While you wait in the dreadfully long lunch line, whether it be for salad, pizza or the daily lunch, be aware that anything and everything you buy is regulated by the Federal Government. By law, every school lunch must follow specific food guidelines and requirements. The amount of calories, cholesterol, sodium, fiber, iron, calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, protein, carbohydrates, trans fat and saturated fats are among the nutritional requirements the school must meet when putting together students’ lunches. So, if you do choose to get a chicken salad with fries and dressing, along with some apple slices and milk, just know that you are consuming approximately 800 calories – an amount the federal government believes is healthy for a teenager to consume in one meal. It is roughly 40 percent of the calories needed for a healthy 2000-calorie diet. For those 800 calories, FHS students pay $2.15, or about one third the cost of a fast food value meal. In addition to an inexpensive price, our school’s policy will let students charge up to $10 on their accounts; even if students go over, they are still fed something – an alternate, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. According to an article from the Seattle Times, the federal government reimburses schools $2.72 for every student who receives a free lunch because their family’s income is below a set level. The government provides a smaller reimbursement for students who receive reduced-priced lunches because of financial need. But, the lunch must meet certain nutritional guidelines; students must choose at least three of the following for the school to get reimbursed: 2 ounces meat or meat alternate, ½ cup or more vegetables, 2 servings bread or grains, ½ cup fruit or juice and 8 ounces low fat/skim milk. Due to the cost of actually preparing the meal, which is $3.04, the school loses money for every free or reduced lunch it distributes. At Freedom, that’s almost 40 percent of the lunches served on a daily basis. It also loses money on regular meals, as well. The few ways the school makes money to cover lost revenue include la carte sales, in-house catering, and manufacturing rebates. Last year, the Food Service Department received about $374,000 from the federal government and state and spent about $762,800. This would be quite a dilemma if the school wasn’t under the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal program that helps schools. This program gives the school cash subsidies and USDA foods from the United States Department of Agriculture for every meal it serves. “If we opted out of the program, meals would have to be $5 and $6,” Dawn Fronius, Food Service Director said. Due to the excessive amounts of regulations and guidelines a school’s food service department must follow, it makes serving students lunch a rough task. “Some people do not understand how difficult it is, for the staff and the school, to prepare a school lunch. Preparing and serving our students nutritious food is what we do, and it is a monumental task when you consider all of the rules, regulations and financial constraints we are under,” Mrs. Fronius said. “This is not just a job, but it is a passion and each meal is served with a little love added to it.”