Healthier School Lunches Are on the Menu

After 15 years, the school lunch ladies will be dishing over some healthier grub to our children, says the National School Lunch Program.

With an additional six cents per meal, the schools could hardly figure out where to spend first. Fortunately, most of the improvements come in the form of omissions, including smaller portions, calorie limits, less fats and zero trans fat. There are some increases too, such as those in "dark green vegetables", whole grains, and fruits.

Despite an attempt to discount tomato paste (and thus pizza) as a vegetable Congress was able to successfully reverse that and maintain its status as equal to one veggie serving.

"It was a bit unfortunate that some groups had powerful friends in Congress and basically tried to sort of short-change [kids] and create some confusion with these standards," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"Our response was to set up minimum requirements. You have to have a minimum level of dark green vegetables, you've got to have a minimum level of red or orange or yellow vegetables."

And coming on the heels of these changes will be laws affecting school vending machines.

Here are the quick bullet points:

• Offer a minimum of 8 to 10 ounces of whole grains. No more than two desserts a week may be used to meet this minimum
• Offer at least a half cup per week of dark green vegetables
• Offer at least 3/4 cup red/orange vegetables for grades K-8, and at least 1 1/4 cups in grades 9-12
• Offer at least a half cup of beans or peas
• Offer at least a half cup of starchy vegetables. There is no limit on starchy vegetables
• Offer at least a half cup of fruit in grades K-8 and at least 1 cup of fruit in grades 9-12
• Offer at least a half cup (grades K-8) or 3/4 cup (grades 9-12) of "other vegetables," which may be met with any of the above vegetables except for starchy vegetables
• Allow tofu as a meat alternative
• Get federal reimbursement only if they offer at least a half cup of a fruit or vegetable
• Contain no fewer than 550 calories for grades K-5, 600 calories for grades 6-8, and 750 calories for grades 9-12
• Contain no more than 650 calories for grades K-5, 700 calories for grades 6-8, and 850 calories for grades 9-12
• Obtain less than 10% of total calories from saturated fat
• Have zero trans fat
• Limit salt according to grade level
• Offer at least a cup of low-fat or skim milk

Read the whole article on WebMD