CCS Food Service

Caledonia Community Schools
ARAMARK Education Dear

Caledonia Community Schools Parent:

Are you ready for the start of a new school year? The Caledonia Community Schools Food Service staff is looking forward to serving your children and to some exciting menu changes. While we have always had high nutrition standards for school meals, those standards have been updated as a result of changes made to the federal school meal requirements which became effective on July 1, 2012.

The new menus are designed to ensure that students receive a balanced meal, consisting of foods from all major food groups in the right proportions to meet calorie and other nutrient needs.

While the selections we offer may sound the same because they are ‘kid-favorites,’ we want you to know that many of the recipes have been modified to reduce fats, salt and sugar, and to add whole grains. We will also be offering some different foods that your children may not have tried before, so please encourage your child to try these items. They just might become a new favorite!

Some of the changes that your child will notice when selecting a school meal this year include:

• More whole grains will be available. (Half of the grain items we serve this year will be whole grain.)
• Students must take at least ½ cup of fruit or vegetable each day.
• Flavored milk will only be available as fat-free or skim, but unflavored or white milk may be skim or 1%.
• Fewer desserts will be offered, as the new nutrition standards focus on obtaining calories and other key nutrients from fruits, vegetables, protein foods, grains and milk.

There will be signs posted on each service line to show students how to select a reimbursable meal, as well as to help them understand how their choices fit into the key food groups needed to ensure a balanced approach to healthy eating.

We are proud to serve nutritious foods to your child and encourage you to support our ongoing efforts to improve student health and well-being by participating in our Food Service program. For more information about our menus and programs, please visit www.calschools.org; and to learn more about healthy school meals visit http://www.fns.usda.gov or www.myhealthyforlife.com.

We hope that you and your child have a great year! Please feel free to call me at (616) 891-0227 with any questions or comments.

Thank you!

Mimi Mahaney
Food Service Director
email mahaneym@calschools.org
891-0227 ext 7111