ABBEVILLE – The parish schools’ Child Nutrition Supervisor Mary Jumonville has approached the Vermilion Parish School Board about increasing the cost of school lunches by 20 cents per student because of the required extra food that will be placed on the plates for the upcoming school year.

Starting this year, students will have extra portions of vegetables and fruit on their plate, which is going to drive up the cost of the meal, Jumonville explained to the board members.

She said the federal government is making it mandatory all students be served more fruits and veggies for health reasons.

Jumonville is asking that students pay 20 cents more and teachers pay 25 cents extra.

It brings the cost to $1.45 for an elementary student and $1.50 for a high school student. The board last approved a lunch rate increase two years ago.

Ss a way to save money, all students, from the first grade to the 12th grade, will now be able to tell the cafeteria worker what they want or do not want on the their plate.

The student has to select at least three out of the five items offered. If a fifth grader does not want cooked carrots, none will go on the plate. That way, Jumonville said, the cooked carrots are not wasted and thrown away.

The same will occur for milk. In the past, every student received milk or juice. The board spends $777,000 a year to purchase milk.

Jumonville hopes that amount will drop next year because not every student will take a pint a milk if they do not have to.