Good afternoon, 

The food service department at Saranac CSD continues working diligently to meet USDA standards in order to help with the continued rise in childhood obesity. Last spring, the USDA published updated nutrition standards aimed towards lowering added sugar and sodium in school meals titled, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 

We aim to provide every student with a healthy option at breakfast and lunch and have taken many steps over the recent years to purchase local, purchase less processed foods, and introduce new, fresh fruit and vegetable options. This year, we eliminated fat free chocolate milk as it contains 9 grams of added sugar and 250 mg of sodium while regular milk contains 0 grams of added sugar and 100 mg of sodium. We will continue to prioritize the health of our students.

Resources regarding the current and upcoming child nutrition changes:

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

https://apps.health.ny.gov/public/tabvis/PHIG_Public/pa/reports/#county

https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/school-nutrition-standards-updates

If you or your student(s) have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

idirolf@saranac.org 

518-565-5705.

Sincerely, 

Isaac Dirolf