fresher fruits and vegetables that they normally wouldn't be able to offer very often such as strawberries, blackberries and fresh spinach for sub sandwiches and pizza.

Although they were expecting the changes to the serving size of fruits and vegetables, the specifics of the requirements caught them off guard.

For example, not only have they specified how much vegetables students will be required to take, schools now have weekly requirements for the type of vegetables they need to serve in various categories per week. Categories include dark green, red/orange, and starchy vegetables as well as beans/peas and vegetables that fall into the other category such as artichokes, asparagus, avocado, cauliflower, celery, mushrooms, beets and cucumbers.

"It's a big learning curve," she said.

One of the biggest problems she and her staff are running into with the new mandates is the maximum limit of meats and meat alternates they can serve. She explained that meat alternates are factored into serving limits of 2 ounces per meal in the protein category and include such items as cheese, peanut butter and beans.

Story said that where last year she was serving 3 ounces of meat and 1 ounce of cheese on their sub sandwiches, now that same sandwich would have to have 1 ½ ounces of meat and ½ ounce of cheese under the new requirements.

"It used to be you could only serve 4 ounces of protein per meal, and then it turned into 3 ounces of protein and now we're down to 2 ounces," she explained. "2 ounces is not a lot of protein, especially for a growing high school student."

Story added that for K-8 grades, the protein limit has been set to 1 ounce of protein per meal.

"I can no longer serve things like baked chicken because the servings sizes are too big," she said. "I'm hoping that the families understand that a lot of this is no longer in our hands.

Elf_Princess1210

I'm betting the protein cap has a lot to do with the fact that protein foods-- meat, milk, etc. are MUCH more expensive than that sh!tty greasy, carby pizza they serve every friday. -.-

Otherwise known as cardboard topped with imitation pizza sauce and plastic cheese. Ahhh, memories of my youth!

Anastasiasosa

They are still serving grilled chicken and chicken patties and chicken "fried" steaks. Our district is serving the same things it was serving last year. They are just not giving cheese on the hamburgers, tacos or chalupas because they do count as protein. The thing is that the portions on grains (pasta and breads) were out of control. The whole wheat rolls went from 2oz to 1.5oz. The protein isn't affected as much as the grains and the grains are almost completely whole grains. Whole wheat pasta and breads. They are encouraging the children to grab just one fruit and 2 veggies. In the past they could grab 3 fruits or vegetables. The problem with that is kids were loading up on just fruits. They really want to restrict sugars (natural or otherwise). The kids won't go hungry. I'm not worried. And for what it's worth I eat the lunch and am satisfied

rusialeelee

Have they stopped counting french fries as a vegetable yet?

yarwell

Have they stopped counting french fries as a vegetable yet?

LOL.
or pizza.

but in what world is a school not able to serve a baked chicken breast because it doesn't meet the nutritional guidelines??

The USA. Where else. Somewhere that allows an agricultural production state body to dictate school food standards.

tsh0ck

Of course, they haven't had changes like this in 15 or 20 years. This is Michelle Obama's baby.

cjc166

We're packing my daughter's lunch. There is a whole lot of crap on the school menu (pizza, hot dogs, tacos, tater tots, and a ton of processed and refined carbs), , no lean meat, barely any fruits and veggies (1/2 cup is really poor in my estimation, my 6 and 2 year old kids eat a few cups of fresh fruits and veggies with every meal. It's really no different from when I went to to school. SMH...