Local schools to be affected by talks over school lunch guidelines
NORWICH – With federal legislators ready to discuss school lunch nutrition standards that will affect schools across the country, many food service administrators are weighing in on what they would like to see change and what should stay the same.
Congress is debating child nutrition standards and school meals this week as the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is set to expire Sept. 30. Implemented in 2010, the legislation authorizes funding and sets policy for USDA’s core child nutrition programs: the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children.
Nutrition and calorie intake standards vary depending on grade level. Elementary K-5 have their own criteria while middle school grades 6-8 have a different set; and high schools have another.
Those requirements, however, come at a cost and don’t always ensure that kids get proper nutrients, explained Norwich City School District Food Service Director Randy White.
“Making the kids take a fruit or vegetable every day, obviously we see some garbage waste,” White said, citing school requirements to give at least half a cup serving of fresh fruit and vegetables to be eligible for federal reimbursement. “We are definitely forcing kids to take things that they just aren’t going to eat.”
According to White, the federal guidelines for school lunch, while good for kids’ health, adds extra financial burdens on the school district. But just because the school is mandated to provide certain food items – like beans at least once a week, for example – it doesn’t mean kids will eat what’s on their plate.
“In many cases, I would like to see alternatives,” he added, calling for loosened restrictions. “There are some things that we know are low consumption.”
The most recent Child Nutrition Reauthorization processs concluded when the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was signed into law. The legislation made substantial changes to child nutrition by:
• Increasing reimbursement rates paid for school meals by $.06
• Updating school nutrition standards and standards for all food sold in competition with school lunches such as food sold in vending machines
• Encouraging farm-to-school initiatives and other obesity reducing programs
• Introducing new physical activity standards
• Expanding support for food service programs to include summer programs, afterschool, and outside school programs
• Establishing new guidelinses for school food safety
Congress is debating child nutrition standards and school meals this week as the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is set to expire Sept. 30. Implemented in 2010, the legislation authorizes funding and sets policy for USDA’s core child nutrition programs: the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children.
Nutrition and calorie intake standards vary depending on grade level. Elementary K-5 have their own criteria while middle school grades 6-8 have a different set; and high schools have another.
Those requirements, however, come at a cost and don’t always ensure that kids get proper nutrients, explained Norwich City School District Food Service Director Randy White.
“Making the kids take a fruit or vegetable every day, obviously we see some garbage waste,” White said, citing school requirements to give at least half a cup serving of fresh fruit and vegetables to be eligible for federal reimbursement. “We are definitely forcing kids to take things that they just aren’t going to eat.”
According to White, the federal guidelines for school lunch, while good for kids’ health, adds extra financial burdens on the school district. But just because the school is mandated to provide certain food items – like beans at least once a week, for example – it doesn’t mean kids will eat what’s on their plate.
“In many cases, I would like to see alternatives,” he added, calling for loosened restrictions. “There are some things that we know are low consumption.”
The most recent Child Nutrition Reauthorization processs concluded when the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was signed into law. The legislation made substantial changes to child nutrition by:
• Increasing reimbursement rates paid for school meals by $.06
• Updating school nutrition standards and standards for all food sold in competition with school lunches such as food sold in vending machines
• Encouraging farm-to-school initiatives and other obesity reducing programs
• Introducing new physical activity standards
• Expanding support for food service programs to include summer programs, afterschool, and outside school programs
• Establishing new guidelinses for school food safety
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