School lunches

School lunches are something that really gets teachers worked up.  I'm not sure about other schools, but it seems to me that every time we have French toast or pancake breakfast with syrup at our school it is a snowy or rainy indoor recess day.  When we pick up the kids from the lunchroom they are off the hook.  Getting them settled down is nearly impossible.  Thank goodness I had afternoon specials so that those teachers had to deal with my kids on those syrup days:)  Kidding aside the state of our public school lunches is a disgrace.  Our lunches are gross, high in fat and carbs and the kids barley eat it.  Along with the syrup lunches, the strawberry milk and fake orange juice rubs me the wrong way.  What's wrong with bottles of water?  I read an article titled, Cooking up change-students transforming the future of food in our schools by Kelly Donohue 6/11/13.  Here is an excerpt from the article

On Monday, June 10th, the U.S. Department of Education hosted student chefs from high school culinary programs as part of Cooking up Change, presented by the Healthy Schools Campaign. This healthy cooking contest puts student front and center by challenging them to create a great-tasting lunch that meets nutrition standards on a tight budget. After winning first place in their local Cooking up Change competition, eight teams of student chefs traveled to Washington to lend their voices, and their culinary creativity, to the national conversation about the future of food in our schools.

How awesome would it be for high school students create nutritious meals that kids would love to eat.