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nutrition update
When students go back to class in 2012, our updated nutrition regulation will be in effect. To prepare for this change, schools have worked hard over the past few months to ensure that better nutrition choices are available to all of our students. These standards apply only to foods served or sold by the Calgary Board of Education staff to students and do not apply to meals or snacks prepared by parents for students. The biggest change to our policy is that no junk food will be served or sold by CBE staff to students. For younger students, 100 per cent of foods must now fall under the "choose most often" category. For older students, foods and beverages must fall under the "choose most often" or "choose sometimes" categories. We listened to the community before we finalized the list of acceptable foods and beverages. For example, 250 ml chocolate milk was originally eliminated from the list. Following consultation with parents, schools and Alberta Health Services, this item was introduced to the "choose most often" category and many of our schools have sourced a lower-sugar chocolate milk option for sale in their schools. We are working closely with all of our vendors to ensure that items available to students meet these guidelines. Any vendors with products that do not meet our regulation have five days after school opens to remove them, or their contracts become void. Our nutrition strategy encompasses more than the items we serve or sell, and making sure that our vendors comply. Most importantly, the new rules support an education program that helps our students learn to make healthy choices. We thank our students, teachers, administrators and parent communities for their continued support. For more information about nutrition at the CBE, please visit our nutrition website at this link.
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