Traditionally, school lunches sucked. There, I said it. School lunches were just plain awful, and begging to be thrown away. Everything was steamed to death, limp and soggy. They have morphed into prepackaged, sugared, trans fat filled messes, offering no nutritional value, and heaven forbid - needed no cooking.
Now, thanks to Jamie Oliver stirring the pot, and parents getting wind of just how disgusting the food was in many schools, The U.S Department of Agriculture has come up with some common sense guidelines to improve school food. These guidelines include more fruits, veggies, whole grain, lowfat milk, less salt, unhealthy fats and calories.
Sounds pretty good, right? To parents and concerned school officials, it does make sense. To food intrest groups and the French fry industry, not so much. They wo uld like the USDA to scrap the whole idea and start a new set of standards.
We all know that money talks, especially in our government (can you spell lobbyist?), so as a concerned parent, we should be worried.
If you would like to have your voice be heard by your Senators, asking for them to support the effort to improve school meals, the Center For Sciene In The Public Interest, has an easy way for you to do just that.
Image Sources:
Comments
September 2, 2011
I pack my kids lunch. I pack my lunch also.