Get Schooled

By JustMe

April 26, 2007 11:58 AM | Link to this

If the kids don’t eat, would that really be bad? Too many are obese anyway; they could stand to lose a few pounds!

Even when I was in high school, there was no choice. The lunch lady made up the tray and handed it to us - case closed. Our choice was between white milk and chocolate milk. If I didn’t eat the veggies on the plate, they went to waste. But, if I didn’t eat them then I would be hungry. Maybe we should go back to doing it this way….

By Lisa B.

April 26, 2007 12:15 PM | Link to this

Have you seen some of the kids these days? Many of them are HUGE! I don’t mean slightly over weight, or a little plump. HUGE. I honestly don’t believe the children will actually starve themselves, or go on hunger strikes to keep their junk food. I also don’t think missing the occassional meal will hurt them. Its not the school’s job to fill these kids up with junk.

By V for Vendetta

April 26, 2007 12:19 PM | Link to this

Something to think about from a teacher’s experience …

Would this be such a problem if as many kids still brought their lunches to school? I carried my lunch to school ever single day in high school. But now at my school (one of the “good schools” remember) I have students constantly bragging about being on the free/reduced lunch plan. This is in a district where ABSOLUTELY NO ONE should be unable to feed their own child. It is abhorrent and disgusting that these types of people would take advantage of a program that is intended to help the truly needy. And yet the school system hands out the forms like blithering idiots at the beginning of every year.

As far as the health issue is concerned … the outcry over obesity in this country is just plain ABSURD. IMHO, healthly lunch debates can go pee on an electric fence. If you don’t want to be fat, obese, overweight, or whatever you want to call it this week then GET OFF YOUR @SS AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. All kids want to do now is sit inside and play video games all day or talk on the computer. Pathetic. Where is the sense of pride people got from being in peak physical condition? People complain that Hollywood teaches us to have an unrealistic body image - I say it’s just the opposite. We should WANT to look healthy and lean. We should STRIVE to be in ridiculous physical shape. There is NO EXCUSE not to be - not time, not effort, not ability. There is NO EXCUSE.

The sooner kids see us modeling these behaviors, the sooner it won’t matter so much what the damn lunch line is serving. Think about it.

By high school teacher

April 26, 2007 12:23 PM | Link to this

Kids always have a choice… to bring their lunch from home. My son is very picky, but he at least loves good ol’ PB&J, which isn’t too bad for you when served up on whole wheat bread!

Realistically speaking, if the schools make any money on lunches, then they do need to consider that they might lost money if kids stop buying school lunches.

By high school teacher

April 26, 2007 12:25 PM | Link to this

Please don’t take this the wrong way, V, but you sound as if you are ready for summer! :)

By Ernest

April 26, 2007 12:40 PM | Link to this

V, your comment in your second paragraph is one for the ages :).

Here’s where I’ve got to commend on school in DeKalb, Browns Mill ES, as the only ‘sugar free’ school in the nation. Their principal, Dr. Y. Butler has deemed that students need healthy choices for lunch and has pretty much removed foods high in sugar from the school while still meeting federal lunch nutrition requirements. It is funny seeing students after a holiday like Halloween attempt to ‘smuggle’ candy in the school only to have it collected at the door.

By zombieboy

April 26, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this

I luvs gettin’ my eat on at school!!

I really likes mak an cheeze, greenz.

Yeh!!

By TheOne

April 26, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this

If the regular lunch food was not so crappy, then more kids would opt to eat it. I know this is not the case at all schools, but at my daughters high school, she would go hungry before she would eat whats served on the regular lunch menu most days. The edible food is what’s being sold a la carte. That’s a shame!!

By catlady

April 26, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this

I’m surprised that Dr. Butler can get away with that. Our lunches are a horror of junk and grease and salt. Pizza every week, hamburgers every week, hotdogs or corndogs every week, chicken or beef nuggets every week. Processed meat (ham, etc.) almost every week. It wouldbe nice if we would expose kids to something they don’t get at home.

By Ernest

April 26, 2007 1:02 PM | Link to this

Catlady, folks at the central office have ‘tried’ to bring her menu in line with the rest of the county. She has a LOT of parents that support her initiatives along with documented proof that it does not cost any more than standard fare. Add the positive national publicity for the school and system, they have backed off. If Dr. Butler were to leave that school, the lunch menu is the first thing they would probably change.

By Teacher Teacher

April 26, 2007 1:02 PM | Link to this

And just what does Dr. Butler do with the confiscated treats? Save them until Halloween? Give them to the homeless? Eat them herself? What a load!

On another topic, Ernest, hear about the DeKalb high school teacher who won Teacher of the Year, but the principal did not want this teacher to receive it, so the principal rigged the votes by having three separate votes after the initial voting so as to obtain enough votes to cancel out the particular teacher’s first round victory. What a crock! Premier DeKalb indeed.

By V for Vendetta

April 26, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this

lol hst, I’m always ready for summer. As a life-long athlete and fitness freak, I just get sick of debating things people can change themselves.

Another angle this discussion could take: I have a friend who is an elementary school PE teacher. They are not allowed to play any sports in elementary school that promote competition or exclusion. This keeps them from playing anything from dodgeball to football, soccer to baseball, and everything in between.

Ask yourself this: if we are so concerned about kids’ waistlines, then maybe we should be a little less concerned about their stupid feelings and let them play sports in PE. Imagine that. It is called PHYSICAL EDUCATION after all.

By Tony

April 26, 2007 1:09 PM | Link to this

The federal school lunch program is an extenstion of the farm subsidies program that benefits so many corporate, conglomerate agricultural industries. Perhaps this would be a good starting point to improve school lunches! Special interest groups have to much influence over federal policymakers and what you describe is one more special interest group trying to get its foot in the door.

I like the idea of reducing sugar in foods. Schools have to offer milk products as part of the lunch program. The flavored milks have as much sugar as soft drinks. The other ingredient run amok is high fructose corn syrup. It is in everything! Let’s work on reducing sugar in school lunches.

By Ernest

April 26, 2007 1:13 PM | Link to this

Teacher Teacher, I have not heard about that specific case however have heard of similar over the years. In cases like this, you wish they would simply come up with a standard methodology for handling nominations and voting.

By V for Vendetta

April 26, 2007 1:38 PM | Link to this

(cue 1950’s instructional video music)

Hi kids! Do want to learn how to make a nifty lunch for yourself?

“Boy do I!”

Good. First, ask Mom or Dad to pick up a yummy loaf of bread from the store, along with some sliced turkey, cheese, and a little lettuce. Don’t forget a little mayo and mustard.

“Golly mister, you sure know a lot about sandwiches!”

That’s right Timmy, now stop interrupting. Take some mayo and mustard, slather it on the bread, add the lettuce and the turkey, and you got yourself one scrum-diddly-umptious lunch!

“Gee willikers! I never thought it was that easy.”

It sure is Tommy.

“My name’s Timmy”

Of course it is. You can make as many of these sandwiches as you like and take them to school to share with your friends.

“But my mom says it’s just easier to buy my lunch at school.”

That’s because your mom is a fat hog Timmy and she’s obviously ignorant to boot.

“She sure is! Hey mister, you’re neato, will you be my daddy?”

Haha, that’s pretty funny Timmy.

“No, seriously mister, I don’t know who my daddy is.”

Well Timmy, that’s a topic for another blog. You take care now and don’t forget to let all those overweight kids know that you are superior to them.

“I will mister, bye!!!”

The End.

By HB

April 26, 2007 2:13 PM | Link to this

“That is, if kids don’t like their choices, they simply won’t eat.”

Actually, studies of cafeterias that have switched over to healthier choices have shown this is not true. Typically, the kids complain for a week or two, then adjust. At worst, they don’t clean their plates every day, but they always eat.

Also, healthy does not have to equate with “tastes bad”. It’s pretty easy to make a good pizza with a whole grain crust, extra tomato sauce, and reduced-fat cheese. There’s no excuse for schools selling ice cream instead of providing apple sauce or a banana. There are breaded, baked soy “chicken” nuggets on the market now that taste far better, and frankly more chicken-like, than the processed mystery meat nuggets I’ve eaten in school lunchrooms.

We’re not talking about trying to convince kids that collard greens are yummy, but schools simply must stop offering up the junk they have turned to in recent years. This is really an easy fix.

By decaturparent

April 26, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this

V - you are in rare form this week! ;)

Re lunches… I absolutely think that they should get all the crap out of schools. Kids who live on garbage all day are not mentally prepared to learn. Have you ever indulged in a Big Mac or some sugary concoction at work only to find that a couple of hours later you are nauseous and about to fall asleep? Same thing happens to kids.

ADD is rampant in our schools but we pump these kids full with sugar and dyes. It’s ridiculous.

My kids won’t touch anything having to do with school lunch. They look at me like I’m the worst mom in the world if I even suggest that they buy their lunch. I think it’s partially that the food is mediocre and partially a status symbol.

At my oldest child’s school, lunch has become quite the fashion statement. My kid wants sushi, hummus, falafel, edemame, wraps… all sorts of fancy food. They actually seem to have lunch “fads” that come and go like clothing fads. It’s pretty funny to watch… but at least there seems to be peer pressure to eat healthy instead of the other way around. I hope it lasts into high school although I do tire of having to whip up hummus all the time.

By mmm

April 26, 2007 2:24 PM | Link to this

Boy what a topic. I had to set up the lunch program to comply with the Federal School Nutrition Guidelines at our start-up charter school. The intersection between the regulations, funding, food preferences of many different cultures and families of different affluence is smaller than the eye of a needle—-and everyone’s favorite peeve. It is a nightmare. We slap it on the plate and the kids have no choice—-for many it is the only food they get all day. If you all see this as the “good old days”, I’m telling you that I would far rather go to a Dekalb County School Board meeting than a meeting where our parents, kids and faculty discuss our food! Forget “Beloved Community”when we are discussing lunch.

By jim d

April 26, 2007 3:09 PM | Link to this

Oh horsefeathers! Just go back to open campuses and let the kids fend for themselves at lunch time. We survived.

By JustMe

April 26, 2007 3:22 PM | Link to this

In my high school, there are options. But, all of the options are really bad. Most often, they serve what we call, “a yellow lunch.” This is a tray of food that is all yellow: french fries, nachos smothered in liquid cheese, corn, etc.

Any green vegetables the employees prepared are wasted because the students do not select them.

By HB

April 26, 2007 3:48 PM | Link to this

Jim d, you mean just for high students, right?

By jim d

April 26, 2007 4:02 PM | Link to this

Just me,

We had some pretty good choices. We could eat the mystery meat provided at the school, pack a lunch, skip lunch or go to town to eat at one of the many resturants that catered to a lunch crowd. I chose the latter most of my HS career and ate quite well.

By jim d

April 26, 2007 4:03 PM | Link to this

HB,

Actually we had an open campus for Jr. High and high school. We were of course in the same building and only about 8 blocks from the heart of town.

By jim d

April 26, 2007 4:13 PM | Link to this

HB,

I thought we frowned on students being High in this day and time.

By jim d

April 26, 2007 4:19 PM | Link to this

Well I’ll be dipped.

Talking about all of this caused me to check out the city website from my old home town. Guess what! the old pharmacy still exists with a lunch counter 40 years later.

I guess since I’ll be in the area this summer I should stop in just to see if they still have the best damn open face hot roast beef sandwich I’ve ever eaten.

By catlady

April 26, 2007 5:03 PM | Link to this

What we hear at our school is”but the kids won’t eat it”, but with 70% of our kids on free lunch and half of the other kids bringing their lunch, I don’t think there are that many kids who really have an option. The free lunch kids will eventually eat if healthy is the only option—they won’t starve themselves. Of course, it would help if we would do away with the “snack store” that sells chips, ice cream, and some candy after lunch. Then, with the afternoon looming long, kids will eat their lunch, and maybe be exposed to something other than what is served out of a can or from a drive through at home. One of the things that kills the teachers is the same kids on free lunch frequently have a dollar a day to spend at the snack store. The others can even have lunch charges, sometimes amounting to well over a hundred dollars, and still buy snacks at the snack store. Our school NEVEr makes any serious attempt to recoup the money, and it NEVER refuses to “charge” yet another full meal.

At my house my kids could choose anything I fixed to eat, and the amount they ate, but there was no special cooking and no snacking. We also introduced food by not allowing the toddler to eat any—we would just eat it in front of him/her. When she asked for it, we would “grudgingly” give them a taste, but no more, with the promise that I would try to cook a little extra for them the next time. As a result, my kids would eat almost anything wholesome. My older daughter did not know till she started school that those candy Easter eggs were edible. She would hunt them and then I would throw them away without opening them. (I think she still feels upset about that 30 years later, but it worked). They still reach for cheese, fruit, or yogurt when they are hungry between meals.

By HB

April 26, 2007 5:23 PM | Link to this

But, jim d, I thought that’s why they got the munchies in the first place…

Seriously, though, I’ve been having major typing issues all day. I’m blaming it on the high pollen counts.

By HB

April 26, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this

Catlady, your toddler trick may be the most ingenious thing I’ve read…

By thomas

April 26, 2007 5:57 PM | Link to this

The bottom line is that school lunch is the worst it has ever been. I have had the misfortune to work at two low income schools. It’s misfortunate in that, when it comes to lunch, it stinks. They feed poor kids slop. I once worked at a majority black (60%) elementary school. They treated those kids like s_. In more ways than one. You know they even treat the kids in the barrio schools better than that (I worked there too). At least they got a hot lunch. Later I ended up working at a majority white school. They have two or three lunch choices a day. They have vegetarian salads. Even the teachers eat school lunch here.

In any case, our schools serve TOO MUCH FATS AND STARCHES AND GREASE. My first job was at middle school that served fried french fries EVERY SINGLE DAY, WITHOUT FAIL. Elementary is not much better. In the county I work, the menu is on a seven day rotation. The same things over and over and over. The cafeteria manager says she wants to serve more home cooked, healthier foods, but the county won’t let her. It’s chicken sandwiches, fish sticks, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. The county wants uniformity through the county. BIG BROTHER LIVES.

By V for Vendetta

April 27, 2007 1:37 PM | Link to this

Again, who cares what they eat. If they were getting enough exercise it wouldn’t really matter.

The problem is far greater than what the school is serving for lunch.

By HB

April 27, 2007 1:52 PM | Link to this

Actually, V, kids that get plenty of exercise still need to develop healthy eating habits. They may not be overweight, but they miss out on important nutrients and put themselves at risk of later health problems by eating junk food. That’s why the 4 food groups and so on are in the curriculum. Doesn’t it make sense that schools should set an example by offering a nutritious, balanced meal? Yes, most kids have the option of bringing a healthier lunch in from home. But wouldn’t it make more sense to offer something healthy at school and make the ones who want junk go to the trouble of bringing grease and sugar from home?

By Laura

April 30, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this

Thomas: The word you’re looking for is unfortunate. “Misfortunate” isn’t a word.