School lunch, it was yummy, and I was full...

In honor of school lunch week, today's post is about M's lunches. First off, I want to say "Thank you" to all the folks who work in school food services. It is a difficult, often thankless job, and so, so important. (A job, I hear that has been made more difficult with the new regulations' servings and calorie limits, but I've talked about that recently in part 1 and part 2... read the comments where parents share what their children are experiencing.) I don't know who is cutting up all the fruits and veggies at our schools, but THANK YOU!So, lunch... The other day was the annual spring BBQ where family members are invited to eat with the kids.  I think we are very lucky and probably have some of the best, most appetizing, balanced, well-prepared meals around.

M's tray with whole-wheat hamburger bun, burger, beans, cucumbers, grapes and green beans

my tray with hot dog and whole wheat bun, corn and edamame salad, broccoli and cauliflower, grapes, carrots

 Here are the greens that are available every day. Fresh cut-up cauliflower, mixed greens, raw green beans, jicama sticks, carrot sticks, and I'm probably missing a few. Only downside is that all you can get is fat-free Ranch dressing with it... Here are the fresh fruits. Grapes, pineapple, further down are carrot sticks and  a corn and edamame salad with cilantro. (It seemed watery and bland, likely fat-free dressing with too little seasoning—bad, bad sodium!!)I was amazed at how orderly the kids were. I heard no complaints, no nagging or pushing, no "ew gross!" It was just there, very matter-of-fact. This is what kids see from Day 1 in Kindergarten, so it's normal for them.Alas, from what I hear, this kind of food and experience is not the norm. This is roughly what these kids have been used to at this school, so there hasn't been any huge transition. My sense is that there are a few more fresh fruit and veggie options with the new regulations, but again, we are so, so lucky. Here is a link to the school lunch calendar if you're curious. Oh, and there are always wraps or sandwiches for kids who don't like the main entree.This was not a typical day, with kids and families eating on the lawn outside the school, but from what M tells me, there are generally no adults patrolling the cafeteria encouraging or insisting that children eat their "healthy" choices, or policing the trash cans. That's a plus too. No head-game, no pressure to invite resistance from the kids. It was just lunch...What do you think? Does your kids' cafeteria look like this? Could it? Inspired to print off the menu and give it to your school administrator? I still don't like the 'no seconds' rule, and still have big issues with the new lunch plan overall, but I think there are places that are doing pretty well, and we can learn from them.NOTE: I will be out of town the rest of this week, so might not get back to comments right away... I have one auto-post coming midweek about posting pictures of school lunch online...