Millions wasted on school lunches
Click here to watch Paul Drewes's report.
Before the Healthy, Hungry-Free Act, elementary students were served 3/4 cup of fruits and veggies each day. Now they get 3/4 cup of vegetables plus a half cup of fruit. By the time students get to high school, they are served one cup of fruit and one cup of veggies.
In fact, a state study found that unwanted vegetables, grains and even entrees added up to 50 percent of lunches being thrown away.
Part of the problem is because schools are required to serve up the same sized portions to students in kindergarten as they do to fifth-graders. Older students can even opt out of taking all five healthy choices for lunch but younger ones cannot.
One ways schools could cut down on waste is to install serve-yourself salad bars, which have been successful in other cafeterias. But schools have found it difficult to put them in some older cafeterias. Another way schools can meet the government requirements and reduce waste is by sneaking vegetables into sauces -- like the broccoli in the chicken pasta during a recent lunch.
Opting out of the federal lunch program, which would allow more flexibility with menus, is not an option, according to Kishida, "Giving up federal subsidies, like some districts have chosen to do would be huge, $30-40-million in reimbursements from the federal government."
Source: kitv.com
