Food for thought
Healthy lunches help fuel learning

Or you may be surprised at how seldom dessert is featured on the menu. (Generally just one lunch per week.)

And over the course of a week, parents may be interested to know that lunch menus are designed to average no more than 30 percent of calories from fat.

"In fact, a great deal of effort goes into developing nutritionally-sound lunches that will fuel learning throughout the day," says Kim Gagnon, a nutritionist and director of the school district’s food service program.

"Over the years we’ve increased the use of whole grains, stopped frying everything – even the ‘French fries’ – and increased our offerings of fresh fruits and veggies," she says. And at just $1.50 at the elementary level, school lunches are clearly one of the best nutritional bargains around.

A careful balance

Gagnon is quick to point out that serving up healthy school lunches requires a careful balancing act. "Most kids simply won’t try things that don’t look appealing," she says. "And if it doesn’t taste good to them, they won’t eat it."

With that in mind, Gagnon says they’ve been slowly exposing elementary students to healthier, sometimes more "exotic" entrees over time. "We win some and lose some," she laughs.

For example, she says they started serving chef salads and popcorn chicken salads which are turning out to be quite popular with elementary students. And she’s even been able to "sneak in" more and more fresh spinach and romaine lettuce instead of the less nutritious (but more familiar) iceberg variety. "In the beginning we had kids wrinkling up their noses and asking why we were putting ‘leaves’ in their salad. But we started slow and they tried it and discovered it tastes pretty good so we seem to be over that hurdle."

"We’ve also started serving homemade soups – which are low in fat and have plenty of fresh veggies and those go over well," she says.

Elementary students are also eating more broccoli and green beans since the cooks have started seasoning them with garlic and olive oil. "We used to go through one tray of hot vegetables at most," Gagnon says, "but now we go through three. That’s progress."

Not everything has been that easy. For example, Gagnon said an attempt to add green and red pepper bits to corn was a total failure. "We thought we’d add a little color and boost the vitamin content. But most kids wouldn’t even touch it. We learned not to mess with corn – which they tend to like, as long as it’s plain."

Another flop was Mexican corn bread with little bits of pepper in the batter. "The kids were certain the green peppers were mold," she laughs, "and there was no way we were going to convince them it was good to eat."

In fact, Gagnon says, young children are the least adventurous in their eating habits. "I can see a big difference between what will fly at Bradt compared to Pinewood where the kids are a little older and seem more willing to try new things."

"We try to start small and expose them to good food choices over time. They may not go for everything, but over time I think we’ve made significant improvements."

In fact, this approach is consistent with research from the Mayo Clinic which shows young children often need 10 to 20 exposures before they will accept a new food.

Talking about nutrition

For parents who are concerned about their child’s food choices at school, Gagnon suggests asking what they ate for lunch that day. "Even if they brown-bag their lunch, kids are known to trade or toss what they don’t want. Fruits, vegetables and milk are a cornerstone of our daily school lunch program, but we can’t force kids to eat everything they should," Gagnon notes.

Parents can have a positive impact by talking to kids about how important it is to eat a balanced diet and what that entails. An estimated 25 percent of our nation’s children are now considered overweight – compared to just 4 percent in the 1960s.

With the rise in obesity has also come a big increase in the rate of diabetes among young children. There are also new concerns about calcium consumption in young children. Only 14 percent of girls and 36 percent of boys are getting enough calcium to support healthy bones. Milk consumption is on the decline while soda and non-citrus fruit drinks are increasing in popularity.

Gagnon says parents can also control the frequency with which kids visit the snack bar at Bradt and Pinewood.

Snack foods are meant to be occasional treats – and cannot be paid for with money deposited in lunch accounts. "Children at the elementary level can only buy snacks if someone sends them to school with money – and even then, cafeteria workers limit student purchases to no more than two items in any one day," Gagnon says.

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