School lunches to change in coming years

Marisa Ingraham
Staff Writer

Student eating a school lunch

New guidelines have been set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Congress to provide healthier school lunches for students, but schools have asked that the USDA roll back some of the guidelines because they are too difficult to follow and students won’t adjust to the new food.

The guidelines state that pasta and all other grain products will have to be whole grain or more than half whole grain by next school year.  Sodium levels in lunches must also be lowered to 640 milligrams for elementary school lunches and 740 milligrams for high school lunches by 2017.  All lunches are required to include a fruit and vegetable and all snacks must be healthier.

The schools say that students are having difficulty adjusting to most whole grain foods and are rejecting them.  Popular foods such as cheeseburgers are now being thrown away due to a change to ground turkey and whole wheat buns.  Some schools have even had to eliminate popular foods like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hamburgers.  Schools also say that lowering sodium levels that much by 2017 is too unrealistic and the students will reject the new meals.  Schools have also reported that most students aren’t eating the fruits and vegetables given to them and are throwing them in the trash instead.  Since snacks bring in a big profit for the lunchroom, many schools are worried about losing money if they move to healthier snacks.  Most schools depend on their profit from snack sales to run the lunch program.  The schools also said that the move to provide healthier meals would be more expensive.

 However some students at Apex High said they would eat healthy lunches.  Most students said they normally eat fries, pizza or cookies, but would eat more fruits and.  In response to being asked if she would like to see more fruit, freshman Elizabeth Loftus said, “I would if it actually tasted good.”  Junior Ben Willis said, “I would eat fruits and veggies if more were offered.”  A majority also said they would rather have whole wheat bread rather than white bread.  Junior Imalae Encamacion jumped on the veggie bandwagon as well when she said, “Even with all the unhealthy food, I purchase salad.” Sophomore David Cook said, “I usually get chicken and fries, but would get salad if it was fresh.”

The School Nutrition Association asked the USDA and Congress to make only 50 percent of foods whole grain, to suspend the sodium requirements, and to get rid of the rule requiring students to take a fruit and vegetable.  In 2012 the USDA cancelled a maximum amount of grains and proteins that were allowed in meals after students complained about being hungry.  Despite the complaints, school nutrition directors do agree that school lunches need to be healthier.  They are just asking for the guidelines to be revised.