My Daughter's Elementary School Lunches

In my daughter's first day of school package (she's in 3rd grade), we received a newsletter from Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). They've apparently developed monthly Energy Zone articles to go in the monthly parent newsletters.

Anyway, this part is interesting. They've changed the lunches to meet new federal nutrition standards based on the latest nutrition science by the Institute of Medicine and Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

These changes include:

Reduced calories based on the grad of the students
Reduced protein portions for grades K-5
Increased fruits and vegetables
A new requirement that students MUST select one serving of vegetable or fruit with lunch
Limited number of servings of whole grains - rich breads and cereals.
Choice of only fat-free flavored or unflavored milk or 1% low-fat unflavored milk.
Focus on reduced saturated fats and sodium and zero trans fats.

I think this is a good thing, but I was wondering what you guys thought. Part of me doesn't like the government making these decisions, but I recognize that too many parents don't teach their children to eat properly.

On the menu today at her school:

Taco meal and cheese sauce o ncorn tortilla rounds
Taco meat, cheese sauce, baked potato/fruit roll
Hummus Bitable
PB&J

Steamed Green beans
cauliflower w/sugar snap peas
tossed salad w/ chilled pears w/cherry garnish
fresh apple slices

Southwestern spicy chicken salad w/black beans and corn, corn tortilla rounds
Chef salad w/cheese, green peas, corn tortilla rounds

I'm not sure how I feel. I mean...what if a kid needs more protein? Or less? What if he needs the fat from whole milk? What if he just throws away the veggie?

the school lunch program is a government program. It exists for a variety of reasons but one of the big ones is so that students who are low income can recieve food while at school. Because of this, they have guidelines that they want the food to meet, and if your children are partaking (whether you pay for the lunches, pay a reduced price, or get it free) you're playing by the government's rules, because it's their program. If you don't think the lunches are healthy enough, pack your own. If they need more protein, pack it. If they need special dietary changes, talk to the school which may be able to accomodate it.

If he throws away the veggie, hopefully that's that. I understand why they make the rules about kids having to grab a veggie, but I don't think schools should be "enforcing" the actual consumption of the food. When I was a kid I was forced to eat lunches at school when I didn't want them and it really messed up my relationship with food.

aside form the lack of whole milk, it seems ok. most(that i know) kids will pick the fruit and at least eat some of it

that is why my kids take their lunch! The schools serve canned, bagged, or packaged premade stuff. Not waisting good money on that junk.

^^this

All these people upset about government control. If the government took away control and schools only served what made them money everyone would be up in arms over the fat kids with diabetes. No one is ever happy.

That's more or less the current situation.

--P

Three things:

1. My mother for extra money once when she wasn't working full time signed up to sub at schools and they put her as a monitor at elementary cafeterias. Those schools required children to select a fruit or veg with their lunches and about 90% of those fruits and veggies ended up in the trash. You can make them take it, but you can't make them eat it.

2. I think there will be a lot of kids not eating lunch at all unless they bring it from home. It's nice they're trying, but kids are still kids.

3. When we were young and in school and there was no childhood obesity epidemic, we had a wider variety of choices, including pizza, chocolate milk, cheeseburgers and French fries. Not to mention we could get Little Debbie snacks and ice cream, unlimited. And fruit juice that was probably only about 10% actual fruit juice. The obesity issue is not because of what's on school lunch menus.

I think in the end...your child will eat how YOU teach them. Packed lunches are always best because you can control your own child's needs. However, your child needs to learn to make good choices themselves as well and have responsibility on what goes into their mouth. If a child takes a veggie just to throw it away doesn't matter. There's no lesson learned. The lesson learned needs to be from the parents at home as to why those veggies are a good choice!

Abso-freaking-lutely!!

I don't have a problem with nutrition standards for school lunches. But at the end of the day - how much can you expect from a cafeteria setting with a cost of around $2.50/plate?

If "we" (as parents, as a community, as a country) don't want to have this type of governmental interference, "we" need to step up to the plate and be responsible for the issue.

Don't worry...unless your child is obese or under-nourished.
They really need all those calories to sustain....Americans get too much fat and protein over-all, so make up snacks that help in the veggie and protein... peanut butter on celery or yogurt with fresh fruit should make up for it perfectly.

Of course they aren't all the same, but I went to 4 different high schools and went to school in 4 different states. What I got was hands down better than the carbs and milk that my kids are offered.

What's wrong with milk?

--P

Nothing wrong with milk, but the fact that lunch was mashed potatoes with gravy, breadstick, and milk. Gravy had some turkey, but hope they don't cut down on that protein. One parent was telling me if her high school son got hot lunch, she had to pay for two lunches because he was still hungry with one. I can certainly see why. I don't think all schools are the same, but my kids lunch is not good. The monthly menu that is sent home makes it look great. MOST schools nationwide have contracted lunches to corporations. As with any corporation, profit is the bottom line so the kids haven't been required to take food that they will throw away. Just don't assume your kids are getting a good lunch. Go there and eat with them once a year. My kids love it when I go for lunch with them anyway.

Very few schools actually prepare lunches any more. In my kids school, lunches are contracted out to Sodexo. Lunches are presented as healthy, but I went to lunch with my daughter at middle school once and I was really upset at what kids were eating. Most kids sat down with a serving of mashed potatoes and gravy, a breadstick, and milk. I asked if there was any meat and someone said there was turkey in the gravy. All I know is it couldn't have been much because I could not see it. I asked about fruit or vegetable, and was told there were apples at the bar if they wanted. I think the potatoes were the vegetable. None of the kids near me had taken the apple.

I went once with my son in elementary school, and he came to the table with a chicken sandwich and milk. Nothing else. I guess I am the only one that thinks our lunches were better as a child. We went down the line and got some of everything including vegetables. Now that lunches are run by corporations, I feel it is about profit. Yes, there are standards that must be met for a school to qualify for subsidies for free and reduced price lunches, but they seemed to be able to get around them. Maybe these new rules are a response to that. Not sure it matters if they take the apple if they are just going to throw it away. I thought about raising he11 with the school board, but decided just to pack lunch for my kids. I only allow my kids to buy lunch once a week.

Funny you mention Sodexo....I work in a rehab and psychiatric hospital and that is who does our meals here.

Funny you mention Sodexo, my husband works for them as an Executive Chef. DOH!

Next year if all goes according to plan, my daughter will begin attending a school which provides breakfast and lunch, and afternoon snack if they are in afterschool care. However, I will still provide breakfast at home for her (just in case she does not like what is being served), and the fare at home will still be mostly fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains and some pizza etc. She makes wise choices on her own (she is 5), preferring fruit to chips and candy, etc. I was not too crazy about the stuff I saw on the breakfast menu sample, lots of sugary cereals (I don't care if it's reduced sugar, still too much sugar - my girl likes plain original Cheerios!), pre-made breakfast sandwiches, etc. BUT I am choosing this school for the quality of academics and after school programs that are available. I think giving our kids a healthy head start at HOME is where the foundation needs to be laid, and if the school lunch is not what we would choose to serve, then we either need to pack one, get busy addressing the school boards and budget/decision makers, or just accept that these particular meals may not be ideal and we will balance it by what we serve at home. For children who only get meals throught the school meal programs, then this food is better than no food I guess. It does seem like a step in the right direction, but they underestimate what kids will choose on their own - my daughter will take a clementine over canned mandarin oranges, an apple over applesauce, any day. Every birthday party we go to, the kids devour the fresh fruit options long before the chips - as long as the PARENTS make those choices available! School budgets are ridiculously tight, but we moms feed our families on a budget all the time. Seems like we could show them how to prepare a healthier version of most every school meal within the budget and dietary guidelines!!

Iin Glendale AZ the lunches here are the same. They have made sure that there are only fat free or 1% milk options and the chocolate or strawberry flavored milks are fat free. The carbs like bread are wheat or whole grain and they offer a salad bar option to all students.
Mostly I see in my sons school the fruit and veggies being thrown out even something like apple sauce or low fat yogurt was being thrown out. The kids only want to eat the burgers or pizza or grilled cheese. Many kids today are eating burgers and pizza or other fast food and have no idea how to make healthy choices because the parents dont make it for them at home either unfortunately. Too many schools have been forced to make healthy choices for students and to set an example because parents are not.
There is a great show that I watched during my applied nutrition class in nursing school called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. He visits some schools and tries to introduce healthy foods into the elem. school district and does not exactly have a warm welcome. It's definitely an eye opener!

Why are they decreasing protein??? Kids need fat and protein in their diets to satiate them, it just needs to be from healthy sources, not fried foods and trans fats. When I did my student teaching, the kids always had access to a salad bar (public school!!!!) and most kids took salad, carrots, or another veggie offered. Many would take more than one serving, eat all of it, and throw out their tater tots.

Also, fat free milk is a stupid idea, especially if they are offering flavored, fat free milk. The fat in the milk is necessary to even use most of the nutrients...

I'm not sure how I feel. I mean...what if a kid needs more protein? Or less? What if he needs the fat from whole milk? What if he just throws away the veggie?

Yes, nutritional needs are different for every child. However, it's cheaper and simpler for them to make the same meal for everyone. And if it has to all be the same, they do a pretty darn good job putting together affordable, healthy meals for elementary school kids.

My son's school changed a bunch of stuff this year, but honestly I am not impressed. The real problem I would think with kids trashing the fruit or vegetables is that they literally have NO time to eat lunch! I pack my son's lunch b/c he is allergic to milk and eggs so there are so few things he can have that they serve anyway. That said, they have 20 minutes. So they move to the cafeteria. He's in first grade, so the teachers carry the lunch boxes in a laundry basket. They are distrubuted in the cafeteria, so they are already cutting into the eating time. He tells me every day that he didn't have time to finish. He can be a pokey eater at dinnertime which is usually when I get him to try new things or eat what we are eating. Lunch time is all stuff I know he will scarf down in minutes. So if he says there is not enough time, I believe him. The couple of times I went in and had lunch with him at school, he and all of the kids who packed lunch were halfway done by the time the kids who buy even sat down, which probably means the kids buying have less than 10 minutes to eat. I watched the kids scarfing down what they could, most of them never even getting to open their milk carton! Sad really.

Ultimately regardless of what is on the tray, the kids are only going to eat the part they want if they have no one there reminding them to eat the other stuff. If kids are taught to eat properly at home, MAYBE they'll eat the vegetables at school, but maybe not.

The new government plan is not going to make anyone healthier, they just want to be in every part of your life. Real nutrition should be taught, not this BS from the USDA. honestly teach people why things are good or not so good and teach people about portion size.
It has to start at home, the school can serve what they want but if not done at home the lunch will end up in trash