On Wednesday, January 25th First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new nutrition standards for school meals. The new standards include:
• offering more fruits and vegetables
• serving more whole grain-rich foods
• offering only fat-free or low-fat milk varieties
• make sure kids are getting proper portion sizes.
Our school district has already brought a variety of healthier choices to our school cafeterias that address goals in the new regulations. For example,
o We serve at least one fresh fruit and vegetables every day
o We already made the switch to 1% or fat free milk
o We offer salads every day
The federal restrictions on the amount of sodium and calories from fat make it difficult to prepare meals that taste the way meals do at home or from fast food places. Since all meals are partially subsidized by the federal government, students and parents need to understand that school meals must follow the federal guidelines for proper portion size and nutritional requirements.
