Why should I encourage my children to eat school meals?

Providing students their choice of milk, fruits, and vegetables, whole grain and lean proteins, school meals are a great value and a huge convenience for busy parents. School cafeterias offer students a variety of healthy choices and help children learn how to assemble a well-balanced meal. Parents can rest assured that there is no super sizing in school cafeteria's because federal regulations require schools to serve age-appropriate portions.

Don't school meals contain processed foods?

What have become known as processed foods are increasingly being prepared with healthier ingredients, as well as less fat, sodium and sugar. Pizzas are increasingly made with whole grain crusts, low-sodium sauce and reduced fat cheese. Chicken nuggets regularly use whole grain breading and are baked rather than fried. French fries are with trans fat and baked instead of fried - and many schools are now serving baked sweet potato fries.

How many school participate in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs?

The National School Lunch Program operates in nearly 95% of America's schools, providing lunches to more than 31 million children daily with 5 billion lunches served annually. Approximately 85% of schools daily participate in the National School Breakfast Program (NSBP), which serves more than 2 billion breakfasts a year.

School meals offer students milk, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grains, and they must meet strict limits on saturated fat and portion size. Starting school year 2012-2013, school lunches will meet additional standards requiring:

1. Age-appropriate calorie limits

2. Larger servings of vegetables and fruits (students must take at least one serving of fruit or vegetable).

3. A wider variety of vegetables, including dark green and red/orange vegetables and legumes

4. fat-free or 1% milk (flavored milk must be fat-free)

5. More whole grains

6. Less sodium

If you would like more information go to: https://traytalk.org/

Thank You Miss Ellie

Information provided by: School Nutrition Association and Tray Talk

Students will be denied a regular meal if the current charge takes their balance over -$10.00. With a -$10.00 balance two or three (2 or 3) meals have already been charged, therefore the student will be denied a regular lunch and served / offered a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, vegetable, fruit, and milk.

We have made it easy to check your balance and keep your lunch account current. To find your balance you can ask the cashier, email or call Miss Ellie, or check it on line, and then pay accordingly on your account.

Please utilize these tools to insure you have funds available for a well-balanced, nutritious lunch. If you have any questions, I can be reach at 419-924-2365 ext. 2144 or email at sstough@hilltopcadets.org

Thank You,

Miss Shari

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.  Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

1.  mail:  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave. SW,  Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or  2. Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or 3. Email:  program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

USDA has changed the National School lunch for the first time in 15 years. Why? The USDA recognizes the fast paced obesity epidemic in our country. The new meal pattern, Food Based Menu Planning, has specific guidelines some of these are: wider variety of fruits and vegetables, more whole grain rich foods, 1% milk or less, saturated fats, calories, and sodium have minimum and maximum.

School lunches have 5 portion controlled components offered. They are:

• Meal or meat alternate (protein)

• Fruit (100% juice, light syrup, fresh, and frozen)

• Vegetables (dark green, red/orange, legumes, starchy, and other)

• Grains (50% of weeks servings must be whole grain rich)

• Milk (variety of 1%, skim, flavored fat free)

Did you know we offer these type food items on your child's lunch menu?

Some of the items are or contain:

Made from scratch, whole grain rich, natural with no artificial preservatives, contain 0 Trans fats, no high fructose corn syrup, meet Alliance for Healthier Generation guidelines, baked in place of fried.

Click here- Wellness Policy Implementation Assessment

Click here- Wellness Policy Assessment

Click here- Food Service Policy

Click here- Wellness Policy