Not Your Grandparents' Cafeteria: Why These School Lunches Are a Hit with Kids

Kids' lunches are in the spotlight as schools across the nation celebrate National School Lunch week. If your memories of the school cafeteria bring to mind foods like "mystery meat," you haven't been to one lately.

While they'll never be as good as mom's home cooking, today's school lunches are earning straight As, with much of the food comparable to what you'd get at America's most popular restaurants.

Maria David and Nicholas Annand, both 6th graders at Greenbrier Middle School in Virginia's Chesapeake Public School system, give high marks to just about everything that's served in the school cafeteria, some more than others.

"Well my favorite food that I've ever gotten is their spaghetti. It's really good," David smiled.

"I like their chicken nuggets and the pizza," Annand said.

However, school lunches haven't always been such a hit with the kids. A couple of years ago, schools nationwide really started getting serious about nutrition.

New federal nutrition standards for school meals emphasize whole grains, fewer calories, no trans fats, and more fruits and vegetables. In fact, kids are required to choose fruits and vegetables when going through the lunch line.

They're not required to eat them, though, and when those items started showing up in the trash, it was back to the drawing board.

A new national survey by the School Nutrition Association of over 1,000 school nutrition directors nationwide reveals that more school cafeterias are now utilizing improved strategies to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy choices.

"Just like parents, school nutrition professionals know that offering kids healthier options is only half the battle. We also have to entice them to eat those nutritious choices," SNA President Becky Domokos-Bays explained.

"Despite tight meal program budgets, school nutrition professionals are employing creative tactics to promote healthy menu options as they welcome students back to the school cafeteria," she said.

The survey found that since 2014, when the majority of updated nutrition standards for school meals were in effect, more school meal programs have launched initiatives to market healthier school food choices and increase their appeal among students.

• Nearly 50 percent of responding districts have implemented Farm to School initiatives (up from 37.5 percent in the 2014 survey)
• 72.3 percent employ student taste tests/sampling (up from 64.4 percent)
• 18.4 percent have chef partnerships/recipe development (up from 12.3 percent)
• The survey also revealed these initiatives are being considered or planned in 15 to 24 percent of additional districts.

Joanne Kinsey, director of School Nutrition Services for Chesapeake Public Schools, said success comes from understanding what kids consider appetizing.

"So we're looking for things that have good eye appeal, meet of course the nutritional components, but also foods our students are familiar with. That's really important," she said.

Jennifer H. McDermott, a nutrition and wellness educator with Chesapeake Public Schools, said the key to success is making healthy foods taste great.

"We still have things like pizza or chicken nuggets on the menu, but it's not the same as it was even 10 years ago," she said.

"Pizza will have a whole wheat crust and lower fat cheese and maybe turkey pepperoni instead of regular pepperoni," she explained. "And chicken nuggets will be baked instead of fried and they'd have whole grain breading instead of refined grains."

School districts are also mixing up the menu, offering a wider variety of choices to appeal to diverse student tastes and dietary needs or preferences. For example:

• 66.5 percent offer salad or produce bars (up from 62.9 percent in 2014)
• 57 percent of districts report offering locally sourced fruits and vegetables (up from 52 percent)
• 44.5 percent offer gluten-free food options (up from 37.2 percent)
• The survey also found that well over half of districts offer pre-packaged salads, vegetarian meals, and Asian and Mexican food options.

Meal programs are making it easier for parents and students to learn about menu options and conveniently manage school meal payments.

• Nearly 82 percent of districts reported offering online payments.
• Nearly 62 percent notify families of low account balances through automated phone calls, texts or emails.
• 45 percent offer online access to nutrition and allergen information.
• Nearly 34 percent of districts use social media and more than a quarter employ mobile apps to communicate with parents and students.

A number of respondents reported that federal reimbursements are not enough to cover the cost of producing healthy, delicious meals. That's why SNA continues to call on Congress to pass a Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill that provides additional funding for school meal programs and includes the Senate agreement on school nutrition standards.

SNA opposes H.R. 5003, the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016, which would restrict school eligibility for CEP and institute a block grant pilot that would cut funds for school meal programs.

"With students back in school, Congress cannot afford to further delay Child Nutrition Reauthorization," Domokos-Bays said. "School meal programs depend on Congress' support to help make updated nutrition standards a success for all students."