A Typical Week Of School Your Kids Lunch Tray? | HealthInfi

What mom doesn’t want to raise children with healthy eating habits? But not every parent has the resources or knowledge to provide healthy foods and teach good nutrition. That’s where the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act comes in. That law, passed by Congress in 2010 and recently extended, requires schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to offer more nutritious lunches.

Though some legislators and school nutritionists argue that the laws are too restrictive and costly, recent studies show the program is working. Kids are eating healthier school lunches. And the childhood obesity rate is dropping (although overweight and obesity remain high among children and adults in the United States).

There was some talk this year that the act might be ended or weakened, but the program was financed, with an increase in funding, for 2016. That increase may make it easier for schools to offer healthier choices, with more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

School has been out for weeks, but state and federal officials are hoping school food-service directors and cafeteria workers are spending their summer off testing the likes of butternut squash, bok choy and garbanzo beans on unsuspecting, yet enthusiastic, family members.

The better versed menu mavens are in making such foods appetizing, the better luck they’ll have in encouraging elementary, middle and high school students to embrace such menu items in the fall, as schools take steps toward adhering to the nation’s significantly revamped school lunch program.

New rules, the first issued in 15 years, were unveiled this year in hopes of introducing more fruits, vegetables and grains to students and taking a meaningful stance in the battle against childhood obesity. The rules which will double the daily servings of fruit and vegetables, increase the amount of whole grains, and restrict milk offerings to fat-free and low-fat, among other things require that schools receiving federal funds for breakfast and lunch make sweeping changes to their menus.

The new rules stem from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Act, which Congress passed in 2010. The rules will affect food served in cafeteria lunch lines, and any school that receives subsidies for meals will have to follow them to continue being reimbursed. Districts will receive an additional 6 cents per meal if they meet the new standard.

To help everyone from food-service directors to line cooks grasp the new measures, state nutrition experts in Illinois, Missouri and elsewhere are hosting workshops in which the new rules are broken down and food-service employees can take a stab at crafting menus.

One such workshop Thursday in Edwardsville had participants create meals using a laminated poster of a plate that listed required menu components: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. Participants were challenged to create meals and a week’s worth of menus under the new federal rules and to think outside the lunch box, so to speak, in doing so.

The laminated offerings from which they could choose included that longtime school-lunch regular: canned corn. But menu items also included change-of-pace hummus, avocado and refried beans.Read More