AISD to Celebrate Healthier Choices with National School Lunch Week
By: AISD Press Release
Updated: October 11, 2012
Each year, more than 500 billion school lunches are served nationwide via the National School Lunch Program.
In recognition of the positive changes Abilene ISD has made to its own school lunch program, AISD will celebrate National School Lunch Week (NSLW) from October 15 through 19.
The 2012 theme, "School Lunch - What's Cooking?" will include events and activities that promote the benefits of healthy school lunches.
The campaign will put a spotlight on the healthy foods and positive changes that AISD schools have incorporated into their menus.
In September, AISD sent home with students an October lunch menu, along with a brochure for the parents and students on details about NSLW. Each day of NSLW, a few highlighted menu items will have signs on the serving line with details of the benefit of the items.
The children will also get a bookmark on the last day of the week. During National School Lunch Week and throughout the year, some of the healthy foods that we are incorporating into are menu are:
Serving more than 31 million children every school day, the federally-funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides nutritionally balanced, healthy meals. The program, which has been serving the nation's children for more than 60 years, requires school meals to meet the USDA's new nutrition standards by:
The "School Lunch - What's Cooking?" campaign is sponsored by the non-profit School Nutrition Association and the Milk Processors Education Program (MilkPEP) to highlight all the components of well-balanced school meals.
For more information about healthy school meals, visit www.TrayTalk.org.
In recognition of the positive changes Abilene ISD has made to its own school lunch program, AISD will celebrate National School Lunch Week (NSLW) from October 15 through 19.
The 2012 theme, "School Lunch - What's Cooking?" will include events and activities that promote the benefits of healthy school lunches.
The campaign will put a spotlight on the healthy foods and positive changes that AISD schools have incorporated into their menus.
In September, AISD sent home with students an October lunch menu, along with a brochure for the parents and students on details about NSLW. Each day of NSLW, a few highlighted menu items will have signs on the serving line with details of the benefit of the items.
The children will also get a bookmark on the last day of the week. During National School Lunch Week and throughout the year, some of the healthy foods that we are incorporating into are menu are:
- Fat Free and Percent Milk
- Orange Smiles
- Sweet Kernel Corn
- Refried Beans
- Hot Cinnamon Apples
- Popeye Salad; spinach salad with mandarin oranges
- Sliced Peaches and Pears
- Glazed Carrots
- Veggie Sticks; Celery and Carrots
- Sugar Snap Peas
- Yam Sticks
Serving more than 31 million children every school day, the federally-funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides nutritionally balanced, healthy meals. The program, which has been serving the nation's children for more than 60 years, requires school meals to meet the USDA's new nutrition standards by:
- Ensuring students are offered both fruits and vegetables every day of the week;
- Substantially increasing offerings of whole grain-rich foods;
- Offering only fat-free or low-fat milk varieties;
- Limiting calories based on the age of children being served to ensure proper portion size; and
- Increasing the focus on reducing the amounts of saturated fat, trans fats and sodium.
The "School Lunch - What's Cooking?" campaign is sponsored by the non-profit School Nutrition Association and the Milk Processors Education Program (MilkPEP) to highlight all the components of well-balanced school meals.
For more information about healthy school meals, visit www.TrayTalk.org.
