New USDA School Meal Pattern Requirements
New USDA school meal requirements will begin with the start of the 2012-2013 school year.  Clovis Unified School District Child Nutrition Department has already began making many of these changes so that the transition to the new meal reguirements would run smoothly.

Important Changes:

• Students will now be required to have ½ cup of fruit or ½ cup of vegetables on their lunch tray. We plan to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables daily to give students a variety from which to choose.
• There are now calorie maximums as well as minimums and limits for meat/meat alternates (cheese, yogurt, etc.) and bread/grains offered.  Previously, we only had a minimum to meet, but could offer more.  Now there are specified ranges of amounts for each age group.  This means that some main entrees may be smaller than they have been.  Remember, though, that there are going to be more fruits and vegetables available than there have been.

What We’re Already Doing:

• Half of all grains offered must be whole grain-rich.  Many of our grains offered already meet this requirement.  We have been baking fresh homemade, whole grain bread and rolls over the last few years.  We purchase many whole grain-rich food products as well.
• We must offer vegetables from the following groups each week:
• dark green (i.e.)romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli
• orange/red (i.e.)carrots, red peppers, tomoates
• beans/legumes (i.e.)pinto beans, kidney beans, split peas
• starchy (i.e.)corn, potaotes, green peas
• Schools have until 2014-2015 to meet the first level of sodium limits. While this might be quite a challenge for some districts, we come very close right now. We’ve been able to accomplish this by using only fresh and frozen vegetables, as canned usually will have more sodium.  Manufacturers are also reformulating some of their products to bring down sodium levels. 

How You Can Help:

• Let your children know that they must take ½ cup of fruit or ½ cup of vegetables on their lunch trays.

Current Regulations

SECONDARY SCHOOLS (Intermediate & High Schools)
Foods that can be sold to students are full meals, exempt foods, and a la carte snacks and entrées that meet specific standards for calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar (see chart below).  In addition, no foods can contain artificial trans fat (less than 0.5 gram per serving).  This applies from the beginning of school until one-half hour after the school day ends.

List of Food Items that may be sold in Intermediate & High School Student Stores:
The following is a list of the food items that may be sold in Intermediate and High School Student Stores.   Food items on this list, except for peanuts, must be calculated to see if they meet requirements listed below:

Beef Jerky
Cereal Bars
Chex Mix
Corn Nuts
Granola Bars
Peanuts (exempt from requirements)
Popcorn
Pretzels
Trail Mix

• No more than 250 calories per individual food item
• No more than 35% of its total calories shall be from fat
- no more than 3.88 gm of fat per 100 calories
• No more than 10% of its total calories shall be from saturated fat
- no more than 1.1 gm saturated fat per 100 calories
• No more than 35% of its net weight shall be composed of sugar including naturally occurring and added sugar
- no more than 35 gm sugar per 100 gm of net weight
• No foods can contain artificial trans fat (less than 0.5 grams per serving)

Proposed Regulations:

The proposed regulations for school meals outlined by the USDA would require an focus on whole grain-rich items, deep orange/red and dark green vegetables as well and a sodium limit. Milk offered would need to be either fat free or 1% low fat.  Additionally, there would be minimums and maximums for calories. 

Clovis Unified Campus Catering Department is already incorporating many of these proposed regulations.  We currently offer whole grain-rich items and deep orange /red vegetables (i.e.) carrots and sweet potatoes.  We are also offering dark green leafy vegetables in our salads (i.e.) spinach and romaine.  In addition, we have only offered fat free or 1% low fat milk for years and we are continually taking measures to decrease sodium in the foods we serve.