School Lunch: Good for Kids and Good for Your Wallet
As the cost of everything increases – there is one meal that is still a great value: both nutritionally and economically! The Public Schools of Petoskey lunch is still an incredible bargain at $1.85 Elementary level and $2.10 to $2.50 Secondary level.
Every School Lunch Includes Five Great Choices:
· Milk – Fat free or 1% - flavored or regular
· Vegetables – cooked or fresh
· Fruit – canned or fresh
· Grains – More whole grain items like rolls or sandwich bread
· Meat or meat alternate –White meat chicken, bean chili, lean beef
Save Money: Eat School Lunch
· On average it costs less to buy a school lunch than to bring a lunch from home.
· The estimated national average of a school lunch from home was $3.43 last school year. [1]
School Lunch vs. Bagged Lunch
$2.08 $3.43
(comparison of national averages)
There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch (and a Reduced Price One Too)
· All children at participating schools may purchase meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
· Families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals.
· Families with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals; these students can be charged no more than 40 cents.
· Contact your school food service department to fill out a school meal application.
Healthy Meals Feed Eager Minds
· Meals served under the NSLP must meet nutrition guidelines based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
· No more than 30% of calories can come from fat and less than 10% from saturated fat.
· School lunches provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories over the course of one week of menus.
· Students who eat school lunches consume less calories from fat than students who bring lunch from home.
· Compared to lunches from home, school lunches contain:
o Three times as many dairy products
o Twice as much fruit
o Seven time the vegetable amounts
· NSLP participants have substantially lower intakes of added sugars than do non-participants.
For more information contact your district’s school food service director, Beth Kavanaugh at 348-2183or the School Nutrition Association: servicecenter@schoolnutrition.org (703) 739-3900
[1] According to a meal cost analysis by Alice Jo Rainville, PhD, RD, CHE, SNS of Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
Every School Lunch Includes Five Great Choices:
· Milk – Fat free or 1% - flavored or regular
· Vegetables – cooked or fresh
· Fruit – canned or fresh
· Grains – More whole grain items like rolls or sandwich bread
· Meat or meat alternate –White meat chicken, bean chili, lean beef
Save Money: Eat School Lunch
· On average it costs less to buy a school lunch than to bring a lunch from home.
· The estimated national average of a school lunch from home was $3.43 last school year. [1]
School Lunch vs. Bagged Lunch
$2.08 $3.43
(comparison of national averages)
There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch (and a Reduced Price One Too)
· All children at participating schools may purchase meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
· Families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals.
· Families with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals; these students can be charged no more than 40 cents.
· Contact your school food service department to fill out a school meal application.
Healthy Meals Feed Eager Minds
· Meals served under the NSLP must meet nutrition guidelines based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
· No more than 30% of calories can come from fat and less than 10% from saturated fat.
· School lunches provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories over the course of one week of menus.
· Students who eat school lunches consume less calories from fat than students who bring lunch from home.
· Compared to lunches from home, school lunches contain:
o Three times as many dairy products
o Twice as much fruit
o Seven time the vegetable amounts
· NSLP participants have substantially lower intakes of added sugars than do non-participants.
For more information contact your district’s school food service director, Beth Kavanaugh at 348-2183or the School Nutrition Association: servicecenter@schoolnutrition.org (703) 739-3900
[1] According to a meal cost analysis by Alice Jo Rainville, PhD, RD, CHE, SNS of Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
