CCS Celebrates National School Lunch Week

This week - Oct. 10-14 - is National School Lunch Week. And to celebrate, Cabarrus County Schools Child Nutrition willhost "School Lunch - Let's Grow Healthy" a campaign to help students understand where their food comes from and to get excited them about healthy school lunch choices. 

The campaign, which also coincides with National Farm to School Month, will put a spotlight on the locally sourced foods served in Cabarrus Countyschools. 

The month of October will include a number of fun activities in the cafeteria throughout Cabarrus County. For example, Wednesday, October 12^th is "Bring Your Parents to Lunch Day." 

CCS school cafeterias also are participating in a milk consumption contest in partnership with the Southeast Dairy Association and the Carolina Panthers.  The contest will continue through Wednesday October 26^th.  The school with the greatest percent increase in milk consumption during the contest dates wins the top prize of cash and a Carolina Panther Pep Rally. Prizes also will be awarded to the 2^nd and 3^rd place winners.

Cabarrus County Schools Child Nutrition participates in the North Carolina farm to school program.  Each month, the menu features various North Carolina-grown fruits and vegetables.  During the month of October, the menu will feature apples and sweet potatoes grown on farms in North Carolina.  For more information about the North Carolina Farm to School Program, visit: http://www.ncfarmtoschool.com/. 

Serving more than 31 million children every school day, the federally-funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides nutritionally balanced, healthy meals.  The program, which has been serving the nation's children for more than 60 years, requires school meals to meet federal nutrition standards.

• Meals are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, meaning they contain no more than 30% of calories from fat, and less than 10% from saturated fat.
• School lunches include fruits and vegetables, grains and proteins as well as milk, and they must provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.
• Meals are served in age-appropriate serving sizes meaning you get the amount of food that your body needs!

The "School Lunch - Let's Grow Healthy" campaign is sponsored by the non-profit School Nutrition Association and the Milk Processors Education Program (MilkPEP) to highlight all the components of well-balanced school meals. The campaign features fun activity sheets and parent handouts.

For more information about healthy school meals, visit www.TrayTalk.org .