Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
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food & wine "a bit of planning goes a long way" reform. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2012 made major changes to school lunch regulations for the first time in 15 years, directing schools to increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free milk. Public schools in Weston and Wellesley participate in the National School Lunch Program, which follows the USDA standards. Weston takes the extra step of buying produce from Land's Sake farm in Weston as well as New England-raised meat from Graze, a service that delivers foods from Vermont farmers and other small producers to the Boston area. The Wellesley school lunch program is in transition, as the vendor Chartwells did not have its contract renewed for the 2012-13 school year. Even though public school lunch standards have become healthier, many parents and children still want to control what they eat, so that means packing lunch each day. As Chaoui and other parents can attest, preparing a healthy menu demands equal measures of creativity, flexi- bility, and patience. Along with what a child likes to eat, there are social considerations. Food must not be too weird or embarrassing, or take too long to eat at a table filled with chattering children. Add to that finicky appetites and it can be quite a challenge to send kids off with food they will eat. Yet parents and nutrition experts agree that a bit of planning goes a long way. Before parents begin mixing tuna fish into a salad or portioning baby carrots into snack bags, Ashley Bade, a pediatric dietician at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, advises reviewing nutritional basics. The USDA has identified five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, pro- tein, and dairy. "I think the best rule of thumb to use for balancing the diet is to be sure you're including at least three food groups per meal. It's often that I see children with the majority of their diet coming from two to three food groups (usually starch and dairy, sometimes meats). This can lead to an unbalanced diet," she says. A good balance, she adds, would be to pack a lunch with two sources of fiber (from These sample menus from Ashley Bade, a pediatric dietician at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, offer different options for balanced lunches. n THREE OUNCES LIGHT CHUNK TUNA mixed with two teaspoons light mayonnaise and 1/2 cup chopped celery on one whole wheat pita. Baby carrots and a low-fat yogurt on the side n SLICED TURKEY AND LOW-FAT CHEDDAR CHEESE with lettuce and tomato on a wheat wrap with grapes on the side n HOMEMADE PASTA SALAD: wheat pasta with vegetables, low-fat cheese, and one tablespoon dressing with one cup berries on the side n ONE CUP NON-FAT PLAIN GREEK YOGURT mixed with one chopped peach plus a half sandwich on one slice of wheat bread with one tablespoon natural peanut butter and one teaspoon no sugar added jam n LOW-FAT CHEDDAR CHEESE with one serving whole grain crackers and one cup reduced-sodium vegetable soup 174 WellesleyWeston Magazine | fall 2012 JACOB VAN HOUTEN