Menu change: no more chocolate milk

Stop by a Tahoma School District school at lunchtime and you are likely to find lots of healthy eating choices, including fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread, chicken, cheese and milk. What is no longer found on the menu is chocolate milk, which has led to both complaints and compliments from students and parents.

Tahoma’s Food and Nutrition Services Department decided that the high sugar or fructose content in chocolate milk is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle and doesn’t fit the district’s nutrition program goals.

“We offer kids healthier meals than in past years, with lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains,” said Sheri Melewski, food and nutrition services supervisor. “We regularly review menus to evaluate ways to make them both nutritious and attractive to our students. And even though chocolate milk is something that a number of students like, we decided that it just isn’t meeting our nutrition standards.”

Milk that is sold to students must meet new federal requirements as well, which requires that only fat free or 1 percent milk be sold. Tahoma schools are serving fat-free white, 1 percent white and soy milk.

“Eating healthy is part of the educational process,” Melewski said. “Children should learn and practice proper nutrition and health practices in school.”