What's for lunch 4/4/13

BETTER THAN A PIZZERIA... 
Flatbread“Margherita” Pizza
Fresh Tomato Sauce, Basil and Local Fresh Mozzarella
Chickpea Salad 
Fresh Fruit 

Unlike many schools, we do make these pizzas. This is a white-flour pizza (not whole grain). The sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce. The sodium at 140mg is much lower than we previously used.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Salt, Citric Acid, Spice, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate).  The cheese is fresh. The chickpeas are canned but made into a lovely salad. The fruit is fresh. 

The food served in the cafeterias of the North Shore School District has made a complete turn around in the past three years.  Many of us on the District Wide Nutrition Committee along with Julia Van Loon ( School Food Reform Consultant) and the administration worked hard and long to provide our children with healthier food options.  This includes the vending machines in the MS and HS.  We got rid of the Gatorade, chips and other unhealthy options.  We all want our children to be healthy and make educated choices regarding food.  Sharing the ingredients with your children so they realize what is in something they are eating is so valuable. For example drinking a Gatorade with a bag of Doritos.  

Gatorade Frost - Glacier Freeze

                      12 fl oz20 fl oz32 fl oz64 fl oz                    20 fl oz   View PDF 

Serving size 8 fl oz (240 mL)
Servings per 20 fl oz container: 2.5 

Per Container

Per Serving

Learn about serving sizes.	8 fl oz	%DV*	20 fl oz	%DV*
Calories	50	-	130	-
Total Fat (g)	0	0	0	0
Sodium (mg)	110	5	270	11
Total Carbs (g)	14	5	34	11
Sugars (g)	14	-	34	-
Protein (g)	0	-	0

WATER, SUCROSE, DEXTROSE, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVOR, SALT, SODIUM CITRATE, MONOPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, GLYCEROL ESTER OF ROSIN, BLUE 1

Have your kids google the ingredients. You can see there is quite a bit of salt and sugar. Nothing good here. Now Cool Ranch Doritos :

INGREDIENTS: , SPICE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM CITRATE,DISODIUM INOSINATE, AND , DISODIUM GUANYLATE, NONFAT MILK SOLIDS,SUGAR, DEXTROSE, MALIC ACID,SODIUM CASEINATE, SODIUM ACETATE, Artificial Color (, INCLUDES ,RED 40, BLUE 1, YELLOW 5) ,BUTTERMILK SOLIDS, SALT, TOMATO POWDER, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS,CORN STARCH, WHEY, ONION POWDER, GARLIC POWDER,MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, Cheddar Cheese (, CULTURED MILK, SALT,ENZYMES) , CORN, Vegetable Oil (, CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: , CORN, SOYBEAN, OR ,SUNFLOWER OIL)

I don't see a lot of ingredients I recognize. Do you ?? Based on the ingredients you can see these two items do not provide the vitamins and nutrients that a children needs to play after school sports or even after a long day at school.  A water with a banana and a healthy granola bar is a better option.  Much better.