healthful food
The Associated Press says that a University of Minnesota study has found that school lunch sales don’t decline when more healthful meals are served, and that more nutritious lunches don’t necessarily cost schools more to produce. Previous studies have concluded that students prefer fatty foods and that more healthful meals cost more to make.
The study, which appears in the December issue of the Review of Agricultural Economics, found that schools serving the most healthful lunches did not see a falloff in demand. Researchers analyzed five years of data for 330 Minnesota public school districts.
What do you think? Are schools making progress in improving the nutritional content of the meals it serves students? Leave a comment below
November 27th, 2007 @ 11:59 am
An administrator from Ohio writes:
“Build it and they will come” was the saying in Field of Dreams. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of
“Serve it and they will buy.”
We feed most children lunch, and many breakfast, 180 days a year, and for the most part do a good job of balancing all the nutritional elements. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to serve every student lunch for free and make it a true part of our educational program, as well as ban sack lunches. Children still eat most of their meals at home, in the car, or at a restaurant of some type. We need to break even in food service, and to do that we have to make choices. We are offering healthful snacks, baked chips and fruit, but it does not sell as well as nor make the profit of the old offerings. The children eating our lower-sodium, lower-fat lunch looks longingly at the high-fat, high-sodium Lunchable being consumed by their friend at the table. Parents need to get on board with us and clean up the child’s diet. How serious is it? Today I heard a report that some doctors fear a return of rickets in children due to low milk and citrus fruit consumption in kids!
November 27th, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
A reader from Texas writes:
“In my area the meals have improved. Subsidized lunch and breakfast are what increases participation, not any change in menu.”
November 27th, 2007 @ 12:01 pm
An administrator from Wisconsin writes:
“Although schools are provided with ample evidence of the benefits of healthful meals, they still continue to provide junk food for students.”