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| New School Food Guidelines Take Effect This Fall |
| posted by: Cindy Omlin | August 22, 2012, 01:14 AM |
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With the movement toward healthy eating gaining steam among national advocates like First Lady Michelle Obama, the prospect of serving healthier meals to students is making headway in districts across the country. This fall, new U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for school lunches are taking effect in schools across the country. The new guidelines will limit calories, salt intake, and fat in breakfast and lunch meals for public school students. Officials are also calling for more whole grains, local produce, and healthier options for school lunches. The mandates also require that schools offer dark green, orange or red vegetables at least once a week, and students must choose at least one fruit or vegetable at every meal. Trans-fats are banned from schools, and any flavored milk offered must be fat-free. School lunch workers gathered at the School Nutrition Association conference in Denver, Colorado this summer to share tricks about how to get students to make healthy choices in the lunch line. Their guidelines are as follows:
While the cost and impact of the overall requirements remain to be seen, the farming community maintains that pushing local options could teach both healthy eating and lessons about agriculture. "We know that children are very disconnected from agriculture...literally thinking food comes from a grocery store," said Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. Originally posted by Alix at AAE.
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