It’s a School Lunch Renaissance… Seriously, They’re Getting Better
Of the five senses, perhaps the senses of smell and taste make the most lasting impressions. Remember
school lunches? I know I’ll never forget mine. For example, what my elementary school’s lunch ladies called “smoky links”—cocktail weenies swimming in congealed gravy—and what passed for a burrito are burned into my memory.
I grew up in an era when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), under President Regan, revised school lunch standards to allow school nutritionists to consider ketchup and other condiments like pickle relish as a portion of vegetables. Luckily, that was quickly reversed as a result of public outcry.
If you were a suffering public school cafeteria kid like me, you’ll be interested to know that things are improving for kids at lunchtime. Why? Health concerns for our children’s growing obesity problems and the public’s increasing concern about food safety has inspired politicians to take new interest in school lunches.
In fact, the USDA has begun offering politicians and their staff members taste tests of some of the top items on school lunch menus. Congressional members and staff recently feasted on chicken fajitas and sliced ham a la school cafeteria, for example.
The USDA supplies schools with meats, fruits, dairy and other food stuffs through a program that has a dual purpose—to help feed underprivileged children and also support agricultural markets. This program has improved since the days when I was a cafeteria diner. Today, the program offers a far wider selection to schools—180 different foods today compared to just 54 in 1981 (the same year as the ketchup-as-vegetable scandal and my not-so-beloved smoky links). The diversity of foods available to schools through the USDA now includes dried fruits, nuts, brown rice, legumes and unprocessed meats. In short, with these healthier options, it should be easier for school lunch ladies to craft healthy meals for kids. Getting the kids to eat them is another matter.
I grew up in an era when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), under President Regan, revised school lunch standards to allow school nutritionists to consider ketchup and other condiments like pickle relish as a portion of vegetables. Luckily, that was quickly reversed as a result of public outcry.
If you were a suffering public school cafeteria kid like me, you’ll be interested to know that things are improving for kids at lunchtime. Why? Health concerns for our children’s growing obesity problems and the public’s increasing concern about food safety has inspired politicians to take new interest in school lunches.
In fact, the USDA has begun offering politicians and their staff members taste tests of some of the top items on school lunch menus. Congressional members and staff recently feasted on chicken fajitas and sliced ham a la school cafeteria, for example.
The USDA supplies schools with meats, fruits, dairy and other food stuffs through a program that has a dual purpose—to help feed underprivileged children and also support agricultural markets. This program has improved since the days when I was a cafeteria diner. Today, the program offers a far wider selection to schools—180 different foods today compared to just 54 in 1981 (the same year as the ketchup-as-vegetable scandal and my not-so-beloved smoky links). The diversity of foods available to schools through the USDA now includes dried fruits, nuts, brown rice, legumes and unprocessed meats. In short, with these healthier options, it should be easier for school lunch ladies to craft healthy meals for kids. Getting the kids to eat them is another matter.
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