What do they feed our kids?

[ckhagen]

Laptop Lunch boxes and the whole theory behind them are absolutely fantastic and that's what we pack my child's lunch in every day. He loves it. We've been doing it 2.5 years now. If every parent used a laptop lunch box and gleaned ideas from the thousands of people who post pictures of what they put in their boxes (great ideas on Flickr), the kids in this country would likely be a lot healthier. Something about those little compartments and not being able to cram packaged food in there really makes you think about what you're putting in it. We pretty much just stuff it full of fresh fruit, veggies, and a little half sunflower butter and sugar free jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread. Sometimes I send a little thermos of soup and replace the compartment in the LLbox with a tbsp of almonds, seeds, and raisins. They're pretty much guaranteed not to overeat and yet have variety. It takes less than 3 minutes in the morning.

Laptop Lunches

 

[Pearce]

My kdis go to Bay and they get grilled chicken sandwiches, sliced ham/turkey, a serving of fruit and veggies with every meal. The get milk to drink and usually a cookie, pudding or applesauce. you can check their menu on their website New Page 1 the cost is about $1.75 per meal. they serve breakfast too. They also have PE 4 days per week.

 

[sunspotbaby]

lunch czar: :roll:

 

[John R]

Time For Lunch : Home : Slow Food USA

 

[wrobert]

In my inbox from Christin at Raw & Juicy-
As part of the campaign, Slow Food is lobbying Congress to allocate an additional $1 per day per child for healthier lunch items, to limit the junk food sold in schools and to teach children about food through farm-to-school programs and school gardens.
!

Any idea just what this would cost and where the money is suppose to come from?

I am sure it has changed by now, but the Fed use to pay the local school district more for a lunch than what they were charging to the full price customers.

 

[Cali]

My kdis go to Bay and they get grilled chicken sandwiches, sliced ham/turkey, a serving of fruit and veggies with every meal. The get milk to drink and usually a cookie, pudding or applesauce. you can check their menu on their website New Page 1 the cost is about $1.75 per meal. they serve breakfast too. They also have PE 4 days per week.

Canned fruit cocktail and canned green beans is not what I consider healthy or acceptable choices. Also they(Kindergarten) only have PE 3 days a week as of now. I will continue to make my childs lunch however he of course thinks the idea of getting lunch at school exciting and new but wonders why school offers chicken nuggets, cookies, tator tots pudding and gross canned veggies. Our children depend on us to set good examples of healthy eating. I think our school systems have failed at this and need to take action as soon as possible.

 

[jamie]

ckhagen, I was looking for you on this thread! I taught preschool at Village Baptist & they did not provide lunches. Gateway does not have a licensed kitchen; they do have the option of purchasing lunches each day & you are correct, they are from different restaurants, mostly within walking distance of the school. I am curious, though, about your research...is it for anything in particular or just for your own sake? Please keep us posted on your findings. I do not have children, but can only imagine my concerns if I did--being very health conscience & vegetarian, with a vegan husband...I am sure it would be hard to find adequate choices in a school cafeteria. SWGB brought up the vegetarian/vegan options, I had no idea that it was required for the schools to provide alternative choices. But canned green beans & french fries hardly count as a balanced meal! Ok, I will get off my box now....this is an area that I am very passionate...sorry for the ramble!

 

[ShallowsNole]

Canned fruit cocktail and canned green beans is not what I consider healthy or acceptable choices. Also they(Kindergarten) only have PE 3 days a week as of now. I will continue to make my childs lunch however he of course thinks the idea of getting lunch at school exciting and new but wonders why school offers chicken nuggets, cookies, tator tots pudding and gross canned veggies. Our children depend on us to set good examples of healthy eating. I think our school systems have failed at this and need to take action as soon as possible.

Canned vegetables are better than no vegetables at all.

Using your green beans as an example, there is NO WAY a school kitchen could clean, snap, shell, and properly cook the amount required to feed the number of children they have to feed in three hours. (Of course, I suspect that my idea of properly cooking green beans is vastly different than yours. :roll

I still do not like English peas because of the ones I was fed 40 years ago at Bay Elementary. On the other hand, our schools have many more pressing issues to address than whether their beans are canned, frozen or fresh.

 

[scooterbug44]

It's not an issue of canned or fresh green beans. (And you can easily get good pre-cut frozen beans BTW).

1) Kids can't focus and learn if they are hungry or poorly fed.
2) Eating habits - good or bad - are developed when you are young.

These children are our future and we are feeding them unnutritious crap.

Palatable and healthy food will pay major dividends in test scores, health (now and later), and classroom behavior.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Canned vegetables are better than no vegetables at all.

Using your green beans as an example, there is NO WAY a school kitchen could clean, snap, shell, and properly cook the amount required to feed the number of children they have to feed in three hours. (Of course, I suspect that my idea of properly cooking green beans is vastly different than yours. :roll

I still do not like English peas because of the ones I was fed 40 years ago at Bay Elementary. On the other hand, our schools have many more pressing issues to address than whether their beans are canned, frozen or fresh.

I know how you feel about the peas; my issue was with the milk
however, to your point about "more pressing things to do..."

what could be more pressing for the School Food Service management than serving healthy food? Isn't that their job?

I simply don't understand why the food is the way it is--it does not take much more time to prepare healthy food than unhealthy food, if one plans...the students don't need "fancy", but they do need healthy and a variety of fresh fruit and veggies, IMO.

What is the issue with time? Do the school food staff not have enough time to prepare? Don't they work full days? Perhaps I need to be educated on the situation, but if the look of the new kitchen facilities at the new high school are any indication, then our students should be eating like kings and queens...instead (I was told) they were served hot dogs on the first day of school--what's up with that?
I