Brookings schools offering easy access to meal information

• Nutrient numbers all on the web

BROOKINGS – A new tool on the Brookings School District website is making it easy for parents to find out what the school is feeding their kids this week – and how many calories and grams of sodium, protein, carbohydrate and fat those meals contain.

During last week’s school board meeting, summer intern Kaitlyn Hemmingson, a South Dakota State University nutrition graduate student, showed the board how quickly the meal information can be found. Just visit www.brookings.k12.sd.us, then click on “Lunch menu” on the left side of the screen.

“You can go in and look at the nutrients of each individual item that’s served,” Hemmingson said.

For instance, by clicking on last Friday’s K-8 menu, you’ll find that it included chili con carne with beans, cornbread, French fries, apple slices, milk, romaine lettuce, jicama and celery sticks. A click on the “View Nutrients” button will show you that one serving of the chili con carne contains 360 calories, 408 mg of sodium, 30.86 grams of protein, 21.34 grams of carbohydrate and 17.16 grams of total fat.

The webpage includes an exhaustive list of foods the district will serve throughout the year, including a la carte items.

Brookings Superintendent Roger DeGroot told the school board that Hemmingson and district employees involved with the project have created a helpful tool for the community and especially parents.

He said the district will be applying for an award for its wellness program, of which this service is a part.

“We’re going to try to hook this together with our wellness program throughout, for the staff and the students,” DeGroot said.

“It’s quite a comprehensive plan that we’re trying to put together for nutrition and wellness in our district. Again, we’re trying to talk about that culture, and all these things become part of that culture.”



Contact Charis Prunty at cprunty@brookingsregister.com.