CLEVELAND -- For the first time in 15 years, school lunches are getting a makeover.
The government is making food served to 32 million kids healthier, but could more be done?
Kids have a choice in their school cafeteria, but the options are changing.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that higher nutrition standards must be put in place next school year.
More fruit, more vegetables and whole grains. The new standards also set maximums for calories and cut sodium and trans fat.
Cleveland Chef Rocco Whalen struggled with his weight since childhood, but recently dropped 124 pounds for the Food Network Show "Fat Chef." He says the changes to the USDA school lunch guidelines are long overdue.
"More fruit and more vegetables are what we're looking for," Whalen said. "Let's give it to them. Let's give the kids the choices and educate them on the rights and wrongs of how to eat."
Pizza will continue to be served because the tomato paste is considered a vegetable.
The new rules will cost about 6 extra cents per meal and figuring out how to budget for the healthier food is on the shoulders of the school systems.
WKYC-TV