Reducing starchy food in school cafeteria lunches

A recent article in the LA Times proposed federal nutritional requirements for the National School Lunch Program would allow school cafeterias to offer students no more than one cup of starchy vegetables per week to take effect as early as fall 2012.

1-year pilot program in Michigan and Florida will get more local produce into school meals.

A recent article in the Grand Rapids Press describes how federal agriculture officials have announced a plan to let schools in Michigan and Florida to use federal commodity funds to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from a list of local growers. This pilot is an alternative to the Department of Defense Fresh Food and Vegetable Program from which schools buy food using USDA commodity funds.

Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home

An article in the LA Times mentions how one school in Chicago has taken a unique approach to "protect students from their own unhealthful food choices". Unless students have a medical excuse, they are required to eat the food provided in the school's cafeteria. Principal Elsa Cormona of the Little Village Academy on Chicago's West side, said that she created the policy six years ago when she witnessed children bringing unhealthy drinks and snacks for their lunch on a field trip.

Schools Facing Cuts if Lunches Aren’t Paid For

According to an article in the New York Times, New York city school principals are being encouraged by their Education Department to collect overdue lunch money or have it docked from their school budgets. This situation isn't just unique to New York. A school district in Albuquerque started serving cold sandwiches and milk to students whose parents had not paid what they owed. In Louisiana, some districts did not feed children with overdue accounts at all until the state legislature passed a law that required these children to at least be fed a snack. For students that were fed a snack at least three days in a row, districts were directed to notify child welfare authorities.

A September survey of the School Nutrition Association showed that during 2009-2010, 34% of school districts saw an increase from the previous year in the number of meals not paid for.

Obestiy and school lunches

According to a recent article in the New York Times, researchers who studied more than 1,000 sixth graders in several southeastern Michigan schools found that those who regularly had the school lunch were 29% more likely to be obese than those who brought their lunch from home. BY contrast, spending 2+ hours a day in front of the TV or playing video games increased obesity by 19%.

The paper was published in the December issue of American Heart Journal. You can read the abstract here.