What’s for School Lunch? Making Popular Foods Nutritious for Kids
at the Gateway Regional School District

(Huntington, MA) – School meals are better then ever. Gateway kitchens are increasing the use of whole grains, lean meats, low fat cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Nationwide, school nutrition professionals encourage healthy eating habits among students by offering high quality, low cost meals to over 30 million children each day.

All meals are required to meet strict standards that are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and set by the United States Department of Agriculture. Meals can contain no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat each week.

Our schools may serve french fries, chicken nuggets or pizza. The strict standards are met because the items are baked, not fried, made with low-fat or lean ingredients and served with vegetables, fruit and other options that make each meal balanced and nutritious.

Wendy McCaul, Gateway’s Food Service Director, continually works with parents, students and other key stakeholders in the community to implement the local school wellness policy. McCaul recently attended an intense 3-day seminar “Healthy Cuisine for Kids”. The seminar was designed to promote healthier preparation practices in schools. Attendees actively participated in five culinary labs in which they worked under the direction of a professional chef to learn healthier ways of preparing food. The main focus was to “Get Back to Basics” by knowing how to prepare and serve healthful food that kids will enjoy eating. Gateway students and staff may look forward to new recipes on the menu this year that were featured in this seminar.

Gateway will participate again this year in the Massachusetts Harvest for Students week, Sept. 22-26th. This program urges schools to purchase local produce.

Parents are reminded that the new meal prices are: Breakfast $1.00 and Lunch is $1.75 for Elementary and $2.00 for MS/HS.

The Gateway staff is looking forward to a new school year!!!!!