Every day, the San Ramon Valley Unified School District serves about 6,500 meals to hungry students.
That’s a lot of food, and it makes one wonder if all this food is healthy.
After some research, I realized the district actually cares about student nutrition and what schools serve.
The district policy states,“The district’s nutrition education and physical education programs shall be based on research, consistent with the expectations established in the state’s curriculum frameworks and content standards, and designed to build the skills and knowledge that ask students need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
The school board even discourages advertisements on nutrient-lacking food at schools.
By these actions one can see that they are trying to limit the advertisement of those foods so students won’t be influenced to go outside of school and eat unhealthy food.
The policy also states that the district adopted nutrition guidelines for the purpose of promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity, which is one of their goals.
The district’s wellness and nutrition policy shows it is taking actions to help create better food options for students.
The district expects schools in their area to meet or beat its nutrition guidelines. It also expect staff to encourage others in choosing and donating healthy foods.
On the district website it lists school lunch menu requirements, which include veggie patties, chicken sandwiches, and sushi. Free fresh fruit and vegetables are also included in every $4 meal.
School breakfast programs are expected to follow the guidelines, too. It’s a good way to start off the day with a healthy breakfast instead of skipping it. It is important for students to eat breakfast so they have the energy to focus in class every morning.
At Cal High, the breakfast menu includes bagels, sausage muffins, and fruit salad.
The district’s wellness policy also states it expects schools to have at least one person in charge of being responsible for the policy. This person keeps track of a school’s welfare and nutrition to indicate if the policy is being effectively implemented, reporting back to the district at least every two years.
This is a very good way to keep the policy effective. But a better way may be to have this person report back to the district at the end of the school year. This would probably be better to see progress more efficiently, than with a time span of a few years.
Schools are required to post policies and regulations publicly. It shows that they are proud and wanting people to be more involved in the students’ welfare and healthy eating.
Eating healthy is very important to growing up, which all Cal students are in the process of doing right now. Eating healthy helps students prevent sickness, maintain a good weight and have plenty of energy.
The district sees this and is determined to do what it can to keep students healthy. By serving fresh and delicious foods everyday, the district is committed to following its wellness and nutrition policy and keep student lives as healthy as can be.
