Here’s a tip to any aspiring bloggers out there – try not to start your new blog during the same week your kids get out of school for summer vacation. That’s another way of saying: my apologies for taking so long to draft the promised ”Lunch ABC’s” section of this blog, which I’m happy to say is now up and running under a new name – “School Lunch FAQs” (look for the tab at the top of the page).
Don’t be afraid – the answers to these FAQs are no more than a paragraph long – just small, digestible bites to give you the basics. This way when we discuss school food, we’re all starting on the same page. And without a basic knowledge of the constraints imposed by the federal government on schools, it’s hard to be a fair critic of current practices or to suggest workable solutions.
For example, many parents Houston parents (myself included) were baffled by the fact that HISD currently serves a bag of animal or graham crackers with every school breakfast. Later I learned that under USDA guidelines a school must limit the fat in a meal to under 30% of calories served but must also provide 1/3 of a child’s RDA of calories (i.e., 500 calories for K-6) at each meal. As a consequence, schools often turn to low fat, sugary foods to meet both requirements. I’m still strongly opposed to the animal crackers (which the district says it plans to phase out), but at least now I have a modicum of sympathy for HISD’s dieticians and I can offer ideas for substitutions that will pass regulatory muster.
That’s a long way of saying: knowledge = power for parents who want to improve school lunch.
I consider the “School Lunch FAQ’s” page a work in progress and will periodically add to it (and/or correct it, if necessary.) If there’s any topic you’d like to see addressed there, or if you have any comments or corrections, please let me know.
Enjoy!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
talk about salt (sodium) in our kids food at school.
Processed food has too much salt, and processed food is what aramark will feed our children no matter what.
Orell – I was astounded to discover that one of the breakfast sandwiches HISD is serving contains 1,200+ mg of sodium. Absolutely a topic worthy of discussion. Thank you for the suggestion. – Bettina
The Texas Dept. of Agriculture has guidelines for how much sugar and fat can be in our children’s school lunches, but unfortunately there are currently NO guidelines for the sodium. That is why the sodium in all the food is through the roof. HISD Food Service stays “within” the TDA guidelines when it serves up those peanut butter and jelly pre-packaged deals. What I’ve been asking for years is why do they (HISD Food Service) continue to just go with the flow, knowing how unhealthy it is? How is it that they employ “dieticians” who don’t address this giant problem?