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WESTCHESTER, N.Y. -- Students in Westchester will notice some healthier options in the cafeteria when they return to school this week.
School meals across the country are getting a makeover, as required by the United States Department of Agriculture.
“This year, the most obvious changes will be that one of the three food components that the students choose must be a fruit or vegetable," explained Jo-Anne Ricapito, Lakeland Central School District director of food and nutrition.
Other new federal requirements include banning anything more than one percent milk and all flavored milk, including chocolate milk, must be fat-free. In addition, schools that do not have a water fountain in the cafeteria must provide water with cups. Use of starches in school lunches is also being cut back significantly.
“Now there’s a maximum of nine servings of breads and grains at the elementary school level and 10 at the middle school level,” Ricapito said. “That’s a real challenge.”
The new meal requirements, which were first announced in January, will raise nutritional standards for the first time in more than 15 years and are intended to improve the health and nutrition of the nearly 32 million children who participate in school meal programs.
The requirements are a key component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by the First Lady Michelle Obama part of her Let’s Move! campaign and signed into law by her husband, President Barack Obama.
Many area schools have already taken measures to make school meals healthier. Yorktown Central School District Assistant Superintendent for Business Tom Cole told parents in a letter last month that the district has already made big changes to lunches in recent years.
For example, he said, recipes are continuously revised to include a variety of whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetable and minimally processed meat and poultry. The district also provides daily salad offerings in all schools, hormone and antibiotic-free milk, no high fructose corn syrup, MSG, or partially hydrogenated oils and regular student involvement through focus groups and food tastings.
School meals are often handled by outside food service groups but district staff members still play an important role, as is the case in the Peekskill City School District.
Peekskill Schools spokesperson Anita Prentice said the district’s food is handled by the food services group Whitson’s, but district staff is always reviewing its meal offerings. The district is spending almost $2 million on upgrades and renovations to the kitchen and cafeteria of Peekskill High School for the fall.
“We have a wellness committee made up of parents, school board members and parent-teacher organization members,” Prentice said. “They work with Whitson’s to review the menu and if there are complaints from parents or students, they are the ones who would review them.”
Comments (4)
School lunches should find it's way to be healthy as always!
Finding time to make school lunches for your kids can be a challenging prospect as you are attempting to get ready for work, too. It is tempting to just give them lunch money or to toss a Hot Pocket and an apple into a bag. But you know your children should have something healthier. By planning ahead and planning the night before, you can send them off with a better alternative that is easier on your budget as well. Resource for this article: army pay day loans
Well said, Elisabeth. Not everything has to be turned into a political debate. Some people have too much time on their hands. I think this is a great initiative - I'm hoping it will encourage my picky eater to at least try some veggies he normally wouldn't eat, especially if he see his friends eating them. Peer pressure can be a good thing sometimes :)
I'm pretty sure most First Ladies have championed causes during their husbands' time in office, Nancy Regan's Just Say No, and Laura Bush's literacy campaigns come to mind. Just like those fine programs, Mrs. Obama is encouraging healthier eating. With the rise in diabetes,and childhood obesity, how can anyone have issue with this encouragement? And according to this article, it seems that the schools, which receive federal money, are being asked to improve the quality of the food the schools themselves serve. I don't see anything in this article about childrens' lunch boxes being searched for chips, or soda. It would make sense that if the government is in part funding lunch programs, the government should have some say over the quality of the food. I do think there have been major disappointments in the Obama presidency, disappointments worth discussion - but encouraging kids to eat healthy, and requiring the public schools to make lunches healthier is NOT one of them. Also worth noting, buying school lunch is not a requirement for students, they are welcome to bring their own lunch.
Isn't this just great , the Obama administration wants to tell you what your children should eat. Maybe if our families incomes weren't reduced by $4200, then WE could actually buy healthy foods for our children. You do know that "healthy foods" do cost more than " regular " foods, right?
My advise to the Obama administration is, FIX the economy like you promised and then deal with the little things.