School Lunch Better Than Brown-Bagging From Home

August 25, 1999

School food has become more popular and more nutritious than the brown bag lunches of another day. A typical school lunch may have half the calories of the typical brown-bag lunch.

Sodexho Marriott Services, a company that provides school food service programs, says a typical brown bag lunch might include two slices of white bread, bologna, one slice of American cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, barbecue potato chips, an apple, chocolate chip cookies and a juice drink.

A typical school lunch might include chicken nuggets, dipping sauces, carrot and celery sticks, peaches, tater tots, chocolate cake, vanilla frosting and low-fat chocolate milk. The school lunch has roughly half the calories of the brown bag lunch, says Ev Beliveau, a registered dietician with Sodexho. "The school lunch also has less cholesterol and half the saturated fat. It is evident that the school lunch offers more essential nutrients children need for "brain food" and contains less fat and fewer calories than a typical brown-bag lunch."