MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Monongalia County Board of Education has voted unanimously to approve the new Univeristy High School (UHS) lunch program wavier for the next year. Monongalia County Schools Director of Nutrition, Brian Kiehl the only difference is the school will remain under the federal school lunch program and ala carte offerings will also remain at $2 a piece.
“Since this is a year pilot it won’t affect us at all,” Kiehl said. “So, every child will have an opportunity to get a free lunch at the five different locations and unlimited fruits and vegetables.”
After conducting a survey of what students eat that bring their lunch, Kiehl hopes to offer healthy options so students eat food from the UHS cafeteria. The goal is to have more students participate in the free lunch program by adding healthy choices that students want.
“We’re providing them healthy options for a lot cheaper than can bring in themselves,” Kiehl said. ” So, I’m hoping it increases participation, but also we see a difference in what students are eating in the cafeteria from home.”
But, as new updates to federal School Nutrition Standards phase in things like flavored milk, french fries and other sugary choices will no longer be available. Kiehl hopes to continue offering appealing choices because a school lunch is often the only healthy daily option for many students.
“That will still come into effect years down the road,” Kiehl said. “The sodium starts this year and we’re working on that, but they’re all United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines.”
If all of the new federal guidelines are adopted they would be phased in school lunch programs across the country by 2029.