By Amy Sienicki
 
October 20, 2009
 
MEDFORD, Ore. - The United States Department of Agriculture is setting its sights on school nutrition.
 
According to a report released Tuesday by the Institute of Medicine, school menus need to increase the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It also calls for setting calorie limits and trying to reduce saturated fat and sodium.
 
The USDA hired the Institute of Medicine, an independent organization, to review how standards for school lunches could be improved.
 
Sodexo, which provides school lunches for Medford along with many other school districts in the Rogue Valley, says its already made some of those changes.
 
The Medford School District Nutrition Services Department says it substitutes leaner meats like chicken and turkey for beef, and uses whole wheat bread, brown rice, and other whole grains as much as it can.
 
"We do a weekly analysis of all the nutrients and all the foods. One of the things that that this allows us to do is to provide information to people on special diets. We provide carb counts for those kids," Sodexo Rogue Valley Senior General Manager Jeff Ashmun said.
 
In the Medford School District, 55 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
 
Currently, school meals must meet national standards that were established back in 1995.