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The Distorted School Lunch Food Pyramid
By Deborah Lehmann —
The USDA might as well issue two food pyramids — one for the National School Lunch Program and another for all other Americans. Here’s how the guidelines for school meals compare to the current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Look at the numbers for meat/beans, and then look at those for vegetables and fruits. Notice also that school meal standards have no minimum requirements for many MyPyramid food categories, such as dark green vegetables and whole grains. The table below is from a 2008 study of the school lunch and breakfast programs by the Institute of Medicine:
Lunch Pattern Based on 2,400-Calorie MyPyramid Food Intake Pattern Compared with Meal Requirements for the National School Lunch Program
(for a traditional food-based menu plan)
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MyPyramid Food Group |
MyPyramid Pattern Divided by 3a |
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Minimum Requirement |
Minimum Requirement as a % of One-Third of the MyPyramid Pattern |
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Total fruit (c/meal) |
⅔ c |
N/S |
NA |
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Total veg (c/meal) |
1 c |
N/S |
NA |
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Total fruit/veg (c/meal) |
1 ⅔ c |
¾ c |
45% |
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Dark green veg (c/wk) |
1 c |
N/S |
NA |
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Orange veg (c/wk) |
⅔c |
N/S |
NA |
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Legumes (c/wk) |
1 c |
N/S |
NA |
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Starchy veg (c/wk) |
2 c |
N/S |
NA |
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Other veg (c/wk) |
2 ⅓ c |
N/S |
NA |
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Total grain (oz eq/meal) |
2 ⅔ c |
1.6 |
60% |
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Whole grains (oz eq/meal) |
1.3 oz |
N/S |
NA |
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Total milk group (c/meal) |
1 c |
1 c |
100% |
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Total meat and bean (oz eq/meal) |
2.17 oz |
3 oz |
138% |
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Oils (tsp/meal) |
2 ⅓ tsp |
N/S |
NA |
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Discretionary calorieb allowance (calories/meal) |
121 calories |
N/S |
NA |
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NOTE: c = c; eq = equivalent; NA = not applicable; N/S = not specified; NSLP = National School Lunch Program; oz = ounce; tsp = teaspoon; veg = vegetable. aDaily recommendations have been divided by 3 for comparison of the values with the current NSLP guidelines for a school lunch (which should provide one-third of a day’s intake of calories and nutrients). bDiscretionary calories are the calories remaining after the consumption of the calories needed to meet recommended nutrient intakes. These can be used to select foods with higher fat or sugar contents. SOURCE: Derived from USDA, 2000b, 2005.
The federal child nutrition programs are up for reauthorization this year, so hopefully Congress and the USDA will keep this in mind when they re-examine the school meal programs. They’re in sore need of a nutritional update.
— Deborah Lehmann |
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February 28th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
We need to shift the focus from nutrients to FOOD.
The USDA Food Pyramid is a broken and ineffective model. Instead of focusing on fat grams and calorie counts, how about working to get real food into schools instead? From local, regional small farmers. This sort of investment in our children’s health will also work to re-build our local economies.
A local food based approach is going to become even more necessary once the oil runs out and climate change impacts the price and availability of food. Why not shift the focus now? After all, the time to dig the well is before you get thirsty.