What Changes Can You Make To School Lunches?

I tend to disagree with the my child won't buy school lunch items ever or only a couple of times a week mindset. As seen in the book, kids do buy school food or receive food in classrooms, vending, anId more. My children attend schools that are working toward healthier options. As far as what I am doing is I am continuing my discussion with the children about why I would prefer they eat "real" junk food in moderation rather than things that look healthy but truly have more chemical and other issues.

I'm all for tackling the school lunch programs here in SW VA. However, I am not good with confrontation, so I like to be as educated as possible when I pick my fights. I'm in school now for wellness and will be getting my Masters shortly after I get my certificate. With this, I can really focus on helping children in this way...because the problem isn't JUST about the school lunch program, it's about the parents not knowing any better. If parents don't know the fundamentals of healthy nutrition, then how can school lunches get any better? A lot of parents don't know (or care to know) what their children are being fed, and "cheesy beefy tostitos" are NOT what I call healthy.

I'll admit, I'm not up for tackling the school lunch system but I am SUPER supportive of those who are. For now, it's about making myself and my children aware of healthy choices and doing our best. That being said, I mostly pack lunches for my boys...but maybe one or two days a week they might buy their lunch. It's about moderation for us, but I know some kids don't have this option.

My kid isn't in school right now...but I am definitely having conversations with other parents and passing along some of the things I learned from this book.

I'm with @freeismylife. - as long as people willbuy the lunches, they will continue to be served. We don't buy them, and a bigpart of it is because of my daughter's dairy allergy. But the dyes and fakefoods and everything else? I see the difference in my son's behavior when heeats foods like that (take Friday's birthday party for example with the greencake frosting and more). Even with today's Halloween parties, both my childrenwill look at the ingredients before deciding what they will and won't eat.Thank goodness Little Miss's school still allows home baked treats. I'd so muchrather have those than the store bought ones (which Mister Man's schoolrequires). As for what I'm going to do? Unfortunately with two children at twodifferent schools and therapies and other volunteer commitments, there isn'tmuch I have the energy to do right now - especially as Mister Man's school HASno wellness committee, and Little Miss's is district wide and currently hasonly professionals from the district on it.

I agree with others, I will continue to refrain from buying the lunches. I will not support them and I hope that by doing so I will stop supporting an industry I don't believe in.

If we really want change, when we have to stop buying the product. As long as there is a market for unhealthy lunches, they will continue to be provided. If we educate our kids at home on what is healthy, we will start to see a change in what is offered at schools.

I plan on starting with the Health and Wellness committee - attending meetings and educating myself first. There's one coming in a few weeks!

While I would love to see sweeping change, I would also be pleased with small change. A little bit here and there until the overall picture is much healthier. Chocolate milk only on Fridays, can we NOT display the cookies so prominently (or not at all)? Sorry, we don't eat cookies and sweets like that at home, I certainly don't want them to at school. How about partnering up with our local farm? If our school district isn't doing that, it would be crazy! So, yes, I have some learning to do first and then see where we can take this!

Though my children are out of school, it is still difficult to pack a healthy lunch for myself. Taking a little more prep time is imperative otherwise (when I fail to plan), I end up eating junk!!

One thing I wonder, but not sure how to change it, with the focus on testing and scores, is why there is so little time for lunch. My husband volunteered at the school the other day and texted me that by the time the kids got through the lunch line, they were lucky to have 10 minutes to eat. For us, it's not a huge deal because we send lunch with our kids, but still, 10 minutes to eat? There has to be a way to expand it without cutting into recess or specials. :o(

Without children yet, I don't plan to do much yet. But once we have kids, especially school aged ones, I will be active in their school meals whether that means packing lunch, visiting the school, checking out the school food options etc. Hopefully in 5+ years, things will improve!

Once my daughter is in school, I will be very involved with every aspect. I know that area schools are trying to be more healthy, hopefully once we get there, they WILL be more healthy :)

I already pack my daughter's lunch; that way I know what she's eating. I can tell our school district is trying to make changes. They consistently offer fruits, salads, and "good" milk every day. They have a ways to go, but I can tell they are trying.

I would like to be able to devote lots of time and energy to reforming school lunches as a whole, but since I can't (or don't choose to at this time), I think the right answer is to consistently offer fresh, healthy foods at home and, when my daughter is older, talk to her about the importance of eating the right things to fuel your body.

My kids already pack lunch most days and we have been talking about making the best choices from what's available on the days they do eat lunch at school.

After reading this book I definitely want to try and send packed lunches as much as possible. I didn't take many packed lunches to school growing up and I don't think it harmed me in any way... But I want to do better for my children and teach them the right eating habits early on.

I will try to get my daughters to take a packed lunch for as long as they are willing to do it. If they insist on buying school lunch, I will have hopefully instilled in them a good set of skills for choosing things that aren't terrible.

I hope to just have an open dialogue with my kids about what they're eating, at home and at school, and letting them know why making healthy choices is better for them. I wish there could be more fresh fod options and less vending machine stuff for them to choose from. I understand that it is s tough to say no to that revenue stream, though, especially as school budgets are being trimmed more and more all the time.

I've already started making changes in school lunches in my area. I'm not a parent yet but have helped a lot of parents get involved in the decisions around school lunch. I've encouraged several of them to eat lunch with their children to see the actual food available and then helped facilitate conversations with the district nutrition directors.

not have any children myself, I've found that a great way for me to get involved, is to simply START the conversation about school food culture with my friends and family, especially those who DO have school aged children. There have been many nights spent with friends discussing what they have seen in school these days in comparison to when we were in school, and what changes we can make and urge others to make, too. I've also shared my copy of Lunch Wars with one mother friend, and another mutual friend of ours is slated to read it next. I feel like spreading awareness can sometimes be overlooked, but it's oh so important! That's how we make a movement, right?

the number one change i can make (or pledge to make once my daughter is old enough to be in a school that provides school lunches/vending options) is to talk to her about her lunch experience... and consistently engage her in conversation about fresh food... i've been inspired to start my own garden, specifically to educate her on where food comes from & how fresh food is so much more nutrient rich; i hope that helps too.

The most likely "change" that can probably me made right away is for parents to be more aware of what options their kids have, and talk to them about what they are and aren't allowed to eat at school. I'm lucky that our school system uses an online service to pay for lunch, so I can see what extras my kids are buying and limit that. You'll never be able to totally control everything they do when they're not eating with you, but making them aware of why it's important to not fill up on junk food will serve them better in the long run than just prohibiting vending machines on campus.

For the long-term, getting rid of sodas and candy on campus would be good, but that's the kind of thing that takes time and convincing of the people who are getting paid from the vending machine companies!

I like the idea of the teachers interacting with the kids more during lunch. Children should learn about their food and be encouraged to try new things. Having adult interacting during lunch could help the children to be more open-minded.

I would also add the addition of local, fresh food. The overly-processed garbage that frequently makes up school lunches has to go. I know that it is easier said than done but we need a major overhaul.

I'd like to see less junk in the vending machines and less soft drinks available to children.

I would love to see organic milk offered. it cannot be that more expensive and thinking about how much it affects girls we need new results. the milk cartons you buy at costco are less than a dollar each. Our school is definitely moving in the right direction, they offer edamane and quiona salads