Feds Modify School Lunch Mandates
The federal government has issued new rules modifying Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act mandates that ushered in changes to school lunch programs nationwide, including in the Huntington School District.
The intent of the HHFKA was to encourage more nutritious meals for students. “These standards are based on scientific recommendations and identified age-appropriate portion sizes and healthy ranges for fruits, vegetables, grains, meat/meat alternates and milk,” wrote John Whitcomb, chief operations officer for Whitsons School Nutrition, the Huntington School District’s food service consultant.
Mr. Whitcomb said that some of the changes mandated by the federal legislation “have represented a challenge for school lunch operators in ‘menuing’ meals that meet the calorie limits, as well as the stringent grain and meat/meat alternate requirements for each age group. These changes have had the unintended result of limiting operators’ flexibility to serve the most popular menu items daily, such as sandwiches, and have also resulted in a decline in school lunch participation in some districts.”
The United States Department of Agriculture’s food and nutrition service has eliminated the maximum limits for grain and meat/meat alternates for the remainder of the current school year as long as the calorie guidelines for each age group are still adhered to.
“What this means for your school dining operation is that we will be able to offer pre-HHFKA portions of grains, such as rolls, hoagies, bagels, pasta and rice and proteins,” Mr. Whitcomb told school officials. “Even though these portion sizes will be larger, they will still comply with the age-specific calorie limits established by the HHFKA. This change will also allow us to offer a wider variety of items and combinations that were not possible before, such as garlic bread with pasta.”
The remaining changes required by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act will remain in place, including:
• Only one-percent fat or fat-free plain white milk or fat-free flavored milk can be served.
• Calorie maximums for each age group remain unchanged.
• Fruit and vegetable components must be on the lunch tray as part of a reimbursable meal.
• There is no limit on the amount of fruits and vegetables served.
• Vegetables are divided into five sub-groups: dark green, red/orange, legumes, starchy and other.