by Haley Verre
The new “Chocolate Free Milk Mondays” is depriving students of a favored drink one day each and every week. This school year, the Food Service Department for Westford Public Schools has decided not to provide chocolate milk for the students on Mondays. This is being enforced in the schools in order to follow Massachusetts health regulations. These regulations will eventually apply to all public schools in Massachusetts.
“A vote was taken among all the cafeteria managers and we decided that due to all of the Monday holidays and vacation days, Monday would be the day on which the absence of chocolate milk would be felt the least,” said cafeteria manager Colleen Wallace. “We decided to be pro-active and implement it this year in the hopes that by the time it becomes a regulation, the students in Westford will be accustomed to it.”
Chocolate milk has always outsold unflavored milk. Health concerns about additional sugar and/or corn syrup in flavored milk fuel the drive to cut back chocolate milk consumption in schools.
The lunch program follows strict guidelines in order to insure meals offer a sufficient amount of protein, bread or another type of grain, vegetables, fruit, and milk. It is mandatory that a student lunch includes at least three of these five foods. “That is why you will hear cashiers instructing students to go back to the serving line for a fruit or a milk if the tray is not balanced,” said Wallace.
As the school itself is attempting to provide more well-balanced meals for the students, the amount of fresh produce continually increases and processed food decreases.
It remains to be seen how much this popular beverage choice will be missed by the students each Monday.
First World Problems.
And yet pizza counts as a vegetable.