Written by Wendy Simms
As many kids now have a “bank” to draw from to pay for school lunches, it becomes more and more difficult to manage exactly what your child is buying for lunch. Granted, allowing them to just punch in their ID number does streamline the process, and cafeteria workers don’t have to deal with cash, but it is carte blanche for the child when purchasing his/her lunch.
There is so much controversy within the K-12 segment on child nutrition and the fight against childhood obesity. Schools are held to a much higher standard on providing healthy, nutritious meals. But at the same time, why are children able to buy multiple lunches or several a la carte items each day? In many districts there is no gatekeeper on portion control.
While the easy answer is for parents to pack lunches, as foodservice professionals, we want to encourage student participation in school meal plans. And, as kids get older, it is “cooler” to buy lunch than to bring lunch from home. Seems to me, as schools strive to provide healthier menu options for our children, they may want to manage portion control as well. One meal for breakfast and one meal for lunch is enough and may help with the growing obesity issue.
