From Linda MacLean on Sat, April 02, 2011

1.  Get our local Farmer’s market to grow enough produce for the school, so kids can eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
2.  Keep food with dyes, additives, and preservatives out of cafeteria food.
3.  Serve organic everything food.  No food that contains or has been sprayed with insecticides or pesticides should be served.
4.  Serve only whole grain products instead of refined carbohydrates.
5.  Use olive oil in meal preparation.  Provide a good balance between omega-6 and omega-3, and absolutely use NO hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in food or food preparation.
6.  More fish, seafood, and vegetable protein like beans and legumes.
7.  Fry nothing.  Bake or braise!

6.  More vegetable protein like legumes, beans

From Lisa on Sat, April 02, 2011

I was very happy to see this post about positive changes in school lunches.  I did not realize USDA would take public suggestions….how exciting.  Thank you for posting this valuable information.  I use to work in food service at our local school district and remember the heavily processed & high fat entrees.  It turned my stomach!

From Burnett29Michael on Sun, April 03, 2011

Do you know that it’s high time to receive the mortgage loans, which would help you.

From Gene H Baird on Sun, April 03, 2011

My daughter has established good food in her school,Keene N.Y.,more should be learned from her example.

From Julia Ficht on Mon, April 04, 2011

Healthy, nutritious food is the key to our future.

From Mark Cosgrove on Mon, April 04, 2011

please stop subsidizing Ethanol. The corn crops in the US should be going to feed people, not convert to biofuel. Algae and other biomass can produce fuel for cars. This is an irrational and politically-motivated policy.

As far as school lunches, french fries and potato chips/ tortilla chips should not be served except and never classified as a ‘vegetable’. In addition, I’d like to see the “Meatless Monday” concept that is so rampart in corporate America’s cafes cross over to the school system. The reduced carbon intensity of replacing one chicken finger/cheeseburger meal with a vegetarian dish (even Pizza!) is staggering.

From Eileen Kleinkopf on Mon, April 04, 2011

Children must have nutritious food.  It is imperative that we have healthy children.

From Melissa townley on Mon, April 04, 2011

Kids must have nutritious food to learn and grow and sit still.

From Sonia Flowers on Mon, April 04, 2011

Work with local farms such as “Farm Fresh To You” to have seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to schools.  This particular local farm (located in Copay, California) also provides recipes for the seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables they provide. The recipes are quick and easy and would add variety to the standard menus.

From Bridgett Blough on Mon, April 04, 2011

Please work with local farms in every area and reduce corn products!!!

From kieren van den blink on Mon, April 04, 2011

Please join in serving our children healthy food in American schools.

From Stephen Sheer on Tue, April 05, 2011

Please take the time to make school kitchens conform to basic standards enabling them to cook whole food vs just warming up and steaming prepared foods. Hire chefs that can cook whole foods and reduce food costs and increase productivity and nutrition.

From Sarah Gallagher on Tue, April 05, 2011

Please let’s be serving real, nutritious food to our school children.

From Carol Nelson on Tue, April 05, 2011

Ban genetically modified organisms from the school lunch program.  They are likely to be allergenic or worse. Offer choice among a variety of wholesome foods that are nutritionally beneficial and don’t make kids fat.  Show kids what healthy food looks like—- fruits, vegetable, legumes.

From CHR on Tue, April 05, 2011

For hints or suggestions why don’t you hook up with Jamie Oliver.  He’s working to help our schools create a nutricious menu.  This could be a win win situation.

From Jennifer Carr on Tue, April 05, 2011

Please also tie federal dollars to overall percentage of healthy food vs. junk food sold to our kids in the lunch line, to give the cafeterias an incentive to cut back on processed and snack foods they sell to our children.

From Susan Darling on Tue, April 05, 2011

Something is very wrong when our cafeteria workers peddle junk food to pay for their salaries!
Please help our children by providing them with whole foods that do not compromise their health and achievement.

From Alain Buthion on Tue, April 05, 2011

There are chefs who can work for free, or retired chefs who can help and demonstrate an easy way to cook good, easy and healthy. I’m ready to start a program with a school, just have to find the one who is interested in the project.
I understand the need for it.

From Tracy Bocarde Sprauer on Tue, April 05, 2011

In working with the school lunch program, I found the commodities received by the government was one of our biggest stumbling blocks.  No more chicken nuggets, no more high fructose corn syrup, no more “mystery meat”  no more fake cheese, no more sugared cereal!  If just these things could be eliminated and replaced with whole and real food we would be a long way in providing a healthful meal to our children.  We need to use more legumes, more Alaskan salmon, create a better omega 6 to 3 ratio, more leafy greens.  And education is a key component—every school should have a nutrition program that includes a kitchen where they can learn about healthful food and prepare it themselves.  We have a school garden, and this is another fantastic way to empower kids to eat a more colorful, fresh diet.

From Eva Marie Arena on Tue, April 05, 2011

Our school deserve better quality food in their lunches. Local, sustainable, recognizable healthy food is what students need to nourish their bodies as well as their minds. Whole foods = whole beings.

From linda laing on Tue, April 05, 2011

it is time to start feeding our children GOOD food..
not GMO foods and not the garbage they have been fed since i went to school in the 40’s and 50’s…you are what you eat!!!! fruits and vegetables not irradiated to kill the food value….........not caned or packaged foods not pizza and fried foods…......this whole thing is very simple, what is not simple is those who try to make it look good but spend as little money as possible…i just got out of the hospital and the food was so bad i did not eat one bit of it for 3 days!!!! thank God for the food i had brought to me~~~~~ and this is the same kind of food we feedour kids in school….........do the right thing…...

From frieda hoseini on Tue, April 05, 2011

As parents we need to also pay attention to what we feed our children. we should make healthy choices when we go shopping.
By doing that we tell all the advertising companies that no matter how much advertising they do we won’t give in to buying their sugary, food color chemicals and all the unhealthy products that they advertise.

From Damien Grose on Tue, April 05, 2011

Kids deserve the best, they are the future of this nation. Why feed them sub-standard food? We have to get more fresh food into the cafeterias so that we can nourish their bodies and their minds. Processed foods, high in carbs and fats and low in nutrition does not contribute to a healthy diet. Kids should be our first priority - they are one of the most vulnerable segments of our population - why feed them junk food that gives them disease and affects their behavior? It’s time we invest more in their health and overall well-being.

From Hen3ry Q Vines on Tue, April 05, 2011

Each school district should make create and fill two positions to implement the Child Nutrition Act.  The first should be a Farm-to-School Liaison, whose task will be to assess the school’s needs, locate and contact local organic farms to place orders and make the logistical arrangements for getting the food to the schools.  The Farm-to-School liaison should work in conjunction with a Nutritious Lunchroom Coordinator, whose task will be to develop menus and meal plans based on the available local organic produce in the area of that school district.
  Both of these new employees should receive training on nutrition and health, as well as other training material related to their respective tasks.

From Lisa Flynn on Tue, April 05, 2011

No food coloring, no high fructose corn syrup, less preservatives, whole grain breads and cereals, fresh produce, meat and low-fat milk with NO hormones!  Get rid of sugar-laden chocolate milk offerings.

From Linda Murphy on Tue, April 05, 2011

I am very disappointed in the quality of the surplus commodities subsidized by our tax dollars - “food” laden with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, preservatives and additives.  Farmers should be subsidized to grow/breed food of the best quality with exemplary farming/raising practices.  This would be food we to give to our children.  It would be helpful to have more pressure from the government regulating the farming/breeding practices to ensure the quality of our food in general and that which ends up in our school lunches.

Ditto the remarks of Tracy Bocarde Sprauer on Tue, April 05, 2011

In working with the school lunch program, I found the commodities received by the government was one of our biggest stumbling blocks.  No more chicken nuggets, no more high fructose corn syrup, no more “mystery meat”  no more fake cheese, no more sugared cereal!  If just these things could be eliminated and replaced with whole and real food we would be a long way in providing a healthful meal to our children.  We need to use more legumes, more Alaskan salmon, create a better omega 6 to 3 ratio, more leafy greens.  And education is a key component—every school should have a nutrition program that includes a kitchen where they can learn about healthful food and prepare it themselves.  We have a school garden, and this is another fantastic way to empower kids to eat a more colorful, fresh diet.

From Cheri Wagner on Tue, April 05, 2011

Dear Sirs
Please pay attention. A well nourished body is a well nourished mind.
Please do not act like school lunches do not matter. Sometimes it is the only nutritious meal a child recieves.
It is an education in and of itself.
Studies show that in France when children were taught to use less salt they insisted their parents do so as well.
We must stop the generational poisening of America.
Please act now and put our tax payer dollars to work.

From kieren van den blink on Tue, April 05, 2011

We must care for our children as they are the future generation. They deserve the whole, fresh foods we enjoyed as children.

Let’s show them the way by prioritizing healthy, nutritious foods.

From Martha Pings on Tue, April 05, 2011

School lunches should have our kids’ health FIRST in mind, not provide a dumping ground for USDA commodities supporting agribusiness.  FRESH fruits and veggies…ditch the cans!

From Tecoria Jones on Tue, April 05, 2011

School districts should have DTRs or RDs that serve as liasons between farmers, farmers markets and school districts to ensure availability of local in season produce. Also with USDA lunch funds, underwrite school gardens, chicken farmers or cattle raisers to have fresh local meats available to our future leaders. Ask for volunteers if need be. I know I would do as much as I could. At least 3 -7 hours week. No MSG! No Hydrogenated! No Artifical Colors, Flavors, or Preservatives! Less white flour products, use mixes of white and whole grain to suit childrens taste! No irridation! More fresh dark greens and colorful veggies! I love children. I am committed. Can I count on my government to join me in this commitment? Our other choice is to be commited to taking care of sick and dying youth as they succumb to diabetes, heart disease and other diet influnced disease at younger and younger ages…..

From Obiora Embry on Tue, April 05, 2011

The policies that are in place now that make it mandatory to have food that is the same size and roughly the same mass needs to be changed as its preposterous and goes against nature.  Foods that are natural and not synthetic are never duplicates as this was never intended, however, we have passed laws that show our ignorance.

In addition, we need to update the food pyramids to cut out the excessive meat (including poultry and cows milk) to get healthier foods on the plates of our children at all meals served in the school cafeteria.  We will also need to make it easier for school districts to purchase local food that is not transgenic, heavily processed or refined, and without trans fat as these “foods” are a part of the problem that have caused excessive cases of ADHD, ADD, and the other emotional and behavorial disorders that afflict children.

From diana rossi on Wed, April 06, 2011

I am an elementary school teacher and also help out in the cafeteria daily with the children. I see the lack of color in the lunches, everything is beige, breaded, starchy, mostly carbohydrates, cheesy and unappetizing. When I asked the dietician about the quality of school lunches I was told that the government subsidizes them with soft pretzels, potatoes, white bread, and rolls made from heavy processed, refined flour. The hamburgers are precooked and frozen, then shipped to the schools where they are warmed up. They look like you could choke on the dried beef. Canned peas showed up on a couple of plates today, but weren’t eaten. Nothing is fresh but a couple of bananas and oranges.
I have to say that only one day students do get a nutritious lunch choice. 4th and 5th grade students can order a chicken caesar salad once a week. Although the chicken is processed and the dressing is so high in fat that the salad probably has more calories than the entire hamburger plate with fries.
Just thought parents should see what their kids are eating. Maybe they don’t even have a clue.

From Ellie on Wed, April 06, 2011

Please, please, please decrease the amount of useless carbohydrates in the school cafeteria menu. This is some of my son’s school lunch menu this month - spaghetti, mashed potato bowl, cheese pizza ,nachos, grilled cheese, taco pizza, pizza burger, chicken fries. What on earth are chicken fries?! Thank goodness he wants me to make his lunches for him!  We need to increase fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and lean proteins!!! Our kids will suffer if we don’t. Physically and academically. Thank you for listening.

From Lisa Sproehnle on Wed, April 06, 2011

Thank you for listening to all of our comments. I am so grateful that there is a huge wave of wide awake Parents, Students, Teachers, Farmers etc. that remember you are what you eat!  Whew! Our town is full of forward thinking people who work long, hard hours on Positive, Healthful meals for our children and citizens. Our Farmer’s Market’s run full tilt come summertime. We miss them in winter months. Buying Organic Produce, Meats, Grains (non GMO) & Diary foods from Local farmers is what’s best for Earth and all our bodies. Our children ought to have as much opportunity to know, hands on, where their food comes from. Our school holds a program called ‘Harvest of the Month’ where parents volunteer once a month to introduce a new fruit or vegetable to the kids in class. It is very successful. Some parents and local chef’s have come in to teach the children cooking skills. Community & School gardens,  are sprouting up all around. Greenhouses are also within reality. Whenever Parents or Grandparents can volunteer with feeding our children they ought to especially if they have excellent life skills as farmers or chefs.
Start our kids out with Local, Organic, Farm fresh, nutrient-rich foods and our Nation will thrive with strong, healthy, vibrant People. Thank you.

From Barbara Grant on Wed, April 06, 2011

How many of us have actually eated at a school lunch program or spoken with the coordinator?  We need to understand the problem before we can solve it.  They have very tight budgets - so the problem starts there.

Iowa schools are now beginning Farm to School programs - in which my farm participates.  We go into the classroom and demonstrate how cheese is made, making a simple mozzarella with hotplates and microwaves.  Then on the menu that day is our cheese.  The students literally eat it up!

So the answer is for us to get involved and attend school meetings, asking for more local foods on the menu and working cooperatively to MAKE IT HAPPEN!  Every child deserves clean and healthy food!

From Madge Eggena on Wed, April 06, 2011

Healthcare Reform begins with the food we feed our children.  Do we have a choice?

From Rosemary Traill on Wed, April 06, 2011

I agree with most of the comments above….more plant foods (beans, whole grains, organically and locally grown vegetables and fruits) as much as possible.

Funding for nutrition education in schools!

From Susan Horn on Wed, April 06, 2011

Lots of great comments here!  I would add local pastured eggs to recommended foods for their superior nutritional value. 

I believe every school could make or find enough space for a substantial garden to grow fresh vegetables for use in lunches.  Please see what MacArthur Genius Will Allen is doing with Growing Power (growingpower.org I think)—amazing amounts of organic plant and animal food can grow in very small places with his system, which has both rural and urban models.  That in itself would provide vast education in nutrition, health, biology, math, you name it, and not just for students - for lunchroom workers, parents, adminhistrators, etc.  This is the sort of thing volunteers woul love to help with…perhaps Master Gardeners could help as part of their community service requirement…

A longer term project would be planting orchards for fresh fruits and even nuts, varieties that are well suited to the area so they will require minimal maintenance.  Organic of course, no chemicals!  For small spaces, there are compact varieties that produce well.  And even if there’s only room for a demonstration fruit tree, you can buy “fruit cocktail” trees that have several different types of fruit grafted onto one rootstock.

I would add, do whatever it takes to get the choking red tape out of the way so little farmers can sell directly to individual cafeterias in individuals schools.  The way the schools food system is set up now, the red tape is so thick that the small local producers would lose money trying to jump through all the stupid hoops.  I would LOVE to provide healthy fresh food to our local schools but at this point, I’d rather sell to passersby out of my truck on the side of the road than deal with the system currently in place in schools—and I’m not alone!

Thanks for taking our comments.

From Steve Birnbaum on Wed, April 06, 2011

So many of our eating habits start early on.  Let’s ensure that we provide our children with the best chance at a healthy future by providing them with REAL food and teaching them about what they are consuming.  School is a place for learning and growing, neither of which we can successfully accomplish without proper nourishment!

From Leslie on Wed, April 06, 2011

Thank you, USDA, our public elementary is now focused on using locally-grown foods!
However, I still see the children still eating highly-processed and “shaped” foods (‘smiley’ fries, chicken tenders, etc.) Children are being raised without the REALLY fun foods, such as alfalfa sprouts, bright berries, beans of every color, etc.
I agree with an earlier comment about engaging Jamie Oliver from the UK (or similar) to help with simple, delicious, nutritious, and cost-effective alternatives that train little tastebuds to appreciate the good stuff!

Perhaps the USDA could engage the public school Parent-Teacher Organizations with a direct request for support of improved nutrition programs. . . thus putting Mommy Power to use on a national level.

From Chris Ward on Wed, April 06, 2011

Buy local, fresh foods; encourage local farmers to use natural farming techniques and to sell their product to the schools; raw foods - fruits and vegetables, salads, raw nuts, whole grains.
You can’t assume that these children are getting good and nutritious food at home.

From Cynthia Jones on Thu, April 07, 2011

In addition to keeping food dyes, “Frankenfoods” and all other unnatural foods out of school cafeterias (and banned all together for that matter), use chef Alice Waters’ edible schoolyard model, and plant school gardens.  Community, restaurant and backyard gardens are proliferating, so why not school based gardens? These gardens would not only supply fresh, nutritious produce for the students and staff, but in exchange for working in the garden, families could share in the bounty.  Schoolyard gardens would also save the schools money.  The edible schoolyard model would provide multiple benefits!

From Cynthia Jones on Thu, April 07, 2011

Additional benefits of school based gardens include tying in the curriculum with gardening.  From chemistry and botany to language arts and geography, there are many ways to incorporate growing food into the lesson plan.  Working in the garden would also give the children some exercise and fresh air, so again, there are many benefits to be had by incorporating school based gardens with healthy eating in the school cafeteria.  Some schools are already doing this successfully, so this is something that could be modified and replicated.

From Cynthia Jones on Thu, April 07, 2011

Whatever happened to having real people preparing real food in school cafeterias anyway?  So the schools save money by not having these workers, but at what expense?  Our children are obese and unhealthy, so is this really an acceptable trade off?  Grow real food on site, and/or buy direct from local organic farmers (including eggs and meats), and have real people prepare it; go “back to the future”!

From Cynthia Jones on Thu, April 07, 2011

1) Provide jobs by hiring cafeteria cooks again to prepare the fresh produce grown on site and/or purchased from local farmers.

2) Provide food security through the summer by having the school families help in the garden in exchange for a share of the produce.

From Patricia Rathgeber on Wed, April 13, 2011

I am appalled at the lack of nutrition our children are receiving at school. It’s bad enough that we have lazy and pedophilic teachers in our schools, now we have to worry about the lunch workers serving our children chemicals and poisons? Our children are our future for this country, do they not deserve to be healthy, smart and attentive? Why would you feed them crap? To make them sluggish, sleepy and lack an attention span? Why? Food has EVERYTHING to do with productivity. The Education system is failing it’s future. So much so, that it will crumble and eventually there will be no education system all together because kids gave up and stayed home, eating fatting junk food on welfare because it’s cheap and easy. What are you doing to our children?

From Angela on Thu, April 14, 2011

-It’s about human rights. Our children have a right to eat healthy meals and live in an environment that supports a safe, natural and sustainable way of living.

Parents should feel confident when allowing their children to eat school lunches, not fearful that they are ingesting high calorie, toxic garbage.

-School districts should make it a priority to support local farmers and resources to provide the ingredients for school meals.
-There would be much less waste if children were fed foods that were similar to those eaten at home. Fast food items such as “pizza bites” should be banned from school lunches and replaced with items such as stir fry or healthy, vegetable topped pizzas. Children enjoy good food and if raised to eat it will choose it even when given the option to eat “junk food.” Junk and fast food have their place at county fairs and festivals, not on the daily table.
We can not teach our children about the food pyramid and then serve them processed fake french toast for lunch with a side of low-quality sausage and jello…

From Kathi on Thu, April 14, 2011

Given the research findings on the effects of processed foods combined with the propensity toward diet related illnesses, it seems absurd that schools are unable to provide children with nutritious meals.  When properly planned, it takes no longer to prepare a real meal than to put together a processed one.  Perhaps school districts could collaborate on the hiring of one actual chef or dietitian to assist in this time management task.  There is no reason for schools to offer additional snacks such as chips and cookies, etc.  These should be banned.

I recently attended an event where the keynote speaker was part of the Chefs Move to Schools project.  In this project, local foods are utilized in abundance and real food is prepared daily.  Processed foods and snacks are not offered and he is not working with an increased budget or extra staff.  He has offered to speak anywhere at any time to anyone about his work and someone should be utilizing him as a real resource.  His name is Chef Timothy Cipriano info is http://www.nhschoolfood.blogspot.com

From Michael on Thu, April 28, 2011

I’m appalled and disgusted the way Jamie Oliver has been treated by the Los Angeles Unified School District. His heroic efforts to change the lunch programs in that district have been totally rebuffed by the morons who run that system. I guess payoffs to the council morons by the companies selling
the district the crap food they are buying is paying off for those companies.

From Vicki on Thu, April 28, 2011

I could write a book on the challenges from a school lunch directors perspective…we have so many regulations, and restrictions on our program that we have very little room to make major changes.  We in AR have a law(Act 1229) that has helped a lot to eliminate some of the obstacles to our program.  The first year was a battle with parents who complained because we replaced the fried foods with fresh broccoli, carrots, etc…The biggest problem we have is finance…we do not have enough money to pay for all this wonderful fresh organic food.  I do work with a local farmer to get fresh organic salads, etc in our school as it is available.  It cost quite a bit more than getting the salad from FL or CA.  Even though the food is just down the road…many kids complain about the beautiful fresh greens because they are used to the tasteless ice berg they get at home.  We order our local strawberries, peaches, etc if available.  Many of the fresh local items are not availbale during the school year…so we have to go beyond our local farmers.  In the winter…we are very limited to fresh because all the USA grown produce is unabailable…we do not buy from Mexico or non US unless it is bananas or pineapple.  We work very hard to put something fresh on the tray each day, but in our rural area…we can’t get what we want.  We make all our breads whole grain…even our cookies(one time per week 1 cookie)...but try to get WG pasta from a vendor here…can’t find it…I feel we do a great job with all the challenges we have…and I challenge anyone to prepare a nutritious meal on our budget that can do any better.  WE love the students, and care about their diet and health.  That is why we do what we do…please give us a little credit for our efforts, and I challenge each parent to meet the demands made on the schools with the same budget.

From Vicki on Thu, April 28, 2011

I have to add…our menus are analized and are required to meet nutrition standards…we have had training and guides to work with us on our menus.  The AR Dept of Ed has nutritionist that work close with our schools to provide training, etc on Whole Grains, Farm to School programs, Fresh Fruit and Vegtables, etc…they are truely a god send to the children of AR.  We have to go through much training to be a director…and are closely monitored…we have support from the state that is wonderful.  We appreciate the Child Nutrition workers in our state…

From Doris Lloyd on Thu, April 28, 2011

All your suggestions were great and I would be trilled to see them come true.
But we all have to keep in mind how the school cafeteria system works.
I spent 2 school years working in the cafe in Upper Moreland distract and it was a great learning experience. When I was there I was not allowed to make suggestions ,they told me it was my job to prepare and serve the food and that was it.
My point is that we need to educate ourselves on how the school food system works. At Upper Moreland all the food was stored in one building and delivered from there to the different schools. It was the decision of the higher Ups has to what types of foods were keep in stock .The individual cafeteria managers had to work with the food that was stored in the stock room .
So my point is ,real change is going to start at the top!
The other BIG issue is the budget ,it is around $1 a child and that is tight!
Good food cost more ,so somehow they we need more money. It also cost money to hire people and sometimes they want to get has much work out there employers in has little hours has possible. They may fight the idea of hiring a extra cook because of the extra cost.
Were I worked they had a fresh salad bar everyday and they did serve fresh fruit everyday but they used a lot of breaded frozen foods.
And I bringing these pointers up not to be negative but to be practical .
If we are to bring the changes needed we got to understand how things work with the business.

From Michael on Thu, April 28, 2011

Obviously, school districts (especially larger ones like Los Angeles) need to join the twenty first century and learn how to become more flexible and progressive so to ensure the food they serve young children is healthful, tasty, and most importantly, nutritiousness.