Comments on: What Nobody Tells Parents About School Lunch

By: 3 Things Parents Can Do to Help Transform School Lunch

3 Things Parents Can Do to Help Transform School Lunch — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:23:01 +0000

[...] good place to start is my previous article, What Nobody Tells Parents about School Lunch. I explain the challenges school nutrition professionals face including limited resources, meeting [...]

By: Rosanne

Rosanne — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:49:34 +0000

Thanks for sharing some facts. Children benefit from the school lunch, and if parents would take the time to find out the nutrient profile of the offerings, they would be pleasantly surprised. There are standards.
Sure, there is also always room for improvements, so if parents are concerned, they should volunteer their time to their school district.

By: Mike Craig

Mike Craig — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:58:02 +0000

I’ve always noticed a distinction between perception and reality. The reality is that school nutrition programs are improving. The perception is that they have not. Perception trumps reality when a parent is trying to decide between making lunch from home or letting their kid’s eat “manager’s choice” at school.

How are programs better communicating this reality to parents?

By: Wanda Grant, RD

Wanda Grant, RD — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Maryann,
Thank you for telling our story. School Food Service is not what is used to be. The variety of choices and the focus on healthy safe foods has really advanced the school lunch and breakfast programs. With menu choices, participation increases and the stigma of being a low income student is less. In spite of all the advancements, school meal programs are here to feed children not garbage cans. The items we offer must be acceptable and desirable by the students. We rely strongly on our industry partners to not only provide superior desireable meal items, but to assist in the introduction and promotion of those products.

Again thank you for your being involved in our mission of educating both the students and parents about our exceptional school meal programs.

By: Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, MS, RD

Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, MS, RD — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:46:39 +0000

Dora and Mark,

Thanks for your insight! This will help parents better understand the challenges school meals programs face.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:16:10 +0000

I have to second Dora’s comments about the Child Nutrition Reauthorization. Schools need more money for better food. Without getting more resources into school food, school food programs will continue to loose money, resources will be siphoned away from education programs, and schools will be unable to make improvements to implement the new Institute of Medicine recommendations.

By: Dora Rivas, RD, SNS – SNA President

Dora Rivas, RD, SNS – SNA President — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:56:57 +0000

Thank you Maryann for helping to spread the good news about school meals! As president of the School Nutrition Association, I have seen school meals programs nationwide show tremendous creativity and innovation in developing healthy, enticing school meals. Many schools are finding success with student taste tests, recipe contests, ethnic menu choices, school gardens or farm-to-school programs. As you highlighted, school meals programs working to further enhance nutrition face enormous challenges. These programs have strict budgets, limited resources and in some cases antiquated equipment to fulfill their needs. The national average cost to prepare a school lunch is $2.92, but the federal reimbursement for each free lunch served is only $2.68. SNA is calling on Congress to increase this reimbursement rate during Child Nutrition Reauthorization this Spring so students can enjoy an even wider variety of healthy foods.