Healthiest school lunch programs in the U.S.

[michael]

Congratulations to the food service directors and chefs that are striving to make a change in our nation's schools by introducing wholesome and nutritional alternatives. In the near future, I would love to see a study undertaken to determine to what extent improvements will be noted in school attendance, student enthusiasm/participation and general behavior down the road. I wish my son could attend a school like Poughkeepsie Day School!

 

http://www.pcrm.org/cgi-bin/lists/mail.cgi?flavor=archive&id=20051012115523&list=news

[veggymeggy]

Oh man, yeah. Don't even get me started on school lunch programs! Most are ing!!!

I want to focus my studies on childhood obesity....maybe someday I can have a role in redoing school lunch programs! That'd be awesome.

Everyone who has a kid in public school should be writing the school and pushing for healthier options. If schools hear it from their students and parents, maybe more will make some changes. I know my high school did!

[michael]

Everyone who has a kid in public school should be writing the school and pushing for healthier options. If schools hear it from their students and parents, maybe more will make some changes. I know my high school did!

 

Right you are, Megan! I just now sent a letter of gratitude to the Poughkeepsie School for taking such great strides in their lunch program. Nearly half the menu vegan--awesome!

 

I plan on being a proactive parent when my son enrolls in kindergarten next year. It's not easy to succeed in bringing about changes in our meat-ravenous state, but I will give it my best. What is really criminal to me is the USDA sponsored school lunch assistance program and the "dumping" of tons of, say pork, just to bolster the market for pork! I thought it was a free and open market?! More like agri-welfare! I wonder to what extent some of these progressive schools are beset with angry retorts by meat/dairy suppliers...?

[Hero]

Mercy Special Learning Center near Allentown, PA where my sister attends just got a grant to have healthier food options, and they are getting all vegan foods now

[Renecarol25]

There is NO way I'd let my kid eat school lunch. School foods are WAY TOO funded by the USDA for me to trust that anything they would serve would be okay for MY kid to eat. Last year I was told that she would have to have a doctor's note just to be allowed to purchase JUICE at school instead of milk. I not dealing with that kind of BS. I pack her 2 juice boxes a day.. along with her lunch and snack.

[michael]

School foods are WAY TOO funded by the USDA for me to trust that anything they would serve would be okay for MY kid to eat.

 

I agree with you regarding the USDA, as my prior post attests. It really upsets me when I think how much the meat and dairy industries have the USDA in their hip pocket, especially where the national school lunch program is concerned. It is encouraging, though when I see some small scale changes occurring in our nations schools, as it gives me reason to hope.

[FormicaLinoleum]

I was all surprised to hear Poughkeepsie was on the list! I grew up there, though I went to Catholic school, so I don't have experience with the public schools. But I see from the article it's Poughkeepsie Day School, which is actually a very expensive private school that's rather unconventional in its academic approach (e.g., no numeric or letter grades given), so I guess it's not too surprising that they have an unconventional lunch program as well.