Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Healthier School Lunches!

This year, school lunches will be healthier.  Because of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, school lunches must now:
- offer both fruits and vegetables every day of the week
- substantially increase offerings of whole grain-rich foods
- substantially increase offerings of low-fat or fat-free milk
- limit calories based on the age of children being served to ensure proper portion size
- reduce saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium.

(See USDA announcement http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDAOC-50fc2c).  

This is wonderful news!  While I grew up without eating school lunches (they turned my stomach then, and they make me queasy thinking about them now), so many children are dependent on school lunches.  Not only are parents working harder than ever, but good, quality food is scarce at home.  Lunches at school may be the only time children experience whole, real food.  I'm proud of America for taking this step.  Our kids have been eating over-processed unidentifiable mush for too long.  It's time to go back to the days when the lunch ladies actually peeled potatoes to make mashed potatoes, and they cooked actual chicken, and their jobs involved more than defrosting and heating.  My grandma was a lunch lady for my mom's school, and we still eat some of her "school recipes" as part of our normal meals (I'm particularly fond of her yeasty rolls --- yum!).  Let's get back to that and find our waistline, our energy levels, and our concentration again.  Here's to healthy kids!

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