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What do you think of school lunch? My son’s lunch bag “catastrophe” forced me to reconsider.

by Jill Jarvis Leave a Comment

A student favorite – pizza – is now made at schools with whole-grain crust and low-fat cheese, and served with a garden salad, piece of fruit and fat-free milk.
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) contacted me recently to ask if I would write a sponsored post about elementary school lunches. To which I said that I pack lunches each day and we are afraid of school lunches. In fact, I have a whole series about packed lunches. It’s probably not a good fit.

But then two things happened.  First, I packed the world’s worst lunch for Joe. Didn’t I know that it was his sister that liked mozzarella and tomatoes? Fortunately I was at school the day of this catastrophe and I took Joe through the lunch line.

And it wasn’t too scary.

I was happy to see that the green slush machine, from last year, was gone. (And really, who thought a green slush was a good option for kids at school?)  I also found several vegetarian options for my vegetarian boy. He had cheese pizza, cauliflower and a side salad.

The second thing that happened is that the SNA told me that there are new federal nutrition standards require larger servings of fruits and vegetables and whole grains and that I should take another look at school lunch.

Okay. You got me. I will write a post about school lunch as long as I get to say whatever I want.

Chicken tacos in a whole grain tortilla with low-fat cheese, lettuce and tomato served with an orange, corn, and fat-free milk
I spoke to Melanie, the Director of Child Nutrition at SpringISD and the regional spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association.

Melanie told me that school meals have undergone several changes related to the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010. In addition to other changes, the standards also require that schools transition to whole-grain rich grain and that every child must take a fruit or vegetable with their reimbursable meal.

Then she told me that SpringISD has a local vendor who provides fresh fruits and vegetables, including foods grown locally and around Texas. And they have found that kids love vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and green beans with Monterey seasoning on top and sweet potato with chili powder! This is when I started to pay attention.

I order a local box to deliver fresh local produce to my family. Now schools also have farm-to-school programs. That’s pretty cool.

Lunch menus are published for each school and vegetarian options are becoming more popular. SpringISD offers fresh chef salads daily at all school levels. Also, an Elementary student can choose from 5 entrees, and Secondary students are offered 10 or more entrees.

I was starting to reconsider school lunch when Melanie went quiet for a week.

I wondered if I should drive over to SpringISD to check on her or start making jokes about poor nutrition, but fortunately she reappeared to tell me that SpringISD had a surprise audit. And they passed! Based on the nutritional analysis performed, the nutrient content of their meals was excellent and they received praise on food preparation, storage and safety.

I translated this to mean that we will not see them listed in those awful TV News segments about disgusting restaurant kitchens. And that’s one less thing for me to worry about.

So will my kids start eating school lunch? I’m not scared of school lunch anymore and I added money to their lunch cards. I still have to consider the menu for my son the vegetarian, to be sure he has options when he gets in the lunch room each day, but school lunch is certainly an option now.

Fresh garden salad with romaine lettuce, carrots and tomato, served with a whole-grain roll, sunflower seeds, a low-fat yogurt and fat-free milk
And do you see this salad being served at SpringISD? I think I might drive there for my own lunch tomorrow.

Filed Under: All, Resources February 12, 2014

About Jill Jarvis

Jill Jarvis is the owner of JillBJarvis.com, a BigKidSmallCity.com and Things to Do in Houston, with Kids, blog!

She is the mom of 4 and started the website years ago... when she was tired of constantly cleaning up the same mess in the family room.

Another mom showed her that you could just go do fun things in Houston, without hours of planning.

This inspired the blog and changed everything about how she enjoyed life in Houston, with kids!

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jill-jarvis-bigkidsmallcity-circle-300 Welcome!  JillBJarvis.com is the go-to blog for things to do in Houston with kids!  It is upbeat and dedicated to making our big city feel small.   START HERE!    

On this website you will find a full list of Houston weekly events, things to do around the city, travel ideas and resources for parents.

I know just what it’s like to be overwhelmed by work, life and family. I spent a lot of years traveling for work, missing big milestones for my kids and feeling bad about everything.

I started this website to make a list of all the events happening around Houston and then pick one to enjoy with my kids. And instead of thinking of all the things I was missing, I started to enjoy the things we were doing together.

If you are a parent that is feeling overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing in Houston… please just use our weekly lists and daily posts as suggestions. Pick one thing to do with your family and intentionally ignore the rest!

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