On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 7:11 PM, Graunke,Ryan E
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello BESTers,
Some of you have probably heard that there is a new federal rule require public school lunches to include fresh fruits and vegetables with all meals they serve. Child nutrition is a critically important issue, and I applaud the efforts to increase healthy food served at schools. However, just because students are served this food does not mean they will eat it, and this could lead to a substantial amount of food waste. In fact, as this article describes, the Lake County School District had already enacted a similar rule prior to the federal rule. The district estimates that Lake County school children will throw away $75,000 worth of fruits and vegetables because the children must take them but don't eat it. This is a tough issue to tackle. Requiring schools to give every student fresh fruits and vegetables, even if they don't want them, may seem ridiculous and will obviously cause waste. On the other hand, if the students don't have to take them, many students will only take the less healthy food they like. Maybe schools should start a "clean plate club" where students are rewarded for eating all their food. Perhaps the answer is for parents to impart the importance of healthy food by serving healthy meals with many fruits and vegetables at home. It's hard to get kids to eat their vegetables at school when they get McDonald's and KFC for dinner. Let's not let this opportunity to have healthy food at schools go to waste.
Have a great weekend,
Ryan
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-02-15/features/os-school-food-waste-20120215_1_chad-wilsky-hunger-free-kids-act-food-waste
Will new food rules fill students' bellies? Or trash cans?
Orlando Sentinel
Erica Rodriguez
February 15, 2012