Wellness Myths
There are several myths in the community concerning the Wellness Policy at Plymouth Community Schools. There may be more than the ones presented today, so we would be honored by your questions.
Myth 1
Portion sizes have decreased at the schools. Actually, the portion sizes for all buildings have stayed the same. We’re not serving as many dessert items and we’ve removed some of the ale carte items at the junior high and high school. The removed items such as the Twix Bars were removed because they did not fit into the definition of “Better Choice” items as described by state law.
There will also be a change in double-trays at the high school starting next week. In order to provide adequate time for all students to get through the lunch line, students will need to get their first tray of food and then return to the line for a second tray of food if they are still hungry. We hope this will give all students the opportunity to sit, relax, and eat their lunch.
Myth 2
We are searching lunches and taking out non-nutritious choices that parents send. Once again, this is not true. We encourage parents to send nutritious food in their lunches, but we have no brown-bag police. There are two items that we will not allow in school only if we see them in the lunch room. First, we don’t want students to bring soda pop in their brown bag lunch. Second, we do not want fast food bags or pizza boxes brought into the cafeteria. Allowing this type of competition with the Federal Hot Lunch Program is not allowed.
Summary
During the first two weeks of school, we sold nearly 400 hundred more breakfasts and 1,500 more lunches than we did last year during those same two weeks. Our commitment is to continuously look at ways to make school lunches nutritious, tasty, and a relaxing experience. Our students work hard and our teachers have high expectations for them. It’s important that their lunch time is a time when they can relax and eat a good lunch.
