GWL Nutrition Committee

What's for Lunch - Friday, April 26th

MACARONI & CHEESE
Barilla Plus Pasta with Wisconsin Cheddar
OR
Breaded Chicken Caesar Wrap
Pepper & Celery Sticks w/Dip
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Pears in Fruit Juice

The noodles we're using for the Mac n cheese are Barilla Plus. The ingredients are: Semolina, Grain and Legume Flour, Blend (Lentils, Chickpeas, Egg Whites, Spelt, Barley, Flaxseed, Oat Fiber, Oats), Durum Flour, Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid. The sauce is made from Wisconsin Cheddar.

The chicken caesar wrap is also made with Tyson chicken and the wrap is probably not whole grain. The chicken is Tyson. It is described as "1/2" diced chicken meat" and as "boneless, skinless, and fully cooked." It is chicken breast.

Fresh peppers and celery with an organic ranch dressing dip.

Canned pears are from China.

What's for Lunch - Thursday, April 25th

HOMEMADE BREADED CHICKEN CUTLET
Brown Rice & Black Beans
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie

I'm not sure about the homemade chicken cutlet. This will be chicken from Tyson and presumably we are breading it ourselves.

The brown rice is a whole grain but as previously discussed cannot be cooked in a way that minimizes the arsenic content. The black beans are canned and the ingredients are "BLACK BEANS, WATER, SALT, AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE" with 140mg of sodium.

The smoothie will be made with plain yogurt to which we add honey plus 1% milk and strawberries. The food service department says the strawberries are fresh -- we previously used frozen and have asked about the country of origin. Our fresh strawberries are from California

What's for Lunch - Wednesday, April 24th

BURGER BAR
NYS Local Beef
Burger or Cheeseburger
Lettuce/Onion/Tomato
Baked Potato “Puffs”
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Fruit Salad

After much work, discussion and research, our district has discontinued the use of most USDA commodity beef for a variety of health reasons and contracted with a New York State farm to provide beef raised without antibiotics and hormones. It is more expensive and there is less beef on the menu as a result but it is a huge improvement in the quality of our lunches. So, enjoy your hamburger on a whole grain bun.

"Puffs" are commodity potatoes processed by McCain's into tater tots -- although they are labeled "frozen pre-formed potato rounds." They are flash-fried before they get to the frozen part. They have 7g of fat (one of which is saturated) and 190mg of sodium. Ingredients are: potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following oils: canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, corn). Contains 2% or less of dextrose, salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate added to maintain natural color.

But -- there are lots of fresh fruits and vegetables on the salad bar. Don't the fruit and veggies look nice with the burger?