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Madison Alewel from NewsChannel 10 reports on how one school made big changes to bring healthy foods to students.
When the USDA changed the meal standards for schools, they gave schools a few years to prepare and transition. The Amarillo Independent School District in Texas used that time to develop a resource that would not burden the district, but in turn save it money.
The school district built their very own bakery to provide its 53 schools with whole grain bread, which is one of the new healthier requirements. The bread is made from scratch and served fresh to students on a daily basis. The AISD Bakery produces about one ton of dough each day, which ends up providing about 9,000 meals to local students.
“We make loaf bread, hamburger, hot dog buns, rolls and hoagies,” said AISD Food Service Director Brent Hoover. “Then any other products like chicken nuggets, corn dogs, or anything that is made with a breading type ingredient like grain has to be whole grain and we are 100 percent compliant with the USDA regulation.”
Hoover said the bakery was a worthy investment for both students and the district. “It’s reducing our cost because we are making it fresh here. We’ve combined the ingredients ourselves so we enjoy about a $40,000 savings a year.”
Read the original NewsChannel 10 story here.
And find more information on the National School Lunch Program and USDA’s Smart Snacks.
By The Numbers
142
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Expected rise in Latino cancer cases in coming years
