School lunches have long been objects of disgust and disbelief, but according to a newly released USDA study, the esthetic shortcomings of mystery meat and green gelatin are the least of the problems plaguing cafeteria food. What kids are getting on those plastic trays is a shortcut to heart disease. Typical school lunches get 38 percent of their calories from fat and 15 percent of calories from saturated fat. The guidelines for Americans, established by the USDA itself, call for a diet of no more than 30 percent fat and 10 percent saturated fat–and many nutritionists consider even those percentages too high. “This report emphasizes the excesses, but there are deficiencies too,” says Haas. “Kids aren’t getting enough carbohydrates, they’re not getting fruits and vegetables.” According to Public Voice for Food and Health Policy, a consumer-advocacy group, fewer than 10 percent of kids 6 to 11 eat the recommended five servings a day of fruits and vegetables; more than half of them eat less than a single serving of fruit a day. By now there is broad medical agreement that fruits and vegetables help prevent chronic disease, including some cancers, but school lunches are required to offer only two servings, and the kids often ignore everything but potatoes. Small wonder; much Of the stuff is canned.

None of this bad news comes as a surprise: Public Voice and other groups have been hammering away at school lunches for years. But critics of the program believe that change is a real possibility now, in part because of Haas’s commitment–she was the executive director of Public Voice. “For the last 12 years, nobody at USDA cared about this,” says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group. “This time the USDA is using the study as a platform to improve the program.”

Haas is conducting hearings on the school lunch program in four cities, taking testimony from pediatricians, school food-service administrators, parents, even chefs who specialize in healthful cooking. “We can’t make these changes alone,” she says. Another push is coming from Capitol Hill, where Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has just introduced legislation aimed at overhauling the USDAs meal programs. Under his bill, school meals would be required at last to comply with the dietary guidelines, the USDA would distribute more produce and low-fat dairy products, and schools would have the authority to ban sales of junk food. (Opponents are already clambering into their armor. They include candy and soft-drink manufacturers, and the dairy industry–milk-prices are based on fat content.)

Some schools aren’t waiting for the USDA. Bob Honson, director of nutrition services for the Portland, Ore., school system, says it’s hard to get people to change their habits, but it can be done. “When we introduced kiwi fruit early last year the kids didn’t know what to do with it,” he says. “Now they love it.” Last Tuesday he served beef-barley stew, spinach-romaine salad, vegetable muffins and kiwis. Participation in the lunch program is growing, and–thus far–there hasn’t been a single death from french-fry deprivation.

School lunches are in line for an overhaul–at last. The meals send kids all the wrong messages about food and health. Here’s what’s on the tray.

Doctors agree low fat is best. But the dairy industry will be riding herd on any changes.

Fresh produce would be a big improvement over canned and frozen. The USDA has doubled its purchases of fresh produce from 2 to 4 percent.

Important–but sometimes boring. Kids might not toss it if it’s new and tasty, like kiwi fruit.

Ever popular and ever fried. Currently, USDA distributes almost no fresh potatoes to the schools.

Just like fast food. But school meals should open kids’ minds, not close their arteries.

Even brownies can be more healthful, but schools need help with know-how if they’re going to get all creative.