5 things: USDA weighs chocolate milk ban in schools

In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

 1.    USDA weighs chocolate milk ban in schools

USDA officials are considering a ban on chocolate milk in elementary and middle school cafeterias due to its high sugar content, according to The Wall Street Journal. The proposed flavored-milk moratorium has already been adopted by major cities like Washington, DC, and San Francisco and was first floated by the feds earlier this year.

Read more: USDA weighs ban on chocolate milk in school cafeterias

 2.    College costs see recent drop

The average private college charges $53,430 in tuition and fees and room and board in 2022-23, down from $57,350 in 2020-21, according to College Board data. At public colleges, the net price of attendance now averages $19,250, a figure that has dropped by 13% in five years. Those net price figures comprise tuition and fees and room and board, subtracting thousands of dollars in scholarships, discounts, and grants that schools and governments provide to recognize merit or need, The Hill noted.

Read more: College Costs Dropping After Outcry

 3.    “Ghost town” office buildings need to focus on amenities to entice tenants back, experts say

Related:5 things: Sodexo unveils some of the dishes it plans to serve athletes at next year’s Paris Olympics

It's no secret that commercial real estate is in bad shape across the globe, and approaches to amenities like onsite dining may be part of the solution to enticing tenants to return, say some close to the situation. "The more an office building acts like a hotel, the more office tenants are attracted to it and the more likely they will stay," said David Klein, managing principal at real estate brokerage Lee & Associates.

"I strongly believe the office experience should be at the same level as luxury residential and hospitality," added Michael Shivo, owner of the Transamerica Pyramid, who's investing $250 million in a renovation of the landmark that's currently sitting 36.7% vacant. "In the last two years, we’ve made our homes into our offices, now it’s time to make our offices feel like our homes."

Read more: New York, San Francisco Office Buildings Are Absolute Ghost Towns

 4.    Chick-fil-A to open at Children’s Hospital

Two years after McDonald's left Children's Hospital in Augusta, Ga., a Chick-fil-A unit is taking its place in the 154-bed hospital that's part of Augusta University Health. Fast food chain units have been controversial in hospital settings, particularly childrens hospitals, for years.

Related:5 tech things: Major chains look to AI to boost efficiencies and profitability

Read more: Chick-fil-A to open at Children’s Hospital

 5.    High schooler sues district over right to share info on milk alternatives

A Los Angeles high school student is suing the school district and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for allegedly violating her First Amendment right to share information at school about alternatives to cow's milk and health concerns about dairy consumption. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed the lawsuit alleging free speech violations on behalf of Eagle Rock High School senior Marielle Williamson, alleging that Williamson, 17, was told by her school that she could not share information about plant-based milk or critical of the dairy industry in the school cafeteria unless she provided pro-dairy content as well.

Read more: Student Accuses LAUSD Of Violating First Amendment Over Cafeteria Milk

Bonus: FM On Demand with Tara Fitzpatrick: Cleveland Clinic chef on lifelong quest for true meaning of food as medicine

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]