School Lunch

I had lunch with my child Raine's kindergarten class today. At 11:15 am. I usually pack his lunch 4 days a week, and he eats what the cafeteria is serving on the 5th day.

It was meatloaf today ! In light of all of the news about e-coli problems with ground beef, I have to admit I was a little bit leary. will let you know if I get sick. The meatloaf was served with chopped greens, collard I think, and I confirmed that they were of the canned variety, missing the porky goodness that a ham hock adds. they were okay, but I noticed that none of the kids tasted any- they would be well served to take notice of what the kids eat and don't and plan menus better. I also had a small side salad and some chocolate milk- most of the kids drank either orange or apple juice. Not sure if its a great idea to give them a juice option- it's one of the major contributors to childhood obesity and it's in the healthy category. There were apples and bananas and containers of sugary freestone peaches as well.

I was disappointed that the meals are served on throw-away styrofoam trays with plastic utensils- need to do some digging to understand the economics behind that decision.

Holton has a progressive streak- we have funding to build an outdoor classroom and garden. Hopefully we will see some the Holton harvest infiltrate the cafeteria before too long. And another exciting update is that there is some national movement on improving school lunch quality and nutrition- click here to read about the new legislation, Healthy Food for Healthy Schools Act of 2009