Unsafe School Lunches

Guest: Jennifer Hartle, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Stanford Prevention Research Center  Getting kids to eat more fruits and veggies is a centerpiece of efforts to making school lunches healthier. But the push comes with a catch: Often the most inexpensive way to get fruits and vegetables on the tray is taking the canned and pre-packaged route. That’s one of the first things Stanford researcher Jennifer Hartle noticed when she started studying school lunches. Everything comes pre-washed, pre-cut and often portioned in handy little plastic cups that go straight on a child’s tray. That’s when the warning bells went off for her.