School Lunch: THINK DEEPER
Let's take a trip down memory lane...Do you remember your school lunch and what you used to eat. I do. In elementary and middle school I ate lunch that was prepared, because I saw nothing wrong with the food that was being served to me. The innocence of a child is great. My first year and a half in high school, I went to a private school. So the lunch was just like home cooking. It was good and everyone ate lunch. Then I transferred to public school and the doubting of what was being served quickly took over. Not because it wasn't food, however it was because my friends opinions mattered to me. Who remembers: Chick filet, Hamburgers, Fries, and Pizza being their daily meal at lunch. I do! In high school I only ate french fries, other wise I was calling out for lunch to be delivered in. None of which was balanced or healthy, but that didn't matter to me at all.
We have progressed to the point now, where the Nation as a whole is taking an interest in a Healthier School Lunch. This initiative is also help make school food more attractive to the students that it is intended for. You would be surprised that lack of freshness that some students have experienced. Students are used to apples, oranges, applesauce and other staples that are not exchanged for things such as Peaches.
Chef Tony Geraci brought in 40,000 pounds of tree-ripened, Maryland-grown peaches for students. On that day two years ago, he sat in the cafeteria with several second-graders who were eating fresh peaches for the first time in their lives."One was rubbing a peach along his face, and I said, 'It's supposed to feel like that,' " Geraci remembers. "Another was breathing into the peach, and I said, 'It's supposed to smell like that.' Another was biting into the peach, and the juice was running down his face and arms, and I said, 'It's supposed to taste like that.'" In a country of plenty, everybody should have the experience of tasting the bounty."(http://www.scoolfood.org/go/news/chefs-help-craft-healthier-school-lunches-with-local-food/)
Chefs are taking an interest not only to improve the look of a school lunch plate, but they are taking interest to shake up the menu. Students in school deserve just as much as a customer in a restaurant. If you are packing a lunch for your child. Here are some tips to a Healthy Lunch your child will eat:
Veggies and Dip
Try different fruits
Add Pizazz to an ordinary sandwich
soup
simple beverages
mini deli platter
try alternative proteins
you would be surprised at how their lunch will disappear in the stomachs rather than the trash. Also ask for your child's input. They know what they want to eat and it will shock you at what they may ask for.
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