CENTRE — The Cherokee County School System's Child Nutrition Program last week announced major changes to school meals for the first time in 15 years. The changes come in response to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

Designed to “raise a healthier generation of children,” the new standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science. The major changes – some of which have already been implemented in Cherokee County – include the following:

_ Fruits and vegetables will be served each day.

_ Milk with be either unflavored 1 percent or unflavored and flavored fat-free milk.

_ Other beverages offered will be unflavored water and 100 percent fruit juices.

_ Hot and cold sandwiches will be offered on whole-wheat bread.

_ Entrée and vegetable recipes will be altered to lower sodium.

_ Salads will be packed with vitamin-rich romaine lettuce and spinach.

_ Meals will be planned and portioned according to calorie requirements for particular age groups. Sodium and saturated fat targets will be used as well when planning meals.

Because of a federal requirement that school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program must ensure sufficient income from meal charges, districts across the nation must If a district does not charge paid students the amount that the USDA reimburses for a free meal, those prices must be adjusted annually. USDA calculators are used to determine the increase in lunch prices each year until they reach the same price as the reimbursement, currently $2.51.

In order to comply with this mandate from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, a local committee of stakeholders in Cherokee County recently recommended an increase of 25 cents per lunch meal for the 2012-2013 school year. The Cherokee County Board of Education adopted this recommendation, meaning paid student lunches will be $2.25.

Since employee and visitor meals are not reimbursed by the USDA, the amount of the USDA reimbursement for a paid lunch plus the value of commodities must be added to the price of the student meal to determine the employee price. As a result, employee lunches are being increased from $2.50 to $2.75.

Many parents used a previous online service for prepayment of meals in years past and missed the service when it was discontinued, according to a recent press release from the county school system. As a result, this year an online payment system called School Payment Solutions has been implemented.

In addition to free registration, the service allows parents to pay instantaneously with a credit card or check, review account balance and charges, e-mail reminders of low balance, and other features.

Anyone with questions about the changes in the Child Nutrition Program may contact Dr. Ann Dykes at 256-927-3397 or adykes@cherokeek12.org.