Our school offers a salad bar every day, and it is my 6-yr old's absolute favorite thing in the cafeteria. I pack a jelly sandwich on wheat bread for his lunch every day (except Fridays - pizza day!), but in addition to the lunch I prepare, he *always* eats the salad bar. My 5-yr old likes the salad bar, too, as well as the little packages of raw baby carrots, apple slices and grapes. Every day, however, they both still prefer the sandwiches that I pack instead of the hot-menu cafeteria food.

The menu provided by the school looks very healthy and nutritious, but my kids just prefer what I pack. Instead of complaining that the menu doesn't appeal to them, I'm happy to pack their lunches.

I don't understand why kids are complaining about the cafeteria food -- don't take it, don't waste it. And if you don't want the cafeteria food, brown bag it from home.

SchoolBook asked a few parents of students at PS 53 in Brooklyn their thoughts on school lunches. Here is what they had to say:

"My son doesn't like the school lunch. Before he did like it but now it's too healthy. He'll eat the fruit but not the hot food. He prefers taking food from home." - Miranda Arellano, mother of 5th grade son.

"He takes food from home because we're vegetarian. Sometimes they serve vegetarian food, but not every day. So it's easier for me to prepare it." - Natra Srikanth, mother of son in Pre-K.

"I have a girl. She tells me they have chicken, pasta, pizza, lasagna. It's good. She is a thin girl. If she were overweight, than I might worry about her gaining weight with the food. She always eats a little bit, so it's not so bad." - Victoria Garcia, mother of daughter in Pre-K.

PS20 in Manhattan has a new program in our cafeteria: WITS - Wellness in the Schools. WITS was approved for a special menu, and our new chef offers bite sized samples to kids before they go up to get their tray so they know what they will be getting. At first, a LOT of chickpeas were thrown away, but now kids are trying them, and zucchini, loving their rice and chicken, and they are loving our expanded salad bar. WITS also offers cooking labs for kids 4 times a year. The kids are learning a bit more about what food is and why it's important.