I saw something about school lunches online the other day and it made me wonder what the school lunch is like at your schools?
I don't always like the main entree option at our schools, but I totally LOVE the fruits and veggies. About 15 yrs ago some parents got upset about the lunches and a district committee made largely of parents was created to look into the quality of the lunches. Three years later some amazing changes were put into place. Most are still there because the KIDS have fits when they change.
The only thing that did not stick was having every item made with wheat be made only with 100% whole wheat. Now it has to be whole wheat for the bread/buns/muffins, but they do use reg flour for the cookies and the very infrequent cobbler.
From elem to high school, the kids get 2 hot veggies though they only have to take one. Then at the end of the lunch line there are little cups with clean raw fruits/veggies and little cups of applesauce (sometimes for the applesauce, always for the others). The kids have to take 2 but they can take up to one of each or if there is a surplus up to 2 of each.
While every family is asked to fill out the free lunch paperwork, every child in our district can have a free breakfast. Up through middle school they also have free lunch for every student. Parents income does not matter. parents CAN choose to pay if they wish, and a few do, but only a very few. The school has had grants from several sources to help fund this because they feel it makes a big difference in student test scores AND in how the kids behave. Across the board there are fewer fights and bad behavior from the kids if they have had a healthy breakfast and lunch, so our administration and the parent group that actively does fundraising (a local foundation to benefit the schools - they do major fundraising, find and get grants, and do long term budget planning for the district) work to make sure the meals are funded for each child.
Are the lunches healthier in your schools than they used to be? Or are the what is shown on some of the shows like that food revolution show with that chef (can't remember his name but can see his face in my mind, sigh)? I would be furious if they were counting french fries as veggies here, but they couldn't get away with it here. The kids wouldn't tolerate it.
Kids here younger than Jess have always had these options. When they started there was a lot of grumbling about how the school was going to waste a fortune throwing away the veggies and fruit because the kids would not eat any of them. I remember hearing parents ranting about what a waste it was to buy the veggies etc... Only it didn't happen that way. The kids were a little slow to try some things, but with some gentle encouragement an teachers taking some time to introduce some of the foods in class if the kids had not seen them before, the kids soon were asking for seconds and even thirds on the fresh fruits AND the veggies. One day I was listening to a mom rant about how her kids were being 'forced' to try 'weird food' like arugula and fresh spinach in salad instead of iceberg lettuce. Suddenly one of her kids said, "Mom, we LIKE them. How come you keep telling us that we can't have them at home?" I swear you could hear a pin drop because she had been incredibly vocal with her protests against the changes.
It actually changed the produce selection at the area grocery stores. They now stock a much wider variety of fresh produce because our kids like more types of fruits and veggies.
Have any of your schools made changes like this? Are your schools still counting ketchup and a pickle slice as a serving of veggies? I was a bit surprised when I learned that some of the schools in the cities around us are still doing that.
I don't always like the main entree option at our schools, but I totally LOVE the fruits and veggies. About 15 yrs ago some parents got upset about the lunches and a district committee made largely of parents was created to look into the quality of the lunches. Three years later some amazing changes were put into place. Most are still there because the KIDS have fits when they change.
The only thing that did not stick was having every item made with wheat be made only with 100% whole wheat. Now it has to be whole wheat for the bread/buns/muffins, but they do use reg flour for the cookies and the very infrequent cobbler.
From elem to high school, the kids get 2 hot veggies though they only have to take one. Then at the end of the lunch line there are little cups with clean raw fruits/veggies and little cups of applesauce (sometimes for the applesauce, always for the others). The kids have to take 2 but they can take up to one of each or if there is a surplus up to 2 of each.
While every family is asked to fill out the free lunch paperwork, every child in our district can have a free breakfast. Up through middle school they also have free lunch for every student. Parents income does not matter. parents CAN choose to pay if they wish, and a few do, but only a very few. The school has had grants from several sources to help fund this because they feel it makes a big difference in student test scores AND in how the kids behave. Across the board there are fewer fights and bad behavior from the kids if they have had a healthy breakfast and lunch, so our administration and the parent group that actively does fundraising (a local foundation to benefit the schools - they do major fundraising, find and get grants, and do long term budget planning for the district) work to make sure the meals are funded for each child.
Are the lunches healthier in your schools than they used to be? Or are the what is shown on some of the shows like that food revolution show with that chef (can't remember his name but can see his face in my mind, sigh)? I would be furious if they were counting french fries as veggies here, but they couldn't get away with it here. The kids wouldn't tolerate it.
Kids here younger than Jess have always had these options. When they started there was a lot of grumbling about how the school was going to waste a fortune throwing away the veggies and fruit because the kids would not eat any of them. I remember hearing parents ranting about what a waste it was to buy the veggies etc... Only it didn't happen that way. The kids were a little slow to try some things, but with some gentle encouragement an teachers taking some time to introduce some of the foods in class if the kids had not seen them before, the kids soon were asking for seconds and even thirds on the fresh fruits AND the veggies. One day I was listening to a mom rant about how her kids were being 'forced' to try 'weird food' like arugula and fresh spinach in salad instead of iceberg lettuce. Suddenly one of her kids said, "Mom, we LIKE them. How come you keep telling us that we can't have them at home?" I swear you could hear a pin drop because she had been incredibly vocal with her protests against the changes.
It actually changed the produce selection at the area grocery stores. They now stock a much wider variety of fresh produce because our kids like more types of fruits and veggies.
Have any of your schools made changes like this? Are your schools still counting ketchup and a pickle slice as a serving of veggies? I was a bit surprised when I learned that some of the schools in the cities around us are still doing that.
