What's for Lunch - Tues., 11/27

BURRITO -- Brown Rice, Black Beans & Southwest-Style Chicken (Order Entree #1)
Rolled in Whole Wheat Tortilla
w/Salsa-Lettuce-Cheese
OR
Rice & Black Bean Taco (Order Entree #2)
Celery Sticks ~ Fresh Apple

The brown rice is a whole grain but as previously discussed cannot be cooked in a way that minimizes the arsenic content. The black beans are canned adn the ingredients are "BLACK BEANS, WATER, SALT, AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE" with 140mg of sodium. The southwest-style chicken is a processed USDA commodity food from Tyson and described as "fully cooked boneless skinless chicken dark meat chicken fajita strips -smoke flavor added." Here are the ingredients: "Chicken dark meat, water, seasoning [salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, sugar, chili powder (chili pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic powder), lemon juice powder (corn syrup solids, lemon juice, lemon oil), modified corn starch, natural mesquite smoke flavor (maltodextrin, natural smoke flavor), natural flavor (from partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil)], modified food starch and sodium phosphates."  The "partially hydrogenated" oil is a source of trans fat.  Chicken has 7g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 490 mg of sodium.

I do not have the details on the whole wheat tortilla.

Read more about farm animals raised by industrial giants like Tyson,  antibiotics and hormones. 

For the taco, the beans and rice are as above.  For the shells:

The hard taco shells from Mission foodservice contain: whole grain corn, water, vegetable oil (one or more of the following: cottonseed oil, corn oil or palm oil), contains 2% or less of niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin lime. No sodium - 6g of fat (2 of which are saturated)

Plus fresh celery and apple.

What's for Lunch - Mon. 11/16

NO SALAD BAR TODAY

WHOLE WHEAT BAGEL PIZZA (Order Entree #1)
BBQ Chicken Pizza
OR
Cup of Soup (Order Entree #2)
with 1/2 Plain Pizza Slice
Carrot Crunchers with Dip
Applesauce with Cinnamon

The bagel pizza is at least partially whole grain. The sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Salt, Citric Acid, Spice, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate).  The cheese is a USDA commodity part skim mozzarella.  Ingredients are cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes. The sodium is 240mg/oz.

The chicken is some kind of frozen Tyson product.I've seen labels recently for everything from dark meat with added soy to something called a "tenderloin fritter".

The menu indicates the soups are vegetarian but the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. I don't know which soup they are offering today.

Carrots are fresh with a full fat organic ranch dip - the fruits and vegetables are not organic.  Applesauce is a USDA commodity to which we add cinnamon.

There is no salad bar due to the long weekend.

Donating Deals

It's the Season of Giving and there are many, many organizations hard at work to improve the food we eat. Here are just a few that happen to be offering to give a little something back to you....

If you make a donation to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (a group hard at work on issues related to food safety and food marketing to kid), you will also get a subscription to their Nutrition Action Newsletter which is really terrific.


Food Corps works to bring nutrition education and gardening to kids around the nation. A donation will also get you a subscription to Cooking Light.


For a big donation, the Environmental Working Group will send you a whole gift box of healthy living items.  Support the group which figures out the "dirty dozen" foods for us each year and which sunscreens are too toxic for your kids.

Food Family Farming - also known as The Lunch Box - works constantly to improve school lunches. Donate now and choose from various gifts like a child's sized chef's hat.

Happy Giving.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 11/21

Cup of Soup
Applegate Hotdog
Whole Wheat Bun
Sweet Corn Cobbettes
Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie (Fat-Free Yogurt)

NO SALAD BAR TODAY

The menu indicates the soups are vegetarian but the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.

The hot dogs are from Applegate Farms - so they are far better than many hot dogs but are hot dogs nonetheless. The ingredients are just: beef, water, sea salt, less than 2% of the following: celery juice, sodium lactate (from beets), lactic acid starter culture (not from milk), onion powder, spices, garlic powder, paprika. They have 6g of fat(2.5g saturated) and 380 mg of sodium. They are dairy-, casein- and gluten-free. They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates the nitrate issue is tricky - and cites the company saying their bacon has the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands.  You may also not want your kids growing up thinking hot dogs are a good lunch given the potential link between processed meats and cancer. The bun is whole wheat.

The corn is frozen.

The smoothie  will be made with plain yogurt to which we add  honey plus 1% milk and strawberries. The food service department says the strawberries are fresh -- we previously used frozen and have asked about the country of origin (Frozen Chinese strawberries sickened thousands of German school children earlier this year). Our fresh strawberries are from California.

No salad bar lunch due to the upcoming holiday.

Tell Us What Your Kids Think about Lunch!

The district's nutrition committee will meet again near the beginning of December. We'd love to hear what your kids have to say about lunch and we will pass on all opinions. Please use the comments section here to post your thoughts on any of our school's lunches.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 11/20

A Previous Year's Practice Feast

A PRACTICE FEAST!
Cup of Soup
Oven Roasted Turkey Breast w/Pan Sauce
Smashed Long Island Potatoes
Local Broccoli, Fresh & Crisp! (Sauteed w/Garlic & Oil)
Apple Crisp

The turkey arrives frozen. It is USDA commodity turkey from the Jenny-O Turkey Store - a large supplier of school lunches. The ingredients in the turkey are turkey, water, salt and sodium phosphates. So, it's salty. I do not know how they make the sauce.

Potatoes are fresh and local.

The menu indicates the soups are vegetarian but the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.

The broccoli sounds terrific and is fresh - but I think it is from California.

We make the apple crisp - it's a dessert and it's delicious by many reports.

The Balanced Bake Sale

Our fifth grade is raising money for graduation and thus has been hosting bake sales at our various school events. Above is a picture of their latest attempt at balance - fruit, a  healthy version of popcorn and made from scratch brownies.

A few weeks ago at a bake sale they happily reported that the first thing that sold was a banana, and they sold out of grapes. All while making several hundred dollars.

Don't be afraid to offer fruit! Homemade is better for your than store bought!