Wayzata Schools Menu Review

Each month we use the district's Nutrislice site to comb through the ingredient lists of all the menu offerings at the elementary schools.  We look for concerning ingredients - trans fats and hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, hormones and antibiotics, processed and artificial sweeteners, artificial colors and flavors, artificial preservatives, and bleached flour.  If a menu item has a concerning ingredient, it's marked red on the menu.  If it's free of concerning ingredients, it's marked green on the menu.  And if there's no ingredient list for us to review, the item is marked yellow.  It's important to note Nutrislice does not contain information about hormones and antibiotics so the number of red items could be much higher. 

We post the menu on our Facebook page so parents can use it to discuss meal choices with their kids.  This is an example of two weeks at the elementary schools in October 2019:

One month a year we try to also review the middle school and high school menus to show a comparison.  We would like to do this every month, but unfortunately it is simply too large of a job due to the larger menu.  These are the same two weeks at the middle schools:

And the same two weeks at the high school:

It's apparent that the food quality changes, and not for the better, in the upper grades. 

In addition to these standard menus, the middle schools and high school also offer an a la carte menu.  This menu includes items such as donuts, ice cream, cheese stuffed pretzels, and cupcakes.  These pictures were taken at Central Middle School in Spring 2019:

Parents often have no idea their kids are purchasing a la carte items until they realize how quickly their meal payment funds are disappearing.  But there is a way around this - parents who are worried about their kids eating off the a la carte menu for health reasons as well as the potentially large financial impact can call the school and the cashier will flag their account, which will not allow the purchase.  Of course parents should discuss this with their kids before doing so. 

We've heard many stories from middle and high school parents who now only send home lunch because of the food quality and potentially high meal cost at these schools.  One health-conscious middle schooler realized on his own he was eating too much a la carte.  How?  He was gaining weight!  He asked his parents to cut off his account from a la carte and now brings more nutritious food from home.