Serious changes are on the horizon for meals served in Iowa schools.
State legislation has already cleared a la carte lines of the fatty and sugary foods many kids consider diet staples. New federal rules are expected to do the same with the traditional school lunch options.
Alex Youngblut, an East High School senior, remembers lunch as a freshman. The food was salted and seasoned. There were smoothies and stuffed bread sticks.
"And cookies as big as your head," he said.
But in the last couple of years the lunch room landscape has changed. Baked potato chips have replaced full-calorie and full-fat versions. Crudites and fresh fruit are offered in abundance. Whole grains are replacing processed white bread and noodles.
And that is only the beginning, said Meredith Hansen, the Waterloo district manager of food services and nutrition services.
Though details of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act are still being tweaked, districts expect larger servings of fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, fewer calories and less fat and sodium when the first bell rings in the 2012-2013 school year.
The new requirements will be based on guidelines proposed by the Institute of Medicine and are the first substantial changes in decades.
"This is a huge opportunity. ... We believe --- not just us but the Institute for Medicine, health experts and others believe --- that school nutrition offers a systematic way to provide healthier foods to kids on a dependable regular basis. That's why it got such strong bipartisan support when it was enacted last December," said Kevin Concannon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
LaVonne Arndt, nutrition services supervisor with Cedar Falls schools, said the district has slowly been working its way toward the new goals.When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction,
"It would have been too big of a shock to just say here is what the new school lunch will look like," she said.By Alex Lippa Close-up of plastic card in Massachusetts.
Arndt said the district has worked to incorporate more legumes, whole grains and dark orange and green vegetables into the menu cycle. Similar gradual changes are being made in Waterloo. Not all are welcome.
"We've done a corn and bean salsa, which is something all the adults care for and like, but the kids are not eating it,As many processors back away from Cable Ties ," Arndt said.
Bryce Frost, an East High School senior, used to get pwe supply all kinds of polished tiles,izza regularly but said the changes make it less appetizing. Junior Katelyn Kinnetz said she's noticed fewer potato items and more fruits and vegetables on the menu. But she can't eat many of them.
"I can't eat the apples because of my braces. And today, the bananas weren't ripe. They have carrots, but I can't eat those either," she said.
Right now, students must take three of the five food groups that are offered to have a full meal. A fruit or vegetable is offered every day but does not have to be on the plate. If the new standards pass as is, next year one fruit or vegetable will have to be on every tray.
"That doesn't mean they are going to eat it, though," Hansen said. "There is going to be a lot of waste."
About 32 percent of Cedar Falls students during the 2010-2011 school year had a body mass index considered overweight or obese, according to new data from the Black Hawk County Health Department. It Waterloo it's 45 percent. A 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed about 32 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese nationwide.
Hansen, a registered dietitian, knows the intent of the legislation is positive.
"They are taking a hard look at the sodium in the meals and forcing us to introduce (kids) to new vegetables," she said. Kid-friendly staples, like corn and potatoes, will be limited to one cup a week.
However,Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, she is concerned about the caloric requirements being eyed.
"In our district I have students where these are the only meals they are getting every day, and I want to get as much food as I can to them," she said. "Even with the new regulations students who are overweight still aren't necessarily going to make the most healthy choices."
Concannon said schools that already participate in the national fresh fruits and vegetable program --- which targets low-income schools --- have exposed students to new food items with good results, and that interest carries over to their home life.
State legislation has already cleared a la carte lines of the fatty and sugary foods many kids consider diet staples. New federal rules are expected to do the same with the traditional school lunch options.
Alex Youngblut, an East High School senior, remembers lunch as a freshman. The food was salted and seasoned. There were smoothies and stuffed bread sticks.
"And cookies as big as your head," he said.
But in the last couple of years the lunch room landscape has changed. Baked potato chips have replaced full-calorie and full-fat versions. Crudites and fresh fruit are offered in abundance. Whole grains are replacing processed white bread and noodles.
And that is only the beginning, said Meredith Hansen, the Waterloo district manager of food services and nutrition services.
Though details of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act are still being tweaked, districts expect larger servings of fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, fewer calories and less fat and sodium when the first bell rings in the 2012-2013 school year.
The new requirements will be based on guidelines proposed by the Institute of Medicine and are the first substantial changes in decades.
"This is a huge opportunity. ... We believe --- not just us but the Institute for Medicine, health experts and others believe --- that school nutrition offers a systematic way to provide healthier foods to kids on a dependable regular basis. That's why it got such strong bipartisan support when it was enacted last December," said Kevin Concannon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
LaVonne Arndt, nutrition services supervisor with Cedar Falls schools, said the district has slowly been working its way toward the new goals.When the stone sits in the oil painting reproduction,
"It would have been too big of a shock to just say here is what the new school lunch will look like," she said.By Alex Lippa Close-up of plastic card in Massachusetts.
Arndt said the district has worked to incorporate more legumes, whole grains and dark orange and green vegetables into the menu cycle. Similar gradual changes are being made in Waterloo. Not all are welcome.
"We've done a corn and bean salsa, which is something all the adults care for and like, but the kids are not eating it,As many processors back away from Cable Ties ," Arndt said.
Bryce Frost, an East High School senior, used to get pwe supply all kinds of polished tiles,izza regularly but said the changes make it less appetizing. Junior Katelyn Kinnetz said she's noticed fewer potato items and more fruits and vegetables on the menu. But she can't eat many of them.
"I can't eat the apples because of my braces. And today, the bananas weren't ripe. They have carrots, but I can't eat those either," she said.
Right now, students must take three of the five food groups that are offered to have a full meal. A fruit or vegetable is offered every day but does not have to be on the plate. If the new standards pass as is, next year one fruit or vegetable will have to be on every tray.
"That doesn't mean they are going to eat it, though," Hansen said. "There is going to be a lot of waste."
About 32 percent of Cedar Falls students during the 2010-2011 school year had a body mass index considered overweight or obese, according to new data from the Black Hawk County Health Department. It Waterloo it's 45 percent. A 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed about 32 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese nationwide.
Hansen, a registered dietitian, knows the intent of the legislation is positive.
"They are taking a hard look at the sodium in the meals and forcing us to introduce (kids) to new vegetables," she said. Kid-friendly staples, like corn and potatoes, will be limited to one cup a week.
However,Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, she is concerned about the caloric requirements being eyed.
"In our district I have students where these are the only meals they are getting every day, and I want to get as much food as I can to them," she said. "Even with the new regulations students who are overweight still aren't necessarily going to make the most healthy choices."
Concannon said schools that already participate in the national fresh fruits and vegetable program --- which targets low-income schools --- have exposed students to new food items with good results, and that interest carries over to their home life.
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