The truth about school lunches

Right now, only about two percent of American children have diets that are in line with the U.S. dietary guidelines. For Amie, this is unacceptable.

As the executive director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food, Amie works to eliminate the unhealthy junk foods in schools and to create students who are health and nutrition literate. The non-profit she runs works to improve foods in schools by working with people who have a direct impact on children’s diets: food service directors, school nurses and parent-teacher organizations.

“Good nutrition is something I care passionately about, especially for children,” Amie said. “Since food preferences are developed early in life, schools should be practicing the good nutrition that they teach. In reality, the whole school food environment is completely inconsistent with what we teach kids about good nutrition.”

The average that schools pay for food is $0.90 for lunch and maybe $0.60 for breakfast. Because the meals have to have a number of components, it’s almost impossible to do something with good quality food for that amount of money. As a result, schools have to depend on commodity foods, which are supplied for free by the federal government. These include some of the worst foods, like cheeseburgers, deep-fried mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets and pepperoni pizza.

Amie got lots of tips on how to get your little ones excited about food that’s good for them.

Have kids grow food in a garden.
Even if you don’t have access to a garden, grow sprouts in a jar, or if you have a window, grow some herbs on the windowsill. Getting kids to grow food or visit farms where they grow food is really fantastic.

Make healthy substitutions for typical lunchtime foods.
If you make a sandwich, make it on whole grain bread. The coalition recommends peanut butters that don’t have any trans-fats in them.

“You can also use a dip like hummus,” Amie said. “Kids love hummus. You can use it in a sandwich or as a dip for sliced veggies.

“A vegetable sushi made with short grain brown rice is also a hit with kids. Most people think that sushi means raw fish, but in fact, sushi means vinegar rice. You can take all kinds of cut up vegetables — shredded carrots, slices of avocado, slices of cucumber, maybe some tofu – and have a nutritious, delicious lunch.”

Have special treats, but limit them to special occasions.
Amie said that you don’t have to deprive your child of special treats; you just have to make sure they are occasional. The reason there is an obesity epidemic in our country is that people eat “special” treats — like soda, cookies and ice cream — multiple times a day. And if you want to extend a healthy attitude to treat time, experiment with soy ice creams, which are delicious and much lower fat than regular ice cream.

Be a good example.
One of the biggest problems is the adults who say they won’t eat healthy. The fact is kids won’t starve themselves if you don’t make unhealthy foods available; eventually, they’ll eat what you give them.

Hungry for more suggestions? Check out these other resources.

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Be Healthy, Live Well
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