Quick Read: California Schools Fall Short on School Lunches

Are California school lunch programs replete with full salad bars and grass-fed beef, or are you more likely to find a blob of Fritos chips with a scoop of chili and cheese on your lunch tray? That all depends on which school district you're in. California Watch did an analysis of school lunch programs and found that 60 percent of lunches reviewed by the state in the past five years didn't meet at least one federal nutritional requirement. For more on school lunches, visit State of Health's archives, and check out our community correspondent reports on school lunch programs in their cities.

Source: Californiawatch

Richard Hartog/California Watch Nearly one-third of California school districts reviewed by the state failed to limit saturated fat to 10 percent of lunch calories, as required. In fall 2008, state regulators began a routine analysis of the school lunches served in Wheatland, a rural community an hour north of Sacramento.