Remember when local ladies actually arrived at school early in the morning wearing hair nets to prepare the school lunch for the day? I am sure a lot of parents remember that scene but all that has changed at schools across the country. Now school lunches are more like a fast food buffet and most meals arrive at the individual schools prepackaged with little local preparation required.

The Senate recently approved a $4.5 billion “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act” for improving the nutritional quality of school lunches. This bill has to pass in the House and hopefully it will help improve the school lunch programs around the country. This program has been one that first lady Michelle Obama has addressed as part of her campaign to conquer childhood obesity. For many children a breakfast or lunch at school is the only real meal of the day they receive.

At the Incline Village schools, Washoe County School District has changed food providers for the 2010-2011 school year. Both parents and students need to check out the new choices for meals that will be offered at each school beginning this fall as most local students and parents feel lunches in Incline need to be healthier.

“The healthier the better. Fresh foods and limit processed starch,” said Dianne Severance an Incline Village mother familiar with local lunch programs in the school system. “WCSD keeps moving in the right direction by eliminating soda purchases and limiting sugar options.”

Still the Severance children do not participate in the local school lunch programs as they take lunches packed at home. And many students in Incline will combine home packed lunches with an occasional school lunch and even a trip off campus for lunch.

“I will mostly be taking my lunch,” said Mariposa Gollery an incoming freshman at Incline High School. “But maybe I will go off campus and even try the school lunch.”

Tori O'Connor will be a junior this year at Incline High School and combines lunches from home with an occasional meal in the cafeteria. Students are also thinking about healthier lunches and even organic choices in Incline so many of the new selections might appeal to a wider range of students.

“I usually go home for lunch as my mother fixes me organic and healthy foods,” said Glenda Quiroz a senior at Incline High School.

But changes are being made in the local lunch programs. Parents and students can get a copy of the school menu online and even go through the selections together to make sure they are getting a more balanced selection.

ARAMARK Education arrives in Incline Village

ARAMARK Education will be providing meals at all of the Incline Public Schools starting this fall. The spokesman for ARAMARK, David Gargione said that ARAMARK will be providing “high-quality, nourishing and balanced meals that meet or exceed federal and state nutrition guidelines.”

The new menus offered by ARAMARK give more whole grain options daily, only 1 percent or skim milk and no less than six self-serve fruits and vegetables daily. A different fresh fruit and fresh vegetable will be featured every day of the week.

ARAMARK plans to begin training staff in September to start the new menus beginning in October. Students can expect to see new entrees such as: Sweet and sour chicken with brown rice; spaghetti and meatballs made with Barilla Plus pasta; Turkey and rice soup; a hummus vegetable platter, and more. The new menus will feature visual icons highlighting items that are locally grown; have healthy whole grains; are vegetarian; and items that are low fat and low sodium.

Beginning in September, ARAMARK will begin posting nutritional information for all items offered on the WCSD website beginning with the elementary school lunch menus and continue with the breakfast menu selections, the middle school breakfast and lunch selections and complete the program with all high school menu selections. This will allow students and parents to calculate calories and nutrients for each meal the student chooses as well as define carbohydrate intake and foods/recipes with allergen alerts for the top eight items children have sensitivity to (milk, eggs, peanuts, fish, etc.).

What ARAMARK'S programs are

Cool*Caf™, 12 Spot™ and U.B.U. Lounge: Research-based, proprietary brands designed to reflect the habits, choices and nutritional requirements of today's elementary students, tweens and teens. They provide fresh and nutritious food, attractive merchandising and promotional programs.

FUEL: This program provides thematic food-focused promotions, aimed at making school lunch relevant for middle and high school students. FUEL (www.fuel4me.com) generates excitement around in-school dining, while reinforcing a healthy school lunch as an important way for students to get the fuel they need to participate in their favorite activities throughout the busy school day. Nutritious menu options and featured recipes appeal directly to secondary student customers.

ACE: ACE, a friendly and energetic fox, is the ARAMARK Education elementary-level nutrition mascot. Along with his friends, Marcus, Ana, Zack and Lucy, ACE has a regular presence in our districts through live appearances, the www.acefanclub.com website, a poster series and activity sheets that can be used by the teaching staff and onsite food service staff.

AMP Up with Breakfast: A breakfast program for middle and high school students. This program offers easy-to-implement breakfast delivery options for classrooms, cafeterias and/or portable stations, with a focus on convenience. It features over 400 grab-and-go product options that will be used to build a new breakfast program menu or enhance existing breakfast offerings. Students can enjoy great-tasting morning favorites such as fruits, wholesome hot foods, cereals, breakfast snacks, yogurt, smoothies and juice beverages.

Nutrition Education Materials: Monthly nutrition education materials are shared with students and parents to reinforce healthy eating and provide nutritional facts and figures.

Treat Yourself Right (TYR): A comprehensive program that encourages healthy lifestyles by promoting better-for-you foods and wellness education to middle and high school students. This secondary level program focuses on reinforcing healthy lifestyle messages and motivating students to choose healthier menu items. Materials will include menu identifiers, counter-top signage, flyers, posters and nutrition tips. Bi-monthly TYR online newsletters share wellness messages in a cool and fun way, by integrating healthy lifestyle and nutrition information with other topics that are socially relevant to teens.