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How Healthy Are School Lunches?

Many students purchase lunch at school every day, but not everyone knows exactly what they are eating.

For students who wonder if the food they are eating at school is really healthy, the answer is yes.

In order to ensure this, Woodland Regional High School’s lunch menu has been created to meet the standards of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA). At the beginning of last year, the new meal pattern was changed when the USDA put maximums and minimums on the amount of grains, meats/meat alternates, fruits, vegetables, and milk students could consume.

To limit food intake, the USDA put weekly restrictions on the maximum grains allowed for each grade level. While minimum requirements exist for meats/meat alternates, fruits, vegetables, and milk, the school lunch programs are allowed to exceed the nutritional value maximums given for grains, fruits, vegetables and dairy. However, those exclusions must stay within a five-day average for calories and cannot surpass the 10 percent saturated fat limit.

The dietary specifications provided by the National School Lunch Program for a five day week include the averages for the amount of calories, saturated fat, sodium, and trans fat students can be served. For students grades nine through twelve, lunches must be within the 750-850 calorie range. Also, the saturated fat must be less than ten percent and the sodium count cannot go over 1,420 milligrams. Trans fat is not allowed; the nutrition label must indicate zero grams of trans fat per serving.

“Our program is staying within the allowable weekly limits,” said Victoria Biello, director of food services.

According to the upcoming WRHS December 2nd-5th report, Woodland’s weekly weighted averages are 796 calories, 1,389 milligrams of sodium, 7.7 grams saturated fat, and no trans fat. For example, a stuffed crust pizza with a tossed romaine salad is 389 calories, 946 milligrams of sodium. This lunch choice has 4.01 grams of saturated fat and no trans fat. Another example would be, a deli bar sandwich with Frito Lays chips which is 297calories, 1089 milligrams of sodium, 5.16 grams of trans fat, and no saturated fat. Both of these lunch choices are within the weekly limits.

Woodland provides a multitude of healthy options for students to choose from. These options include low-fat, fat-free milk, fruits such as pears and apples, and a variety of colored vegetables. Also, at least half of the weekly grains served must be whole grain.

“Woodland is way ahead of the curve on whole grains because they have been on our menu for the past several years,” said Biello.

The school lunches at Woodland are very healthy and meet all the standards provided by the USDA.

“[Students] should choose all the components of the meal pattern when participating in school lunch: milk, fruit, vegetables, grains, and, meats/meat alternates,” said Biello. “They can assure they get a balanced meal that is proportioned properly for their age group.”

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Katie is the Executive Managing Editor and the moderator for Hawk Headlines' Roundtable as well as the anchor of Sixty Second News. She has spent five full semesters at Hawk Headlines.

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