Will it cost more because they will be serving healthier foods? As much as I hate government telling me what and how much to feed my children, I would like to see the schools offer healthier choices.

UNBELIEVABLE!! Of course the high school and middle school! I already have to send extra money with my 6 foot 200 pound going to be senior son because he says the regular school lunch is a joke. Yes some days I pack lunch for him but other days its just easier to send money. Honesly it might be cheaper to tell him to go off campus next year.

I agree Melissa. The school lunches are far from healthy and fresh. If nachos are not offered, students won't pass up a salad or sandwich for them. My child ate chicken patties or pizza, and cookies EVERY day!

My kids would never eat the school lunches. Sometimes I wanted a break from making lunch but they'd rather eat pb&J sandwiches than what was served. This might just be a great thing.

@NOFREELUNCH I could have bet $ that someone would have a comment about my childs "weight" I actually rounded my numbers to make a point! He's more like 6'1 and closer to 190 and before working this summer as a full time construction assistant went to the gym 5 days a week. The point is the "regular" school lunch is not enough to feed a 5 foot 90 pound girl let alone a 17 year old active male! Bottom line cost more and smaller portion size. And sorry fortunately I dont qualify for "free lunch" I have to pay and with 3 children it is far from cheap. I do however totally agree if it is healthier food Im all for that change the point is the tittle of the article says it ALL!

We never had free lunches when I was growing up or "free" daycare by sending 3 & 4 year olds to ALL day school. This is one reason why our taxes are so bloated. I don't get it.

I don't know Sandy, I've read this small article a few times and I do not see anything mentioned about "free lunches". Maybe I'm missing something.

I don’t mind paying more for healthier food, but PLEASE stop offering the nachos and another junk. I have a growing boy that doesn’t always get filled up on the lunch they offer. If they are offering nachos and other junk as side options he won’t always chose the healthier option of fruit or granola. Take away the junk food and if the kids are still hungry their only choices will be the healthier ones.

I personally think this whole thing about childhood obesity is a joke in itself. It is not just children; it is adults as well teaching their kids about eating crap. It all starts at the home. My mother made us lunch every day for school, it had a dinner left over, fruit and a vegetable. When I was a kid my father came home to a home cooked meal every night, so my brother and I ate a well-balanced meal every night, not some nights, every night. It was not some fast food thrown on plates with soda, my father would have gone off the wall coming home to that crap. My father grew up in the depression and as a child of 5 plus my grand parents there were plenty of nights he went to bed hungry. So when raising my brother and I, if my mother made something my brother and I did not like, as my father used to say, this is not a short order kitchen, if we refused to eat dinner, my father would tell my mother to wrap it, let them go to bed hungry, it won’t kill them, then they will have it for breakfast, if they don’t eat it for breakfast they will eat it for lunch, sooner or later they will be hungry enough to eat, we don’t throw food out in this house.

It is amazing how when you are hungry you will eat something you turned your nose to the night before, and eat with gusto I might add. My point being, if you think it is easier to just give your kid money to go by pizza and some other junk rather then making him a healthy lunch or a healthy lunch the school provides, then you end up with an over weight child. Lets be honest, kids are no where near as active as they were years ago before video games, I could not wait to get home from school, and go outside, now kids can’t wait to get home, sit down and text, play video games or just surf the net, well at least they will have strong fingers from, texting, and playing video game, the rest of the body will be crap, but the fingers will be strong. Hmmmm, so tell me again why there is a fight against childhood obesity?

Enough studies show the correct foods help with brain development. Fried and fatty foods will slow down the metabolism. It is not easy getting kids to eat right - it is not easy for me to eat right. We do need to enable it. I also agree that full day kindergarten and pre-K programs will lead to better prepared students. I have chosen that for my own daughter and the results have been wonderful. It is every parents choice so nothing should be mandatory but I do think improved school services will lead to higher test scores. As far as the economic benefit my friends in Rockland are jealous of the schools in Northwest Bergen. Continued investment and improvements will see more people wanting to buy into our town and better real estate returns for long time residents.

If the lunches are healthier then yes, I would pay more. But as it is now, I only let her buy lunch on Lucky Sticker days. Other then that I prefer to make it myself. It's the only way to truly know what your child is eating. No time in the morning? Make it the night before. They need to learn healthy eating habits now or it will bite them in the but when they are older. I ate crap as a child and am paying for it now. I won't make the same mistakes my parents made.....

Lori, I agree with you 100% in all of your statements. You are very wise in understanding the value of good nutrition and starting children out young is truly the best way. Children don’t know any better and do not understand the illnesses that can follow a poor diet, it us up the parents not the government to teach their own children good eating habits. It all starts at home, parents should lead by example and have healthy food every night and for that matter every meal.There is no short cuts in raising healthy children

Wow BC, bad day? Obviously you are financially able to afford whatever. My niece is a single parent, works full time, pays rent, insurance, etc and her daughter was not eligible for the free lunch program offered because her mother makes a "few hundred" dollars too much annually. Therefore we pay $50 per month so she has lunches and her mother is still struggling. And yes, there are free lunch programs offered for those that are eligible, just not for everyone. Luckily you don't fall into that category

Andy,

I don't always agree with you but you hit a bullseye with this one!! And, "Finding Nemo" in middle school? How did that get by the pompous ruler of the middle school?