The Process of Changing School Lunches: A Frustrating Update

My progress with changing my son's school lunches is slow. Luckily, my readers filled my email with lots of tips, primarily about Jamie Oliver. I further researched his Food Revolution and found that while it is terrific, it does not give concrete steps in challenging a school lunch program. However, the website's success stories and ideas inspired me to keep moving. At this point, I patiently await answers but here is my progress:

- First, I asked my son's teacher what school lunches normally entailed (are they always hotdogs and bologna?) She expressed concern over a bologna-based school meal and suggested I speak with the preschool director.
- The director listened very nicely. She told me that a company catered the meals, that I was the first parent ever to raise concern over the meals and that bologna and hotdogs were only on the menu once a month each. (However, September's menu shows a count of two for hotdogs, two for bologna). She also added that the lunches did meet DCFS and USDA standards, much like Jamie Oliver's warning that he "was told that this kind of food meets the federal guidelines and that this is the way it happens all over the United States." I closed by asking if I should speak to the catering company and she said that she would.
- I went to DCFS's website, which had no clear guidelines for lunch programs. I then went to the USDA website, which has a parent section. It opens with: "Good nutrition begins at home -- and should continue at school. To improve our children's school lunches, parents need to get involved in their schools." Relief. A government program that encompasses my drive, my goals. I read the site's attachments.
- Finally, I visited the Illinois Association of School Boards, which reversed my excitement built from the USDA website with this fact: "Decisions about specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are left up to local school food authorities." Eliminating junk and serving healthy school lunches is common sense, and it seems the preschool director may not share my concerns.

The laws and guidelines seem vague about what schools can serve my son. While sensible, healthy school lunches go against the norm, and challenging the norm is always a long process. I just began working toward healthier school lunches for my preschooler: I have not formally met with anyone, written letters or presented ideas to a board. I am frustrated already, though. Government entities should have easily accessible, clear guidelines so parents know what to expect. The hours I have spent looking for information tells me that these guidelines are purposely buried on websites. Why is the information convoluted and unnecessarily concealed? I want my child served a baked chicken breast instead of a turkey-chicken-pig combined piece of meat. Why won't anyone listen to me?

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