Healthy School Lunch?

My 9yo begs me every day to make home lunch. I usually try to make him a healthy lunch but some days it is just too crazy and he has to eat school lunch. I hated school lunch as a child but I'm always arguing with my boys that school lunch is tastier and healthier now (but my memory isn't always too reliable).

Next week is National School Lunch Week, "Let's Grow Healthy". My 9yo brought home the schedule of lunches for the week. As we reviewed the menu we both laughed and laughed. Four of the five days the main dish was grease - pizza, corn dogs, deep-fried chicken sandwich, and breaded beef patty. Some of the side dishes were nutritious but not all. My 9yo said, "They think that's healthy!"

We're not big deep-fried fans. Ice cream may be essential but you'd be hard-pressed to find corn dogs or chicken nuggets in our freezer (there's no room with all the ice cream). So I had to concede that my son only had to eat school lunch on spaghetti and meatballs day (guess I'll have to be more organized in the morning).

I've heard that for some children school lunch is the healthiest and most complete meal they eat all day. That's a bit disturbing when you look over the menus.

What are your thoughts? I know children enjoy deep-fried foods. Am I being too extreme to hope that they would be the exception rather than the rule at school lunch? How does your school lunch rate?