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Show "School Lunch Day," A Great Day For School Garfield County residents will be among the 30 million students, their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who will head to school on Oct. 16 to sample the latest that school food service has to offer. Schools across the nation will host the first annual "Take Your Family to Lunch Day" in celebration of the American School Food Service Association's 50lh anniversary of serving nutritious meals to chil-ren. The event was created to help raise awareness of and appreciation for the role that school lunch and nutrition programs play in the daily lives of America's children today and in the strength of America tomorrow. Founded in 1946, the National School Lunch Program is offered today in 99 percent of all public schools and in 83 percent of private schools across the nation. The program has changed dramatically over the past 50 years, with several new guidelines being mandated by July 1, 1997. Today's school lunch is designed to meet stringent national na-tional nutritional standards. These nutritional guidelines require that school lunches and breakfasts provide pro-vide one-third to one-fourth of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), respectively, for calories, proteins, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Schools are encouraged encour-aged to serve meals lower in sodium sodi-um and cholesterol and higher in fiber. The school lunch managers in each school in the district are in the (See School Lunch Day A Great Day For School On Page 5A) "School Lunch Day," A Great Day For School From Page 1 process of planning and analyzing menus and recipes that will meet the new nutritional guidelines. Their goal is to plan meals around foods that are not only nutritious, but appealing and familiar to the children they serve. Garfield County Schools will be participating in "Take Your Family to Lunch Day." In addition to sampling a nutritional school lunch, parents and other family members will have the opportunity to talk with school food service workers about their children's lunch programs and nutritional needs. Parents are encouraged to contact their local schools to obtain more information about "School Lunch Day." |