I hear this all the time about how "unhealthy" school lunches are perceived to be and why can't we make them better. I can attest that they are very nutritional. If you happen to notice on the menus, vegetarian entree options are sometimes available. As well as several fresh fruit and vegetable options. If you look closer the fat grams are listed as well as all the whole grain options. Nothing is deep fried. As a matter of fact all of the food items served are made to be reheated in a combi steamer oven or are oven baked from frozen.
For me as chef, when I started at JCPS, I had many of the same opinons of Nutritional Services that you have voiced. It would seem frustrating to a concerned parent that has no understanding of how the USDA National School Lunch Program is admininstered, to wonder how things get changed. Here is some light reading on the subject.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/slp You might find the link to the nutritional standards for meals to be interesting. The days of ketchup being considered a vegetable are long past. I would also suggest watching the very informative documentary "Lunch Line" that shows the challenges of administering and executing the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) at the district level.
You also have to understand that JCPS is large, urban school district of 100,000 students. One of the lesser known facts is that almost 65% of those students qualify for a free/reduced breakfast & lunch. The money to pay for those almost 7 out of 10 students that JCPS receives from the USDA to provide those free breakfast and lunches is a whopping $2.69 per student. We are pretty much beholden to the standards set forth in the policies of the NSLP as that money is essentially what drives the JCPS Nutrition Services Department. Once you consider that after you pay for equipment, labor, disposables and the transportation of the food, there is $1.40 left that actually makes it onto the plate. And that's for two meals a day.
I personally challenge anyone to provide for your child two meals a day, with the varitey we offer, a fresh fruit and vegetable option and milk for that price.
Twelve years ago, the district made the move to centralize food services to a commissary where cost, consistancy and quality of the food items can be controled. JCPS is suprisingly one of the few large districts in the country that do this. I would be happy to take you on a tour of the JCPS Nutrition Service Center when my schedule allows. We are very proud of our facility where we make over 60 of the menu items, including soups, entree items, fresh baked whole grain rolls and muffins from the bakery and fresh salads that use local produce when in season that are served in schools. The chicken patties, pizza and the like are either "processed commodities" we receive from the USDA as entitlement foods from surplus (one of my least favorite subjects altogether that is a policy decision and not a choice) or bid items that are the lowest priced items we can find that have met the nutritional standards as outlined by the USDA-NSLP
Now considering the challenges of meeting the nutritional standards, with food that the students will actually eat, with the money that we have available, JCPS Nutrition Services is actually at the forefront and consisdered to be a leader in school foodservice. We have as a district won several national awards for our efforts in using local products. Two years ago we began using as much local produce and meat that we can afford and can be sourced. Remember that school is out in the summer at the height of the growing season, so we proccess and freeze things like peppers, zuccini and squash in August to be used throughout the year. Here is a link to an article that goes in depth about the challenges implementing this.
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/louisv ... h-line.htm We also work with several Student Nutrtional Advisory Councils(SNAC) when we are testing recipes and products; so we get the students feedback on whether they like a menu item before we put it into production or we listen to their suggestions and re-work the recipes. This year we also have begun a very successful Breakfast in the Classroom program in several elementary schools that will be expanded next school year.
Just like it was for me when I was working in restaurants, it is impossible to please everyone all the time, but rest assured that at JCPS Nutrition Services, we are doing the best we can to provide a nutritious, wholesome meal to your children with the resources that we have available to us.
......Personally, I think this whole school lunch thing is a conspiracy coming right out of the Obama Administration.... 
...Seriously though, even after all these years, I still long for a good school lunch Sloppy (Sloppy) Joe...Served up by: