School Lunch Changes

The school year is barely underway and the USDA’s new school lunch standards have already hit a snag. There’ve been reports that a number of kids are still hungry after eating lunch. It may be the USDA’s one size fits all approach to maximum amounts of protein and calories just isn’t going to work, especially when it comes to active kids. Contrary to what we often read and hear, there are still a lot of physically active children out there. American Farm Bureau Farm Policy Specialist Kelli Ludlum says the major problem with the USDA’s new lunch standards appears to be the lack of flexibility in providing either fewer or more calories depending on the student’s age, body weight, and level of activity. The positive side to the new standards include serving more fresh fruits and vegetables, increasing the amount of whole grains, and lowering the amounts of saturated fats and sodium. As most everyone who has ever been on a regulated diet knows, when you severely lower fat intake you do feel hungry sooner after eating. To stay on this nutritionally improved track, schools may have to incorporate offering students a healthy afternoon snack that is high in protein.