Healthier choices on school menus

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently implemented the final rule of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which will establish new guidelines and requirements for meals in schools across the nation.

The act, signed into law by President Obama in December 2010, is the first update to school meal standards in more than 15 years. According to Jane Blackburn, the Oceanside School District’s food service director, it will require that students be offered more fruits and vegetables. Additionally, more specific categories will be added to school meal requirements, such as dark green, red and orange vegetables; beans and legumes; and starches.

The guidelines for meat and dairy intake have not changed significantly under the act. Skim milk will be the only type of milk offered at schools, with 1 and 2 percent milk phased out. Whole milk was eliminated at Oceanside schools a few years ago.

The district is attempting to work with both the East Rockaway and Island Park school districts to implement the new food requirements to help reduce the costs for each district.

According to Janey Thornton, deputy undersecretary of the USDA, school districts that meet the meal standards will be reimbursed an additional 6 cents per lunch served. Schools already receive reimbursements at rates that depend on their state and the type of lunches they serve.

The updates will result in healthier meals for students across the nation, Thornton said on the USDA website: “The meal standards together with the additional funding proposed … provide the means to help schools raise the bar for our children.”

Blackburn declined to offer specifics on how the district would meet the requirements, saying it is still working out the details.

Included in the new guidelines are a split of fruit and vegetable requirements, with at least one daily serving of each, as well as minimum and maximum levels for caloric intake. By the third year of the rules’ implementation, all grains offered at school will have to be whole-grain-rich.

The changes to the lunch program went into effect on July 1, while updates in the breakfast program, which differs slightly from the lunch program, will be implemented next year.