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December’s Featured Product:
Oven French Fries

An ever popular side menu item is the French fry.  Kids are great fans of fries because fries are hot and crispy and an eater-friendly finger food.  Most fast food versions of the French fry are high in calories, fat and sodium.  The oven French fries served at all of our elementary and middle school cafeterias are a much healthier, yet tasty version.  We start off with Simplot Crinkle Cut ovenable fries and bake them in specialized ovens to give them the golden brown color and crunch of a fried product without the added fat.   All Middle schools are equipped with these specialized ovens and high schools are on a schedule to receive these ovens as well.   While the fast food French fry versions compare favorably with the school fries in the areas of fiber, protein, and vitamins, their calories, fat, and sodium content are considerably higher.  As the chart below indicates, a serving of the school baked French fry has 60% less calories, 73% less fat, and a whopping 85% less sodium than it’s closest competitor!  Since calories, fat, and sodium are areas of concern in most diets, it makes sense that the natural choice would be the school baked French fry!

The Texas Department of Agriculture, in response to the childhood obesity crisis, has created and implemented  the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy for Elementary, Middle and High Schools, effective August 1, 2004.  Among the restrictions, the portion size of fried potato products, including French fries, is limited to 3 oz.  We have chosen to restrict it further to a 2 oz portion as part of a reimbursable meal at all grade levels.  The nutrition policy also limits the number of times that a fried potato product may be served to 1 time per week at the elementary level, 3 times per week at the middle school level, and unlimited at the high school level as long as the portion does not exceed the specified 3 oz portions.  Students may not purchase more than one serving at a time.  For more information and for the most current policy updates, go to www.squaremeals.org.