The Associated Press reports that school administrators say students have been able to adjust to some changes pretty easily, like eating whole-grain breads, but that they've been rejecting others, like eating whole-grain anything else.
Some schools are also complaining that the mandate to cap sodium at 640 milligrams per elementary school lunch and 740 milligrams per high school lunch by 2017 is unrealistic. As is requiring kids to eat a fruit or vegetable with every single meal, they say.
Not all healthy eating initiatives are being destroyed by young palates, however. Some schools are making the (obvious, inevitable) point that good food is just more expensive.
Some schools are having problems with whole grain-rich pastas, which can cook differently... Whole grains have also proved a hard sell for some popular regional items, like biscuits and grits in the South. Lyman Graham of the Roswell, New Mexico, school district says tortillas are one of the most popular foods in his area, but the whole wheat flour versions are "going in the trash."
Schools will for the first time this year have to make sure that all foods, including vending machines and a la carte lines, meet healthier standards. While many schools have already moved to make snacks healthier, others depend on snack money to help operate their lunchrooms and are worried about a sales dip.
The vast majority of school food authorities (88 percent) needed one or more pieces of equipment to help them meet the current lunch standards. Of those that reported having inadequate equipment, more than 85 percent are “making do” with a less-efficient process or workaround. Only 42 percent of school food authorities reported having a budget to purchase capital equipment, and less than half expected the budget to be adequate to meet their equipment needs. More than half of all school food authorities (55 percent) need kitchen infrastructure changes at one or more schools to meet the lunch requirements.
