Mansfield ISD is hosting “All-Star School Lunch,” a NBA-inspired campaign for National School Lunch Week to help students learn the importance of eating healthy school lunches and staying active.

Elementary & Intermediate Schools
Students will receive a sports trading card in the cafeteria line at lunch on Tuesday, October 13. Each day (Tuesday-Friday) they get a meal they get the card stamped. Students who get a meal everyday this week will get free ice cream treat on Friday, October 16.

Middle & High Schools
At the secondary level the MISD nutrition Department will hold timed give-aways of some promotional items received for the event.

In addition to activities in the school cafeterias, students are invited to visit www.allstarschoollunch.org to find online activities and information on the nutrition campaign, sponsored by the non-profit School Nutrition Association and the Milk Processors Education Program (MilkPEP). The site features the All-Star School Lunch Team choices of participating NBA/WNBA players – well-balanced, nutritious lunch menus including fruits and vegetables, like kiwi and Mexicali corn, whole grain pastas and breads, as well as vegetarian fare.

Participants can download trading cards for each team, complete with photos of the famous honorary coach. As a nutrition bonus, the flip side of the card features nutrition “stats” and information about why the lunch is healthy.

National School Lunch Program
Serving nearly 31 million children every school day, the federally-funded National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides nutritionally balanced low-cost and free meals to students. The program requires school meals to meet federal nutrition standards:

Dietary guidelines dictate no more than 30 percent of calories can come from fat and less than 10 percent from saturated fat
Over the course of one week, lunches must provide 1/3 of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and calories
Well-balanced school lunches must include protein, fruits and vegetables, grains and low-fat milk and be served in age-appropriate portions

The 2009 National School Lunch Week is October 12-16, 2009.