July 22—Eighth-grader Hannah Edwards often brings her lunch from home because she’s not a fan of the cafeteria food at East Cary Middle School. But she’s happy to supplement her meal with a snack from school; she bought dessert and chips recently.
“We don’t really buy school food because it’s disgusting, but the snack food is good,” Hannah said.
Starting next year, though, new federal nutrition standards aim to make school snacks healthier. But history shows that when the food becomes healthier, kids buy less. And with 20 percent of Wake County’s school food service budget relying on the sale of snack foods, that could cause a revenue problem, officials say.