Talawanda School District strongly believes that “healthy learners are better learners”. With that in mind, the district seeks to provide nutritious meals for all students and promote the importance of making healthy choices regarding food throughout the school environment.
All foods and beverages served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program comply with the current USDA Nutritional Guidelines for Americans. According to USDA, “school lunches must meet the applicable recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. Regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.”
(Source: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/)
Recent policy changes have increased the nutritional value of the meals including:
- A variety of fruits and vegetables
- Serving fat-free and low-fat milk
- Serving whole grains on a regular basis
- Increase healthy food preparation practices (i.e. steaming, limiting frying, low-fat, low salt)
- Limited portion sizes of foods and beverages sold separately
- Prohibit the sale of foods of minimal or low nutritional value in the cafeteria
- Purchasing healthier foods for cafeterias
Nourish Interactive has nutrition games for kids and healthy tips for parents.
Recipes for meals that families can make and eat together