Fruit and Vegetable Snacks Only Please - Food Allergies

During the first four weeks of school we will be evaluating food allergy response plans for students with medically sensitive needs. During this time, please send ONLY fruit and vegetable snacks to school. This is necessary to be responsive to the increasing number of medically sensitive situations with which we are faced.

AAPS Wellness Policy: I also want to note the AAPS has a Wellness Policy that covers both nutrition education and nutrition standards. In particular, the policy states that foods of minimal nutritional value will not be served during the instructional day, including the meal service period.

What does this mean for you? I encourage families to consider healthy choices, such as non-food items, as part of birthday and classroom celebrations. Of course, there is no way to mandate this kind of thing, but I am very aware how important the promotion healthy choices to students has been to the MLK community. Some healthy food suggestions include:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables
• Yogurt
• Bagels with low-fat cream cheese
• Baby carrot and other vegetables with low-fat dip
• Fig cookies
• Animal crackers
• Baked Chips
• Low-fat popcorn
• Granola bars (but may contain allergens)
• Soft pretzels and mustard
• Pizza (no extra cheese)
• Pudding
• String cheese
• Cereal bar
• Single-serve low-fat flavored milk
• 100% fruit juice
• Flavored bottled water

My recent healthy discovery: While shopping recently (at Costco), I picked up a product called "Trio Bars." They taste good, come in a variety of flavors and contain no trans fat, no additives, no preservatives, no cholesterol, are Kosher, and have no gluten, dairy or wheat. If they sound interesting to you, you might enjoy them as a healthy choice.