• School lunch option at Okemos High School

UPDATE: LANSING - For the first time in over a decade, the federal government is mandating healthier lunches in public schools. Many districts, including Okemos, are actually prepared for the change and in some cases serving healthier foods than required by the feds.

Lynna Hassenger is the Director of Food and Nutrition for Okemos Schools, and she says that the nutrition in her district actually exceeds the requirements set forth right now. “For instance, if you go to one of the popular restaurants one of their nice burgers has the same amount of calories in that complete sandwich that we serve in a whole meal which will include the skim milk, the whole grain, the fruit, the vegetable, and the protein.

Kids still love junk food such as French fries and candy, and the district has a plan to tackle these issues. “Going with zero trans fat in our oils. We will bake tater tots, bake fries sometimes too so that they get a baked option opposed to a fried option” said Okemos High School Food Supervisor Marie Wolfe.

The district expects the new requirements to increase lunch costs by up to 50 cents per student over the next 4 years. They also plan to eliminate candy from the cafeterias by July 1st of this year.


ORIGINAL STORY: LANSING - The state is pushing for school lunches to be healthier... Find out how this could impact your children, next week on Meridian Magazine.