BHS students and staff have been adjusting to the new food regulations that were passed by the government in Dec. of 2010.

The new regulations are part of the Healthy Free Kids Act of 2010. The act was passed by a unanimous vote in the Senate on Aug. 5, 2010, and was passed in the House with a 264-157 vote shortly after. President Obama signed the bill on Dec. 13, 2010.

The food service department has strict guidelines that have to be met every week.

“There is a cap on the number of calories that we are allowed to serve, there used to be only a minimum, not a maximum,” director of Food Services Julie Henry said. “There is also a cap on the amount of grain products and protein products we are allowed to serve. These requirements must be met every week, so if one day there are a lot of grains on the menu, then another day will have less to balance that out. There are also new requirements on the minimum amounts of fruits and vegetables that are served.  With this also comes rigid regulations on the types of vegetables that are served. Each week the high school menu must have five cups of fruit offered, half a cup dark green vegetables, one and a quarter cups of red/orange vegetables, a half cup of beans/peas or legumes, these only count if they are mature beans, so green beans and green peas don’t count, a half cup of starchy vegetables, three quarters cup of other vegetables, and one and a half cups of additional vegetables from any of the categories.”

Students who eat school lunch regularly are making the adjustment but most of them are not happy with the new regulations.

“I definitely think the new school lunches could be better,” senior Caleb Gaylord said. “The variety of food doesn’t make me excited to eat lunch and it isn’t enough food.”

Some BHS students bring a lunch from home on a regular basis so the new regulations do not have as much of an effect on them.

“I usually bring my own lunch so the new lunches haven’t really had an effect on me,” senior Mackenzie Johnson said. “I know a lot of kids aren’t happy with them but I understand that the regulations were put in place to help the lunches be more healthy so I don’t think they are completely horrible.”

Students and staff are not the only ones making adjustments, the kitchen staffs are also adjusting several aspects of how they serve and prepare meals.

“One thing that has changed is the way that the cooks count a reimbursable meal,” Henry said. “Students are now required to take a half cup of fruit or vegetable and two other components, not items, components so a hamburger counts as a protein and grain. They are also planning, preparing, and ordering significantly more fresh fruits and veggies. We began moving towards this change last year, so that the transition would not be as difficult, so the cooks were already beginning to make these changes before we were forced to.”

The new food regulations proposed many new changes for schools all over the nation and BHS students and staff are doing their best to adjust to them.