A new look for lunch: Goodbye hot Cheetos, hello

Vegetarian Options

Healthy, sustainable items dominate Dallas ISD’s new menus

A green-leaf logo on each day’s menu identifies vegetarian items. New items this year include the “rojo fiesta pizza” (a crust topped with refried beans, salsa and cheese), “vegetarian dippers” (cheese toast with marinara), three-bean chili, and a spinach and cheese flatbread. “We have a fairly large population of people who don’t want to eat meat for all kinds of reasons, and we’re trying to address that,” says Margaret Lopez, Dallas ISD director of nutrition, noting the district’s 75 different home languages that include cultural and religious food parameters, as well as families who are vegetarian for environmental reasons.

Two antibiotic-free chicken options will be featured on this year’s menu: the chicken nuggets and the grilled chicken sandwich.

High school menus are moving from a one-week to a two-week cycle. Menus already offer eight entrées daily, and add a monthly featured item to the standard menu. In September, the feature is “chic penne” with whole wheat pasta, fresh broccoli florets, a variety of cheeses and grilled chicken. “People kind of get stuck in a rut and gravitate to the same thing,” Lopez says. “This is an effort to put a few more choices out there.”

Hot ‘n Spicy Chex Mix

Serving size: ~1 oz

Calories: 110

Fat: 3.5 g

Sodium: 160 mg

vs.

Look at other smart snacks and their nutrition information at oakcliff.advocatemag.com/DISDhope

“Harvest of the month” menu items are grown by local Texas farmers. September’s menu features watermelon from the Green family in Henderson. Cafeterias feature posters with fun facts about harvest items, such as, “Did you know the vine can grow as much as 8 feet within the first month?”

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Serving size: ~1 oz

Calories: 170

Fat: 11 g

Sodium: 250 mg

“We won’t be selling hot Cheetos this year,”

Lopez says. Last year the district piloted a program with roughly 20 schools to find out whether students would still buy snacks if there were no Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or the Nacho Cheese Doritos to be had. “And actually, they did,” Lopez says. This year, the program rolls out to all 224 schools, where any items sold at lunch and from vending machines must meet the new federal “Smart Snacks” guidelines. Lopez knows that lower calorie counts and the absence of trans fats shouldn’t be the only factors in snack selection. “We’re looking at clean labels for next year and will review them this year,” she says.