LEWISTON — Hot lunch is going up 5 cents in most Maine schools because of new federal rules requiring schools to serve healthier meals.

New regulations mean students will get more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and limits on sodium, fat and calories, said Walter Beesley, who works with school nutrition programs for the Maine Department of Education.

The federal government will pay 6 cents more per student per meal beginning Oct. 1 to schools following the new regulations.

School menu changes are from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed by Congress and championed by first lady Michelle Obama as part of her campaign against childhood obesity.

“It’s the biggest change in school lunches in literally decades,” said U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon, who has been involved in drafting and implementing the new rules. Concannon was commissioner of Maine’s Department of Human Services under former Gov. Angus King.

“The new meal requirements are science-based,” Concannon said Thursday. “These came from the Institute of Medicine, a panel we hired overseen by a pediatrician. In short, they will make sure American kids, all 32 million who eat lunch at school in the national program, receive more fruits and vegetables every day. That’s a first. They’ll receive more whole grains. Dairy milk will have to be nonfat or 1 percent. There’ll be less sodium and a whole bunch of very positive features.”

The price-increase mandate comes from schools using federal money meant to feed poor students to subsidize meals for other students, Concannon said. The idea is that schools must spend more to provide better lunches.

Last year, the federal government required schools to serve either a fruit or a vegetable at lunch. Now every lunch will have to have both fruits and vegetables, Beesley said. And there will be more fruits and vegetables of different colors.

Half of grains served, such as in rolls, pasta and wraps, will have to be whole grains. Fruit in heavy syrup will no longer be served. It will be fresh, or preserved in a light syrup or water. “They want the kids to be able to identify what fruits and vegetables they’re eating,” Beesley said.

Schools will still serve pizza, but the dough will be thinner, and often made from whole-wheat flour. Starchy vegetables, including potatoes and corn, will be limited. Potatoes can be served twice a week after schools have met the other fruit and vegetable requirements, Beesley said.

Lunch prices in Auburn will go up a nickle for all schools, but the high school increase will have to be approved by the School Committee, School Nutrition Director Paula Rouillard said.

New menus are in the works, she said. “We’re working very hard this summer.” The changes “are a lot at once, but they are very good changes.”

Higher prices will not cover the cost of healthier foods, which will mean higher labor costs, more offerings and bigger portions of fruits and vegetables, Rouillard said.

Lewiston schools introduced healthier menu changes last spring. Breaded chicken nuggets were replaced with grilled chicken bites, sweet potato bites replaced potato puffs, brown rice replaced white, and leafy greens replaced iceberg lettuce.

Lewiston School Superintendent Bill Webster said the lunch price hike “is our first in some time. Fortunately, the price increase has no impact on students who receive free or reduced lunch.”

Lewiston lunches will cost the district more than what parents will pay, Webster said. “Our prices are still lower than most. And we are buying more food locally.” While no one likes paying more, improved nutrition is a move in the right direction, he said. “Healthy eating is an acquired skill, and schools have a role to play.”

Mt. Blue Regional School District Superintendent Michael Cormier said he’s concerned about offering healthier food in Farmington-area schools, only to have students refuse to eat it.

In the past week, he’s had several conversations with the hot lunch supervisor about the new regulations “and the difficulty of building menus that the children will eat and not simply throw away,” he said. “We plan to monitor our waste this year, compared with last year, to see if there is a difference.”

Some students will refuse to eat the new food, Beesley acknowledged.

However, students might surprise adults, he said, adding that youngsters are often wiser than parents about nutrition. A number of schools already serve kale, brown rice and fresh kiwi as part of the U.S. Healthier School Challenge. Other schools are involved in programs that offer fruits and vegetables as snacks during the day.

“Kids are eating it,” Beesley said. Local Hannaford stores have asked to be given a heads-up when some produce items are introduced at schools, Beesley said, because youngsters ask parents to buy it, and some stores have run low. “Students are educating their parents,” he said.

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This fall’s school-lunch price hike won’t apply to students who receive free or reduced-price meals, said Walter Beesley, who works with school nutrition programs for the Maine Department of Education.

Forty-five percent of students statewide receive free or reduced-price meals; in Auburn, it’s 54 percent; and in Lewiston, 70 percent.

Lunches for grades K-8 in Lewiston will go up 5 cents. They’ll cost $1.30 at elementary schools and $1.55 at the middle school. At the high school, lunch will cost 10 cents more, $1.90.

In Auburn, school lunches for grades K-8 will cost $1.55, a nickle more, if approved by the Auburn School Committee. The high school price, which is $2.50, will not increase.

In Livermore, high school lunches will go from $2 to $2.05; elementary and middle school, from $1.80 to $1.85.

To read more about school-lunch menu changes and the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, go to: http://tinyurl.com/7zo5ku4.