Vineyard School Lunches: Good Enough?

One of my favorite things about school breaks is that I don't have to think about what my kids will eat for lunch—at least not until lunchtime. So, this Monday, the first day back after 10 whole days of not thinking about it, I was faced with the ever familiar questions: What should they take for lunch? Should they buy? What's on the menu? What's in the fridge? Why, oh why, did I not figure this out last night?!

On the whole, Martha's Vineyard schools go above and beyond average in terms of what they offer our kids to eat on a daily basis. Every school has their own garden, and the Island Grown Initative's Island Grown Schools program has been extremely instrumental in getting local foods onto lunch trays every day.

, and Schools as well as the all have their own kitchens, and offer as much locally grown food that they can. and have their lunches made by Chartwells, a national school meals provider contracted by Martha's Vineyard Public Schools. kids can order the Chartwells bag lunches.

Improvements are happening all across the board: Chilmark has hosted four community lunches so far this year with another one scheduled for this Friday. West Tisbury just purchased a new salad bar. The Oak Bluffs School has brought in Island chefs on many occasions this year. And according to Gina deBettencourt, head chef at the Edgartown School, she's still got a freezer full of corn, thanks to . Close to 80 percent of her kids buy lunch every day.

But is it enough? Do you feel like your school is offering kids healthy lunches? How about lunches that your kids will actually eat? How many times a week do your kids buy lunch? What would you like to see a little more of? How about a little less?