Nutrition Standards for School Meals

  • Child with school lunch on trayMarana Unified School District proudly plans our menus to meet the following USDA standards: 

    • More fruits and vegetables: We offer students fruits and vegetables with every lunch and increased the portion sizes. Vegetable choices at lunch include weekly offerings of: legumes, dark green, and red or orange vegetables. Every school breakfast we offers students a full cup* of fruits or vegetables. *Students are required to take at least one half-cup serving of fruits or vegetables with every school breakfast and lunch. 
    • Whole grains: All grains offered in our school meals are whole grain-rich (the first ingredient must be a whole grain).  This even includes the breading on our chicken nuggets! 
    • Sodium Limits: We continue to meet the timeline for sodium reduction.

Sodium Reduction Target Timeline for School Meals

    • Limits on unhealthy fat: Our meals do not contain added trans-fat and have no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat. 
    • Low-fat and fat-free milk: Every school meal offers one cup of fat-free or 1% milk.  We only offer fat-free chocolate milk that has been developed with less added sugar specifically for schools to meet calorie limits. 
    • Free water: Drinking fountains are available in the cafeteria during lunch and breakfast.
    • Calorie limits: School meals must meet age-appropriate calorie minimums and maximums:

Calorie Limits