School Lunch: Good for Kids

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Haralson County Schools will be recognized as a leader in improving student achievement for ALL STUDENTS.

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! School lunch is still an incredible bargain at $1.75 primary, $1.75 elementary, and $2.00 at middle and high school, in the Haralson County School System.

Every School Lunch Includes Five Great Choices:

· Milk - Fat free or 1% - flavored or regular
· Vegetables - From romaine to fresh baby carrots
· Fruit - Everything from tangerines to cantaloupe; often fresh
· Grains - More whole grain items like rolls or sandwich bread
· Meat or meat alternate -low fat turkey or chicken, yogurt fruit plates, 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 our 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 nutrition 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 fewer 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 times the vegetable amounts
· NSLP participants have substantially lower intakes of added sugars than do non-participants.

For more information contact your district's school nutrition director at cynthia.jones@haralson.k12.ga.us or 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