School lunches

[Guest guest]

Another revolution long overdue:

 

http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2007/01/18/lunch_lady/index.html

[Guest guest]

Another revolution long overdue:

 

http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2007/01/18/lunch_lady/index.html

**************

While I think what is served at schools for lunch has needed changing for

eons, I have a problem with the govt. being involved in mandating what my

kids eat. Being a Libertarian, I have a real problem with govt. no matter

who's in charge.....so I can offend everyone equally.lol

 

Any school that receives money from the govt. for a federally funded reduced

or free lunch program, starting this past fall, had to adopt a Wellness

Program that falls within the govt. guidelines.....otherwise, the govt.

stops kicking in money for their lunch programs and the schools sure don't

want to lose that funding.

 

This new approach is a double edged sword....at least for me.

 

The good of this Wellness Policy....

1-Forcing soda & that other crap out of vending machines at schools-it

should never have been in the cafeteria to begin with.

2-Forcing the food service corps. who most school districts pay for food

service-ours went food service 2 yrs. ago b/c they were cheaper than having

school employees buy/cook/make the lunches-to change menus so they offer

healthier foods & limiting portions on snack items. Now my french fry

obssessed teenager can't buy 5 orders of french fries(since I am not there

to see him do it!lol) and nothing approaching a vegetable when I'm not

around.

3-Making PE more important and giving the kids more opportunity/time for gym

and sports.

4-Not allowing school organizations to sell candy/cookies for

fundraising.....the PTA had a fit over this one as their big fundraiser was

selling a local Candy.lol

5-Here in PA, we have yearly testing known as the PSSAs.....it's all part of

the lunacy of No Child Left Behind. For weeks, no actual learning happens

in our schools, the kids spend the time being prepped to pass this test so

the school doesn't loose it's federal funding. The teachers here, while the

kids are taking the tests, hand out candy & soda during the breaks. Why?

So that the kids are hyped up on sugar and they do better on the tests.

Yes, if it wasn't so wrong, It would be funny!! Now they can't do this and

that's a good thing.

 

 

The bad of this Wellness Policy.....

1-Taking the joy out of special celebrations at school. Parents can't send

in cupcakes/cookies/goody bags to the classroom for a child's birthday.

Additionally, classroom parties that the PTA-sponsored homeroom moms

organize can't serve cookies, cake, candy, drinks other than water or milk,

etc. They can serve 1 'unhealthy' food, like pizza or pretzels, but not

both. So holiday parties are a handful of pretzels and water or celery

sticks and a glass of milk, etc. What kid would be thrilled with that?lol

I am all about healthier eating but even the food police should take a

holiday for a special occasion, right?

2-Having the govt. intruding more earnestly into your family. The school

nurses here are on a mission b/c of the WP to send home TONS of handouts

about all manner of health issues. I just wince at the thought of all those

papers ending up in the garbage unread by parents and all those poor trees

that were killed to produce them.lol

As part of the WP, the district here thought it would be a good idea to

taking BMI readings on all the kids. Now I can see maybe doing this for the

teens but certainly NOT for the elementary kids. My then 9 yr old came home

in tears that day with a paper on BMI and the fact that his reading showed

he was 'borderline' obese. My kid was 4ft. 8in. and weighed 65 lbs. soaking

wet and wore slim fit pants...he's all muscle to boot. How they ever got

that he was bording on a weight problem is beyond me!LOL And from what I

have read, a BMI measurement is an indicator for adults, not little kids.

But one of the other kids saw his paper from the nurse and they started

teasing him about being fat. A yr. later, he has this image in his head

that he's fat, no matter how much we tell him he isn't. See what kind of

good the govt's food police did him??!!

Government treats us all like we are idiots and that they are the only ones

who know what's best for us. I for one, want them involved in my life less,

not more.

 

I'm glad to see the quality of the food improve but the means in which they

go about it worries me.

 

sluggy

[Guest guest]

I think part of the problem is a bunch of uneducated parents who don't care or don't care enough that their children are fat. They send them to school with soda & oreos & don't wonder or care why their children can't fit in their clothes. Sarah takes her lunch. Occasionally she gets a school lunch & chooses the salad bar because in her words the food is nasty. Of course, she wears a size 1 so I'm not real worried. I pick her up from school occasionally & I wait in front of the school for her to come out. I am amazed at the # of FAT kids walking out of that school. It really breaks my heart to see a 13yo who wears a larger size due to weight than I do at 40. These aren't just isolated cases that could be associated with health issues. It really is at least 50% of the kids. If the parents won't do something, somebody needs to.Ellen

LaFleche-Christian Lilac Hill Homestead / Vermont http://tinyurl.com/lpfaf

Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check.Try the Mail Beta.

[Guest guest]

I've seen one of my SIL's do it...

 

Cyndi

 

In a message dated 1/27/2007 11:19:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, scentednights2002 writes:

 

 

 

 

I can tell you horror stories about women I have seen giving babies bottles full of Hi-C and soda. I am just amazed at how uneducated or uncaring they are to do such a thing.

Ellen LaFleche-Christian

Lilac Hill Homestead / Vermont

http://tinyurl.com/lpfaf

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sluggy, nutrition for growing children is so important for their future health that I think the changes absolutely outweigh the reservations you have. You are comparing honest-to-goodness nutrition to not important things like parties and bringing home handouts....

I DO agree with you about the less government in my life as I am a libertarian, too. Unfortunately, so many parents have no clue about nutrition that in this instance government involvement is beneficial to those kids.

Just my opinion, Sluggy

 

Barbara

 

 

While I think what is served at schools for lunch has needed changing for eons, I have a problem with the govt. being involved in mandating what my kids eat. Being a Libertarian, I have a real problem with govt. no matter who's in charge.....so I can offend everyone equally.lolsluggy

[Guest guest]

I agree with you Ellen. I know that people are so uneducated... In this age of computers in more than 60% of households they do have access to knowledge in they only be interested.

 

I personally knew a mother who fed her 9 month old baby a coke from the bottle!!! Can you imagine???

 

Barbara

 

 

 

 

I think part of the problem is a bunch of uneducated parents who don't care or don't care enough that their children are fat. They send them to school with soda & oreos & don't wonder or care why their children can't fit in their clothes.

 

Sarah takes her lunch. Occasionally she gets a school lunch & chooses the salad bar because in her words the food is nasty. Of course, she wears a size 1 so I'm not real worried.

 

I pick her up from school occasionally & I wait in front of the school for her to come out. I am amazed at the # of FAT kids walking out of that school. It really breaks my heart to see a 13yo who wears a larger size due to weight than I do at 40. These aren't just isolated cases that could be associated with health issues. It really is at least 50% of the kids.

 

If the parents won't do something, somebody needs to.

Ellen LaFleche-Christian

Lilac Hill Homestead / Vermont

http://tinyurl.com/lpfaf

[Guest guest]

I can tell you horror stories about women I have seen giving babies bottles full of Hi-C and soda. I am just amazed at how uneducated or uncaring they are to do such a thing.Ellen LaFleche-Christian Lilac Hill Homestead / Vermont http://tinyurl.com/lpfaf

Have a burning question? Go to Answers and get answers from real people who know.

[Guest guest]

You are so right! Once upon a time I was working midnights and my co-worker's husband got called into work, so she had to bring her baby to work in a portable playpen. Not only did she feed this kid Mountain Dew in a bottle...she had the nerve to yell at the poor kid when he couldn't stop bouncing off the wall from all the caffeine! Poor thing couldn't go to sleep for hours, and I tried to explain to her what the caffeine in Mountain Dew was doing to him plus explain that caffeine affects children and babies on an exponential curve so it has even more impact than on adults!

 

She just looked at me blankly like she had no comprehension of what I was saying,(or perhaps just didn't care) so I never bothered explaining how it would ruin the kid's teeth, stunt his growth and make him fat, LOL!

 

Some ignorance is beyond comprehension...

 

--Cee--

 

 

Re: School lunches

Posted by: "Ellen Christian" scentednights2002 scentednights2002

Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:18 am (PST)

I can tell you horror stories about women I have seen giving babies bottles full of Hi-C and soda. I am just amazed at how uneducated or uncaring they are to do such a thing.Ellen LaFleche-ChristianLilac Hill Homestead / Vermonthttp://tinyurl.com/lpfaf

[Guest guest]

Barbara, I agree. I too look unfavorably upon government meddling in our lives and food choices, but this is a serious issue that is literally ruining the lives and health of America's children today and SOMETHING must be done. We are a fast paced, consumer driven society that relies heavily upon convenience foods (very few moms send their kids lunches like Ellen and Cyndi did/do) and today's parents are either ignorant or too overburdened to care about proper nutrition for their kids. Taking junk out of school lunches (where it never had any business being in the first place!) and giving kids healthy choices is a step in the right direction. I am willing to accept that for the health and future of our children...

 

--Cee--

 

 

Re: School lunches

Posted by: "Barbara" barbara3 bbarbara2002

Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:55 am (PST)

Sluggy, nutrition for growing children is so important for their future health that I think the changes absolutely outweigh the reservations you have. You are comparing honest-to-goodness nutrition to not important things like parties and bringing home handouts.... I DO agree with you about the less government in my life as I am a libertarian, too. Unfortunately, so many parents have no clue about nutrition that in this instance government involvement is beneficial to those kids. Just my opinion, Sluggy Barbara

[Guest guest]

Cyndi wrote.....

I agree-the gov't has never proven to me that they've ever done anything

that actually benefits anyone other than themselves and big business. But if

the gov't doesn't do something, noone else will. That's the problem. Schools

will continue to happily shove whatever cheap crap they can into children's

mouths.

*************************

And you have exactly hit the nail on the head with " never proven to me that

they've ever done anything that actually benefits anyone other than

themselves and big business. "

Gov't is IN the Pocket of Business. NEVER assume anything but this. In the

struggle between Macro and Micro Economics, our Government will choose the

good of the whole organism(the good for gov't itself and business)over the

good or the rights of the individual. Our government has gotten too big &

bloated. Our system is no longer gov't for the people, by the people, of

the people. It's gov't for the people, by business, of business.

 

I'm just saying that if you think that having the Government fix something

is the answer, think harder. Giving the gov't more power over you is never

the good answer....it may be the easy answer for now, but you'll be sorry

later. Once the people concede their power to gov't, it is almost

impossible to get gov't out of that area. And gov't control is like a

creeping ivy.....it branches out, expands and gets into anything it can.

Before you realize it, you are covered in ivy and can't move. ;-)

I don't have the answers-wish I did!-but for me, more gov't intervention is

NOT the answer.

 

I aplaud that renegade lunch lady for what she is trying to do! I also

think Jamie Oliver over in England did a great service to his country's

lunch program. The problem is she is being paid through a grant and it's up

in 3 yrs. So I feel disheartened about how long her innovations will stay

in place once she goes back to her high priced chef job. We are shoveling

tons of tax money into a broken system and now they are paying More tax

money to get her to change a tiny corner of the system....and then what??

It's not enough and it's too late.

 

We got to this point in regard to public school lunch programs by handing

over control to the gov't. We got to this point in some regard to lack of

parental power over our kids by handing over control to the gov't. And all

I can ask is, " How's this working for ya? " . Giving even more power to

gov't to fix something-especially something they are already enmeshed in &

have bungled is scary to me.

 

Let me ask this.....Why are we relying on schools to feed our kids in the

first place? Use to be, kids would come home at lunch time and their

parents fed them-usually good wholesome food-and then they trotted back to

school. Schools were NOT in the business of feeding kids....they were in

the business of teaching them. With all our societal changes since the end

of WWII, we have relinquished, or have been forced by these changes to

relinquish our responsibility and right to feed our children as we see fit.

Just have the gov't funded school responsible for feeding your kids-it's the

cheap & easy way and w/most people, human nature is all about doing the easy

thing.

 

I have had my kids in both a private school and a public school and have

seen the differences in what kids are fed in the 2 systems. Private small

school doesn't have to worry about federal funding of lunch programs or have

a business running it's lunchroom like a public school. You would think

that the mega budget public school cafeteria would be miles ahead in the

quality of nutrition for the kids they feed, since a small private school

has alot less money to work with to feed their kids? Nope. In my

experience, the private school w/out the gov't involved in the lunch program

had the better quality food-cooking from scratch w/fresh ingredients. It

was a much smaller staff who were probably paid alot less, working on less

and older equipment. It wasn't cheaper however, as it wasn't subsidized.

Eating well is not cheap unless you are growing/raising your own food and

then it has it's own costs that aren't monetary-like your valuable time and

using your physical labor.

 

The other problem is a culture that doesn't value parental responsibility in

raising our kids. Parents send their kids to school with inappropriate food

b/c of their lack of knowledge & self involvement w/their own 'stuff'(not

caring) & a culture around them(which they are way too tuned into!) telling

them that feeding kids twinkies and coke for breakfeast is what everybody

else is doing so it's OK.

 

It's going to take at the least, a monumental shift in how our lunch

programs are run(or IF there should be lunch programs at all)and undoing

generations of a tradition of non-parenting and giving over parenting and

control of our lives to gov't. entities.

There's no easy answer.

sluggy

[Guest guest]

One time when Kail and I were arguing about politics, and he was saying something about people who devote their entire lives to public service and leave to go to the private sector because they could make more money there, or something to that effect. I think he meant Tom Ridge at the time, I don't remember. Well, I told him there was a REASON the founders created only SHORT TERMS for politicians-they were only meant to serve their term and THEN GO HOME. They were never meant to sit on their collective asses for life at the American publics expense. Now, they give themselves raises to support their comfort and longevity.

 

Oh, don't get me started, lolol. I don't mean for this to degrade into any political debates. We all have our own views, and unfortunately no answers.

 

I agree with everything you say, Sluggy, and I wish I had some answers too. Answers that would benefit our children and the environment...I wish someone COULD overhaul the school lunch system.

 

Cyndi

 

In a message dated 2/1/2007 9:47:19 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, arcure writes:

Cyndi wrote.....I agree-the gov't has never proven to me that they've ever done anything that actually benefits anyone other than themselves and big business. But if the gov't doesn't do something, noone else will. That's the problem. Schools will continue to happily shove whatever cheap crap they can into children's mouths.*************************And you have exactly hit the nail on the head with "never proven to me that they've ever done anything that actually benefits anyone other than themselves and big business."Gov't is IN the Pocket of Business. NEVER assume anything but this. In the struggle between Macro and Micro Economics, our Government will choose the good of the whole organism(the good for gov't itself and business)over the good or the rights of the individual. Our government has gotten too big & bloated. Our system is no longer gov't for the people, by the people, of the people. It's gov't for the people, by business, of business.I'm just saying that if you think that having the Government fix something is the answer, think harder. Giving the gov't more power over you is never the good answer....it may be the easy answer for now, but you'll be sorry later. Once the people concede their power to gov't, it is almost impossible to get gov't out of that area. And gov't control is like a creeping ivy.....it branches out, expands and gets into anything it can. Before you realize it, you are covered in ivy and can't move. ;-)I don't have the answers-wish I did!-but for me, more gov't intervention is NOT the answer.I aplaud that renegade lunch lady for what she is trying to do! I also think Jamie Oliver over in England did a great service to his country's lunch program. The problem is she is being paid through a grant and it's up in 3 yrs. So I feel disheartened about how long her innovations will stay in place once she goes back to her high priced chef job. We are shoveling tons of tax money into a broken system and now they are paying More tax money to get her to change a tiny corner of the system....and then what?? It's not enough and it's too late.We got to this point in regard to public school lunch programs by handing over control to the gov't. We got to this point in some regard to lack of parental power over our kids by handing over control to the gov't. And all I can ask is, "How's this working for ya?". Giving even more power to gov't to fix something-especially something they are already enmeshed in & have bungled is scary to me.Let me ask this.....Why are we relying on schools to feed our kids in the first place? Use to be, kids would come home at lunch time and their parents fed them-usually good wholesome food-and then they trotted back to school. Schools were NOT in the business of feeding kids....they were in the business of teaching them. With all our societal changes since the end of WWII, we have relinquished, or have been forced by these changes to relinquish our responsibility and right to feed our children as we see fit. Just have the gov't funded school responsible for feeding your kids-it's the cheap & easy way and w/most people, human nature is all about doing the easy thing.I have had my kids in both a private school and a public school and have seen the differences in what kids are fed in the 2 systems. Private small school doesn't have to worry about federal funding of lunch programs or have a business running it's lunchroom like a public school. You would think that the mega budget public school cafeteria would be miles ahead in the quality of nutrition for the kids they feed, since a small private school has alot less money to work with to feed their kids? Nope. In my experience, the private school w/out the gov't involved in the lunch program had the better quality food-cooking from scratch w/fresh ingredients. It was a much smaller staff who were probably paid alot less, working on less and older equipment. It wasn't cheaper however, as it wasn't subsidized. Eating well is not cheap unless you are growing/raising your own food and then it has it's own costs that aren't monetary-like your valuable time and using your physical labor.The other problem is a culture that doesn't value parental responsibility in raising our kids. Parents send their kids to school with inappropriate food b/c of their lack of knowledge & self involvement w/their own 'stuff'(not caring) & a culture around them(which they are way too tuned into!) telling them that feeding kids twinkies and coke for breakfeast is what everybody else is doing so it's OK.It's going to take at the least, a monumental shift in how our lunch programs are run(or IF there should be lunch programs at all)and undoing generations of a tradition of non-parenting and giving over parenting and control of our lives to gov't. entities.There's no easy answer.sluggy