FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

DULUTH - The students enjoying lunch during the summer program at the new MacArthur Elementary School had a special visitor Wednesday.

USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Audrey Rowe talked with kids, parents, and school staff to see how the new, upcoming guidelines for healthy lunches were working out.

"The reason we prepare this lunch is not only to give you something to eat, but we want to give you something healthy and that tastes good," Rowe said to the students.

Making them healthy and balanced, while getting kids to eat it, was all part of the equation for new offerings in the lunch line.

"We're doing portion size that are age appropriate but we're also reducing protein and some of the other things on the overall tray," Rowe said.

Duluth Schools have already been working to make their lunches healthier but this year there should be even more color on the lunch line.

"In school lunches this year people can expect to see more fresh fruits, more fresh vegetables," Duluth Public Schools Superintendent Bill Gronseth said.

Gronseth was excited to show off the new spread to the USDA and said the benefits come full circle in the classroom.

"When kids are well nourished their brain is more capable of learning," Gronseth said.

"I think it's great the kids are getting used to all this stuff and they just love it," Kitchen Manager Patty Barker said.

The cooks, district staff, and federal administrators are all on board for the new year in the lunch line, but the final test will be from students heading back next month.