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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has unveiled new nutrition standards for the nation's 32 million kids that participate in school meals.
In an effort to combat childhood obesity, the nation's school lunch and breakfast program will see more fruits, veggies, whole grains and nonfat dairy and less sodium and fat.
Starting July 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will implement new nutritional standards for schools -- the first major revisions the agency has made to the federal program in more than 15 years.
The new menu will include only 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice and elimination of most trans fats.
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Even as a kid I never got the hype over ‘pizza’ day. The fat kids would lose their minds over it buying 2-3 slices. The pizza was always the worst kind of square slab frozen cr@p.
"We have a right to expect the food (our kids) get at school is the same kind of food we want to serve at our own kitchen tables," she said.
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For many, if not most families in some districts, this is exactly correct. Unfortunately they are eating McDonalds and pork rinds at home.
It is a band aid approach that will not make much of a difference, but it is a start. They should junk the flavored milk for a start.
The problem is that people will assume the problem is fixed. It isn’t. It has simply been given a band aid.
I gradually phased in healthy food at 30, and five years later I eat healthy most of the time and don’t feel like I’m missing anything. As you say, junk food tends to taste like garbage and it also makes me sleepy, nauseous or both.
I made the change by slowly increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables on my plate while reducing my meat consumption. I’ve gone from meals that were half meat, half carbs to only a third each of meat, veggies and carbs. Seasoning and reasonably healthy sauces bring so much flavor that I don’t feel cheated, and the meals still fill me up. My wok is the best friend my body ever had, even more than the gym.
Young enterprising students have started a black market to replace the needs, all across America.
Repugs say "bring back that other brilliant idea from Ronald Reagan — ketchup is a vegetable!"
"Conservatives in Congress called the guidelines an overreach and said the government shouldn’t tell children what to eat."
Wrap youself in a flag and scream about freedoms!
I think kids can eat whatever they wish on their own time, but if the lunch is part of the school day, then the government can set some rules. If parents want their kids to be fat and unhealthy, that’s their right, but I don’t think schools should be helping in the swelling process.
They won’t offer "healthy" pizza. Too much $$. It’s all cr*p.
Schools, too, Dear.
Yes, because healthy eating is such a bad thing.
if you call 5 years a few months, you are also bad at math as well as not caring about kids healths.
Disagree about pizza. Simple pizza is fine and can be healthy. Think of it as an open face cheese sandwich with tomato sauce. It’s the additives that are harmful.
They should offer healthy pizza everyday
Some children in my kid’s schools eat 4 slices of vegetables every day!
When they walk in the room a guy with a tuba walks behind them playing…
Doot…dit…doot…dut…do...do…do
Doot…dit…doot…dut…do...do…do
It’s the over-processed part, the preservatives. Most public schools don’t cook food from scratch anymore; they cut open and boil, or defrost, slice open and put in oven. I wouldn’t trust their skills in handling raw meat anyway.
Pizza is a great equalizer. Just make the dough with flour, oil and water, and the sauce with tomatoes, basil and garlic instead of all the crazy preservatives and ingredients that make school pizza taste bad. Immediately top with fun fresh cut peppers after the cheese melts and you’re done.
My kids would rather skip school lunch and not eat all day.
It’s a veg a ta ble!
I am in favor of making kids lunches as healthy as possible, but the other issue is exercise. Many schools are eliminating recess and gym because of testing pressures and budget cuts. By the way, the best day of the week at my school was always pizza day and bar-b-que sandwich day! that’s eastern North Carolina bar-b-que. Yum!
‘Twould be a sad, sad day when "pizza day" was no more.
This is great.
I’m glad they’re leaving the pizza, too. It’s a square meal. Protein: pepperoni. Dairy: cheese. Grain: crust. Vegetables: tomato sauce. Fruit: tomato sauce.
What’s not to love?
Don’t worry kiddies and parents…a few more months of this crap!
Life is always better with a little pizza in it. I find.
they will if that’s what’s offered. do you think a kid cares if milk is low fat or of some whole grains are snuck intp pizza crust? Please, you just have to compain. lol
Not true. A lot of kids really love veggies and fruits.
It all goes to training.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make the horse drink it.As an aside I’m a pizza eating freak like most people.I love it.My youngest daughter on the other hand was raised on only healthy foods(wifey) including lots of veggies,whole grain spaghetti etc.Now at age 22 she prefers that to junk food.I think when a healthy diet is established from the start,it sticks and the junk food tastes like garbage.I wish I had her problem.
The problem is the kids won’t eat it. Another example of stupid ‘do-gooding’ and throwing away money.
Yes, great to hear…BUT are you going to FORCE them to eat it?? I am a teacher and have seen WITH MY OWN TWO EYES, children THROW AWAY hundreds upon hundreds of dollars of these "HEALTHY FOODS!!" As I said in a different issue, the ONE meal children eat at school is NOT THE PROBLEM. The problem is what they eat the 10+ hours they are unsupervised at HOME!! I am SOOOO SICK of leftees putting the blame on schools, restaurants and everything else but THE PARENTS!!! I am a mother of four and none of them are obese…AND they eat school lunch EVERY DAY! At home, they have healthy, good dinners AND I MONITOR their "junk-food" intake. AND I make sure they are NOT COUCH POTATOES watching TV, playing video games or playing on the computer ALL DAY!! Parents need to OWN-UP to their responsibilities:-)
I meant older 20 something culinary students working towards a culinary degree. It could be a practicum portion of their overall diploma.
Read the comment again.
I guess I could take this as a good thing. I still wish they’d take pizza and fries off the menus for good or at the very least, only offer them on occasion. No kid should have the option to eat fries and pizza every. Single. Day. And you know there are some kids that will. Perhaps even wash it with their low-fat, albeit loaded with sugar flavored milks. Parents need to demand better.
Kids aren’t exactly the most sanitary of people. You can’t expect them all to wash their hands and practice safe food handling, you know? But I could see this going well in high schools. Perhaps.
Great to hear. I just wish they’d go one step further and insist that all food be made from scratch. If culinary students had to work in school kitchens as part of their training, there’d be so many extra hands on deck at no cost that students would be eating fresh, whole grain pizza with fresh vegetables instead of the tasteless frozen variety. Culinary students could attend different schools to learn the secrets of Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Korean etc. healthy cuisine from master chefs. This would work well in Los Angeles and New York. In other states, regional cuisine could be taught. Culinary students could choose which cuisine interests them and serve that school for 2-3 weeks then go to a different school. If education is about learning then lets make it a learning environment for everyone.