School Lunch Requirements

Courtesy of MDA Weekly Link Love, School lunch requirements:
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div5&node=7:4.1.1.1.1#se7.4.210_110

The link should open to §210.10 and it then says
" (a) General requirements—(1) General nutrition requirements. Schools must offer nutritious, well-balanced, and age-appropriate meals to all the children they serve to improve their diets and safeguard their health.

(i) Requirements for lunch. School lunches offered to children age 5 or older must meet, at a minimum, the meal requirements in paragraph (b) of this section. Schools must follow a food-based menu planning approach and produce enough food to offer each child the quantities specified in the meal pattern established in paragraph (c) of this section for each age/grade group served in the school.
..."

At least the meal plans will be "food based."
A cursory scan shows that there are daily maximum requirements for saturated fat, you can only serve 1% or fat-free milk. Your child thru 8th grade may receive only 1 oz of meat or meat substitute, 2 oz for grade 9-12. You can also use stuff like "enriched macaroni" as a meat substitute.

Gee I guess the kids won't "starve", but not enough for HS boys/men. I do like that they don't want to serve Trans Fat. About the best thing I read in that info.

I think like most of the public, parents and educators are misguided with regard to nutrition. I used to run a daycare (yes, I bet you didn't know that about me!). Parents would also be really, really focused on whether or not their kids would get whole milk so they would get enough "fats". I would politely inform them that, sure, their child could have milk, if they wanted it, but my menu was focused on them actually eating their fats. You know, good, whole fats from high-quality meat, oils and avocados.  I would literally have to teach parents about that foods really were the "good" foods and how kid-friendly was not necessarily a good thing. There were no chicken-nuggets or grilled cheese sandwiches or macaroni in my daycare. The kids were healthier, well-fed and actually ate the real food I served them.

Bravo on how you fed the kiddos. I was never a 'kid" food person either and it always bugged when someone said they had to server such and such because that's all kids will eat. I said not my kids, we don't serve that at home.

Mine ate what I made for dinner. I always told them I am not a short order cook, you do not get it your way! Eat what I make or don’t eat, your choice.