By Bridget Cook ‘14

Recently, a parent group called “Real Food for Kids—Montgomery” has been in the news for their aim to nutritionally improve school lunches. The group, while focusing mainly on the nutritional value of the a la carte snacks offered, was created to voice disappointment with school lunch offerings overall and work to change meal choices. On the other side of the issue, MCPS defends its lunch program, stating that the food choices are made with nutrition in mind and meet all USDA regulations.

School lunch quality has caused conflict for many years. In October 2012, Real Food for Kids, founded by county parents Karen Devitt and Lindsey Parsons, became the latest group to tackle the issue. Food that simply meets federal guidelines does not satisfy the concerned mothers.

“Many of these [lunch] items are not really ‘food’ and have no real place in a healthy meal.  Many contain artificial dyes, colors, chemical preservatives and other manufactured ingredients.  These foods, while technically meeting the USDA, MD state, and MCPS guidelines for ‘healthy’ food, are not whole, or fresh, or real,” said Devitt.

The group would love to see more wholesome choices that are low in fat and sugar. It pointed out that some of the juices offered reached up to 43 grams of sugar, which is more than two candy bars.  Lunch items, such as burgers and similar fast-food items, are also being scrutinized for being processed.

County food service officials have a different outlook on offerings for lunches. MCPS has a limited food budget, and in order for items to be affordable to students, they must be economical and readily obtainable in bulk. MCPS considers items that are breaded or fried, although not generally considered healthy, as ideal because they prove to be popular among students and simple to prepare. To improve quality, MCPS works to ensure that bread items are whole grain, all meat is low in fat and all a la carte items meet county wellness guidelines.

“We struggle with finding healthy food items that are acceptable to students,” said Marla Caplon, director of MCPS Food and Nutrition Services. Caplon said changing the entire lunch program to fit the group’s standards is not realistic, but the food services team is open to suggestions from the parent group to make school lunches as healthy as economically possible.