I know my school cafeteria (Sudbury MA) is trying to serve healthier
food that most kids will eat. They've even sent a little newsletter home.
They are doing good things, like serving fresh fruit and offering for
snacks baked pretzels, pretzel sticks (but also ice cream and brownies).
However, the newsletter said they are aiming for 30%CFF OVER THE WEEK. I
know that greasy Papa Gino's pizza is served every Thursday and is a big
hit! So some days will be higher fat, some lower. If your child doesn't
eat the school lunch on the lower fat days, their fat intake could be much
higher than 30%CFF. I think they also assume that your child will eat
everything served (hah!). At least mine eats the fruit, but if a child didn't,
they wouldn't be eating the lowest fat item which is bringing down the CFF!
So far my first grader has bought her lunch about 80% of the time. She is
thrilled she can have chocolate milk every day :-( We've gone over the
weekly school lunch menu, and picked the days she will take lunch. I've
given her the incentive to keep her lunch money (after buying her milk
or any other snack item that she wants to spend it on) on the days she
takes lunch (she does have to eat her lunch from home of course). Although
so far the decision to take lunch is made mostly on whether she likes what
they are serving that day (which is fine with me).
Aiko Pinkoski
aiko@xxxxxxxxxxx
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