Lunchroom Menu

The National School Lunch Program was established in 1946 after the government had to reject many Word War II recruits due to malnourishment.  The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman.  It is the largest of the federal child nutrition programs in terms of spending and the number of children served.  Congress appropriated $11.417 billion for the child nutrition programs for fiscal year 2005.

More than 28 million children are served lunch every school day, in more than 99,000 schools.  Approximately 95 percent of all elementary and secondary school students are enrolled in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program.

While school lunches must meet federal nutrition requirements, decisions about what specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by local school food authorities.  Current regulations require schools to meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat.  Regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories.

Studies have shown that, through the NSLP, children consume twice the servings of fruits and vegetables and greater amounts of grains and dairy than children who eat lunch brought from home or who leave school to eat lunch.

No super-sizing here.  The meals served as part of the NSLP are provided in age-appropriate serving sizes - making schools some of the only places in the U.S. where you can purchase a meal with the recommended serving sizes.

In Chambers County over 3500 lunches are served daily to elementary and secondary students. We have ten school that participate in the NSLP.  This year we are concentrating  more on providing a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. We also offer different flavors of low-fat milk such as vanilla and strawberry, along with chocolate (low-fat), 2% and skim milk.  Our objective is to instill healthy eating habits in our children by offering more fresh fruits and vegetables and low-fat milk products so they can see that there are healthier alternatives for them than chips, candies, and sodas.