Boxed Lunch or Hot lunch?

IT'S THE AGE OLD QUESTION THAT COMES UP EVERY SCHOOL YEAR.

So how often do you pack your child's lunch compared to how often they eat hot lunch? I never had hot lunch growing up. My mom packed my lunch every single day. Now that I am a parent, all I can say is, "Go Mom!" I don't think I could do that every day unless I had to. I try to get my son to eat cold lunch at least once a week because the hot lunch is not very healthy. Am I totally stacking on this one?

FROM NBC: DO I SEND MY KIDS OFF TO SCHOOL WITH A BOXED LUNCH ...OR DO I LET THEM BUY WHAT THEY WANT IN THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA? CLAIRE SIMMS REPORTS ON HOW TO CHOSE THE BEST ANSWER FOR YOUR FAMILY.

PARENTS CAN OFTEN FEEL SANDWICHED BETWEEN WHETHER TO MAKE THEIR CHILD'S LUNCH OR BUY IT FROM THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA---BUT REGISTERED DIETITIAN MISHA BIDEN SAYS THE ANSWER MIGHT BE BOTH!

Misha Biden/ Registered Dietitian "School lunches are really coming around and really trying to focus on the nutrition, so maybe if you're too busy or if the parent works a lot, school lunches are perfectly fine too."

BIDEN SAYS PARENTS CAN BETTER WATCH WHAT THEIR CHILDREN EAT BY PACKING THEIR MEAL THEMSELVES-BUT SCHOOL LUNCHES CAN ALSO BE A GOOD OPTION. THE SELECTIONS ARE REGULATED BY THE USDA AND STUDENTS PAY JUST A DOLLAR 60 TO 2-50 DEPENDING ON WHERE THEY GO TO SCHOOL AND WHAT GRADE THEY'RE IN.

Elizabeth Binninger/ Dir. of Food Services, St, Johns County, Florida "The value for the dollar that they pay is tremendous."

ELIZABETH BINNINGER IS THE DIRECTOR OF FOOD SERVICES FOR THE ST. JOHNS COUNTY SCHOOLS. SHE MAKES SURE EVERY MEAL CONTAINS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CALORIES, PROTEIN AND OTHER NUTRIENTS TO FIT NATIONAL STANDARDS. BINNINGER BELIEVES PARENTS CAN MAKE HEALTHY MEALS THEMSELVES, BUT SHE SAYS OFTEN, CALCIUM IS MISSING BECAUSE FAMILIES ARE AFRAID TO PACK DAIRY PRODUCTS IN A LUNCHBOX.

Elizabeth Binninger/ Dir. of Food Services, St, Johns County, Florida "We do sell milk to students so if they can't pack to insure that the milk stays cold, they can go through the line and get a carton of milk from us."

BOTH BINNINGER AND BIDEN AGREE PARENTS CAN FEED THEIR CHILDREN THE RIGHT FOODS WITHOUT SPENDING A LOT-THIS LUNCH COST US JUST 2 DOLLARS AND 4 CENTS.

Misha Biden/ Registered Dietitian "I think you can eat healthy on a limited budget. You don't always have to do the more convenient option."

DIETITIANS SAY IF YOU DO PACK YOUR CHILD'S LUNCH, YOU SHOULDN'T USE PRE-PACKAGED MEALS BECAUSE THEY OFTEN CONTAIN A LOT OF ADDED FAT, SUGAR OR SALT. INSTEAD BUY EACH INGREDIENT AND PUT THE MEAL TOGETHER YOURSELF.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Safer School Lunch

I think this is an appropriate topic considering all the school lunch talk this week. I guess I am naive, but I think it's crazy that schools were serving beef from companies with poor safety records in the first place. That should never have been acceptable!

FROM NBC:School lunches should soon be safer -- thanks to new standards from the United States Department of Agriculture. U.S.D.A. officials announced ground beef purchased for federal food and nutrition programs -- including school lunches -- will need to meet new safety standards. Testing protocols will be tightened, samples will be tested more often, and the limits that determine whether meat is acceptable or not will improve.

Companies with long term poor safety records will be ineligible vendors until more research is done. These new standards will be applied to contracts awarded after July 1st, 2010. These new standards are part of a larger overhaul announced in February that are designed to improve the safety of school lunches.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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School Lunch Improvements

Look for healthier school lunches in the near future! I am truly excited about this initiative. I know if my son starts eating unhealthy food at school he is going to beg for it at home too. And if I try to make him take cold lunch everyday he will freak out. So I am thrilled to hear school lunches will be healthier soon! I called the food services person at my son's school yesterday to find out more about hot lunch. My son will have the option to take it for the first time next year.

For instance, when the menu says "Grilled Cheese" does that mean white bread with butter and American cheese? Or whole wheat bread with cheddar and butter spray? At my son's school it will mean wheat bread (not 100%) , American cheese and butter spray. The food services supervisor says this year all she could get was white bread so she is excited to offer wheat bread next year. She is also switching to skim milk or 1% instead of 2% milk. She said the school offers fresh fruit and vegetables most of the time. Sometimes the veggies are canned. She said the school has never fried anything and the breaded items do contain whole grains. She said the biggest problem is sodium in processed food. The White House's new initiative should force food manufacturers to limit the sodium in processed foods.

FROM NBC: A White House task force is tackling childhood obesity - and says it's a problem that can be solved. Nearly one in three American children are now considered overweight or obese. The task force has a seventy-point plan to get the government, businesses - and American families - working together to help children get fit and stay that way. The first lady presented the plan, but says this isn't something Washington can do alone.

Can America's Childhood obesity epidemic be wiped out in a single generation? A White House task force led by First Lady Michelle Obama says 'yes' and has come up with a battle plan. Michelle Obama: "No one gets off the hook on this one -- from governments to schools, corporations to nonprofits, all the way down to families sitting around their dinner table."

The report ordered by President Obama outlines dozens of steps: At home: better food more exercise less time in front the tube. In neighborhoods: eradicating so-called food deserts -where supermarkets and healthy food are hard to find. and at school: healthier menus-which won't be cheap. Diane Pratt-Heavner : School Nutrition Association: "Fruits, vegetables, whole grains are more expensive - and schools need those additional funds to make those improvements."

The president is asking congress for a billion dollars to expand school breakfast and lunch programs. A cause that drew celebrity chef Rachel Ray to Washington. Rachael Ray:Celebrity Chef "You know if the summer comes and goes, and we don't get this done, it's a whole other year our kids have to wait." From Washington, a call to action for this nation's future. While fixing the problem will take some serious investments, the White House estimates obesity related health care costs this country 150 billion dollars a year.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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