Well that's good, kids need to start developing healthier eating habits and cut back on the junk food. Now, that's not to say that kids should never be indulged some fries or a piece of candy, every now and then, but the amounts of junk kids eat is being eaten way more often than every now and then.

These are the types of changes that are really needed in schools. By using whole grains and moving from fried starchy vegetables to fibrous ones, the kids' amount of daily fiber should take a significant jump. That will help on many levels, from digestive health to blood sugar control, which is a huge factor in learning and attention. I'm glad to see lawmakers finally implementing some meaningful changes. Don't just stop with the carbohydrates, though. Fix the proteins and fats, too! It's not that hard!

NutritionPerfected.com/np-blog.html

I think it's a good idea to clean up the lunch menu for the kids at school. I also, think it would be a good idea for parents to do the same thing at home. Parents feed their children fast food alot at home and that is just as bad or worse than lunchroom food.

YUm i agree that lunches should be healthier, BUT FRIES ARE JUST TOOOOOO GOOD! I would keep them and replace everything else with vegetables.

It is about time. I have worked as a substitute aide in a number of schools in central PA, and some of the lunches are appalling. Macaroni and cheese nuggets!! I kid you not. No veggies or salads at all.

And the breakfasts are just as bad. Those need to be looked at, too.

Yeah, at first the kids might just throw out the good stuff. But if that is ALL the school serves, i.e., veggies and whole grains and non-fried meat, the kids will have to eat it or be hungry. They will start to eat it, trust me.

Even little kids see the hypocrisy of the schools teaching about healthy eating and serving breaded and fried fatty foods. If you talk the talk, then walk the walk.

I think the changes are a great step in the right direction for our children. I am a Registered Dietitian and plan the menus for seniors in the Meals on Wheels program and we have strict guidelines to follow, including whole grains, and fruits and vegetables for each meal served, along with sodium guidelines. This needed to happen for school lunches. I say let Fridays be "fry days" the one day/week for french fries, the kids will forward to it and will teach them to wait for not so healthy food

Not only should schools AND parents start making healthier foods, kids should not have to clean their plate when they're full. When they say "But mommy I can't finish!", it's not because they're a brat or a picky eater, it's because they're full and CAN'T finish. Let them dish up their own food instead of doing it yourself, because all you'll do is dish up adult size portions onto a child's plate. This is one of the many things that causes overeating habits which cause obesity. When a child is forced to finish everything, they learn to ignore the "I'm full!" message, so stop with the clean your plate nonsense.

Yes some schools are feeding are children crappy meals ,, however some schools have been making small changes every year to make meals healthier for children. No salt when cooking, wheat bread, non-fat milk (choc or staw). Two or three choices of veggies per day,, two or three choices of fruit per day canned or fresh. Baked not fried (ie f.f. nuggets. etc) I know, I have been and other food service people have been doing there best for our school kids. Does any body understand what the school Lunch programs are about? How much each child gets served? If done the proper way each child gets the following 1/4 cup of fruit, 1/2 cup of veg , 1.5 to 2.5 oz of bread , 1.5 oz too 3.0 oz of protein per day. That is government standerds. The problem is the food the goverment gives the schools not a lot of fresh product too much processed foods. I would love nothing better then to cook fresh for the children everyday. However not only can't the lunch program afford it, they don't have the man power to do it. The schools will not hire the extra man power to cook fresh. I mean come on people everyone knows how long just one turkey takes to cook, imagine cooking 25 turkeys for lunch that day. Oh yeah don't forget most of the lunch help is part-time, 3.5 hours a day, no health bens, min wage. The school budgets a strapped as they are. They force the lunch programs to pay for them self's. Which doesn't even cover food costs if it lucky. Wake up parents, wake up government where can you find a meal that is healthy for just 1.20 to 2.50 per lunch? That is served to you in under 20secs.. yes 20secs is all most lunches ladies get to see and server you children because they get pushed through the lunch line like cattle because there is not enough time. Because most schools only give your kids 20 to 45 min to get there lunch and eat it. Take a long look at your school lunch programs for your children, Go to schools and watch what happens, The whole system from the top to bottom is messed up. To what the government give our kids to eat, to how much time they get to eat it, to how much your school superintendents care for the lunch program. Ask most of them, they don't eat in the school cafe, oh yeah and most of them get there full lunch break, our kids don't by the time they get there lunch. Oh yeah my favorite is most of the kids have gym after lunch so please tell the School boards to eat a meal in less then 20 min and run a mile afterword and see how far that gets yeah.. Sorry so long. If you really care go and find out for your self. Go have School Lunch. Eyes open.

i believe that the problem is not only in what they are eating but the lack of exercise.many kids get no exercise except for the gym class provided in school.i can honestly say that if the menu in schools are changed so drastically,kids will not eat.they will prefer to be hungry or bring something from home than eat more veggies. the school will be throwing out more foods than what is consumed. we tried this in our district for a month.the kids brought foods from home or simply didn't eat.then what,?they were either tired or grumpy toward the end of the day and that interrupted class time. instead of spending more money changing the way they eat in school,why not create more after school extra curricular activities that they may enjoy.

I think it is crazy that kids get such crappy meals. But the obesity isnt going to change by swapping one meal considering most of the fat kids get fed crap at home. Parents need to take a active role and slim their kids, the fat parents make fat kids, changing school food will not fix it at all.

Okay, change is great, however, 10 years to reduce sodium is ridiculous. It is just not that hard. I've done it with our own family, and it doesn't take that kind of a time frame. At first yes you might need some salt at the table, but the amount you can comfortably eat when placed on top of your food is still less then heavily processed sodium preserved food. Second, lowfat milk is okay, but is it allowed to be milk from cows who were given human growth hormones? Or is this fresh organic milk from grass fed (e.i. cow's natural diet) cows. Huge difference. Might not show in the USDA guidelines printed on the label of each container, but there is a lot more to a food source than what is measured in milligrams. To serve more fruits and veg, the easy cheap way for schools would be to continue using cheap canned produce. By using local in season produce, schools could become part of a solution, by giving local farmers a large demand, and if their cooks could produce suitable meals with local produce, the kids could have organic, grown without chemical pesticide food, that doesn't need to be trucked across the county several times. I don't really see this proposal as giving our children good food, I see it more as a pacification...they are saying to all of us that yes, we know there is an inherent problem, and yes "someday" we'll fix it, look we're working on a solution, it's difficult, it'll take time. In the end big industry, fast food, the government, lobbyists, and advertisers do not have you and your family in mind. I grew up in a time when a lot of us took our lunches to school, and what my mother thought was appropriate and good for my health is what got put into the bag. Maybe more people should take back choices from children and let adults make the choices for them. I have heard of a lot of mother's saying well my kids nag me for this and that, so I feel like I'm depriving them if I don't give in. What a world we would all live in if all we had to do as adults was whine and we'd get everything we desired. School lunches need much more of an overhaul than the government and big business is going to give them.

Food served in our school district is decent. For example, today's lunch menu is a sub sandwich with fresh fruit. Sounds good to me! Wheat bread served with lunchmeat, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and fresh green grapes. Everyday they get fresh fruit or veggies. IMO - they're doing a good job and I wish I could eat their lunch menu on a day to day basis.

I'm in high school and my school is attempting to make food "healthier" however the way they're going about it really isn't working. We're given whole wheat breads but they're nasty I normally enjoy wholewheat rolls and such but these are just gross and they can serve us french fries they're just not allowed to put salt on them. Most of us just end up going hungry rather than eat the foul crap they try to pass off as health food now.

Good nutrition habits begin at home.  My son didn't care for school lunch most days because it was too salty, greasy etc.   We would go through the menu and pick which days he wanted hot lunch and which days he packed his own lunch.  That was in Kindergarten.  He made the choices.  Just because you are poor does not mean you have to eat junk.  French Fries and chicken nuggets are expensive.  For the same price one can make a good marinara sauce w/ pasta and veggies.

More kids will bring their lunch. Kraft, Lays, Oscar Mayer, and Campbell stocks will rise. The "free" lunch kids will be the only ones "supporting" this program, thus a federal lunch tax increases and lunch ladies will have job losses. Our schools have eliminated allowing kids to "borrow" lunch money from the cafeteria for parents to pay back. Instead, they get a FREE veggie only lunch if they leave lunch money at home. This has seriously reduced the number of lunch credits and failures to pay. It's a free market economy and kids will make other choices.

I'm currently a college student but I easily remember my recent days of school lunch. I was one of the kids at my school who bought lunch almost everyday all of middle and high school. In elementary school the food was terrible and school started late so I got up early enough to pack lunch. In middle and high school I was too lazy to get up early to pack my own lunch and the school food was ok tasting. Middle school was great (my opinion then), I ate pizza or chicken nuggets and fries most days. I passed on sides like carrot or celery sticks or mini salads because they tasted weird but always got an apple and some apple juice. In high school they changed the pizza so it didn't taste as good and I became a vegetarian. Fortunately my school had made to order sub sandwiches. I could get whole wheat bread loaded with veggies. In high school I also started to learn more about nutrition. I wished I had the time to make lunches but I like hot food and they are hard to pack for lunches. Maybe with the government's new food standards schools will have to make more veg-friendly lunches. Another point, kids won't necessarily reject the ideas of "healthier lunches", a lot of kids at my school would have loved them (me included). A lot of kids and parents are too busy to pack lunch everyday so they will eat school food. And if you start serving healthy foods in all schools the younger children will get used to them.