AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2008 > February > 27 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTaste-testing lunch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Diane Stepp wrote about students trying out some food Cobb County may put on school lunch menus next year.
Students sampled healthier fare like soymilk, toasted green beans and whole grain penne pasta. Kids found some items yummier than others.
For the last couple of years, schools across the country have offered healthier food in cafeterias. Items with zero trans fat, lower sodium and other healthy buzz words can be found next to pizza and tater tots.
What would you like to see added to the school lunch menu?
Comments
By HS Teacher Too
February 27, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
We talked about lunches and school cafeterias at length pretty recently, so I won’t go into all the things I wish could change.
What do I wish school cafeterias would have? WHOLE MILK!!
I’ll admit this is a bit of a thorn in my side, but why do I have to have skim or 2% with my cereal if I am NOT overweight and quite enjoy whole milk for its taste? If we can serve “food” that is 100% processed chemicals for lunch, can’t a person have WHOLE MILK along with it?! It is (yet another) case of punishing everyone for the sake of a few.
I asked once why we didn’t have whole milk and I was given the absolutely inane answer that the school/county was choosing to serve healthier food. The person who told me this was standing next to the processed tacos and burritos and the COKE machine …
AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
By Tony
February 27, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
I have requested our cafeteria to stop serving the extremely sweet flavored milks. They have as much sugar as a Coke. I, too, think whole milk should be an option.
Taste testing food choices is a good idea and probably works best for middle and high schools. One of my pet peeves about the school lunch program is the requirements for food to be on the trays when we know good and well it will not be eaten. This produces tremendous quantities of waste! Perhaps taste tests will help us reduce this waste.
By mmm
February 27, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this
HS Teacher Too—I’ll give you the real reason you can’t have whole milk.
It is because the meals must meet the federal standards that have been adjusted to require that the WHOLE meal be below a certain % of fat. And the analysis presumes the child takes AND EATS a certain number of items. So the calculation will average the thrown away veggies with the tacos.
The reason you can’t have whole milk is because if it were averaged in the calculation instead of skim or 2%—they would have to forgo the fries (since you can’t have both and make the necessary overall fat levels for the meal)
On the other hand caleries from a sweetened milk or processed cereal have the effect of suppling the nutrients that are also analysed with no fat, so they improve your ablility to meet the low-fat requirement. They are also cheap—and remember the Federal Government only reimburses about $2.10 per meal. What would private industry supply for that?
By teach1
February 27, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
My comment is not about taste testing lunch but I want to know: Why in the world do 6 year olds need 5 choices of main food items for lunch? Today was either a taco, steak nuggets, salad, turkey sandwich or lunch from home. They can hardly decide on a favorite color for the day. Then they have 5 milk choices as well: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, whole, 2%, or skim. It is absolutely crazy to have them make that many choices. They decide one thing in the morning - when we order and by lunch they are in tears because they want something else.
By HS Teacher Too
February 27, 2008 1:45 PM | Link to this
mmm, thanks, I guess. Sometimes the real answer is just as infuriating the bad answer! :)
By JustMe
February 27, 2008 2:43 PM | Link to this
How about a salad bar? It could be sold by weight as they do in many places.
By Tony
February 27, 2008 3:48 PM | Link to this
mmm and HS Teacher Too -
What would private industry supply for that?
Private industry is on the payroll of the school lunch program in two important ways. First, the school lunch program benefits from the agribusiness subsidies programs. Second, school must purchase the foods from businesses that meet the federal requirements for the program. So, some companies get two paychecks.
By jim d
February 27, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this
how about some REAL FOOD?
By CiCi4
February 27, 2008 4:20 PM | Link to this
How about any food at all? I have last lunch, so by the time my class gets to the cafeteria it’s a gamble that there will be any of the choices offered on the lunch menu. I got no lunch on Monday and only two of the five items on Tuesday. I brought my lunch today!
By catlady
February 27, 2008 8:19 PM | Link to this
One of my students, years ago, wanted the lunchroom ladies to serve deer meat when it was our turn to pick a menu. He even offered to go with his dad to get us enough for 300 students!
By mmm
February 27, 2008 8:31 PM | Link to this
Tony,
You are absolutely right. The regulations weren’t written to the benefit of the kids—-it is the to the benefit if what ever food supply sector has the most clout.
HS Teacher too—-believe me, I don’t like it, but, even as a charter school—we have no power to negotiate because it is federal money and we must serve free meals to our poor children, so we must do what is required for the money. But I know our kitchen staff, who are mostly refugees, could cook much better meals for no more money—-and it pains those who have gone hungry to be forced to give children food that we know they won’t eat.
By mmm
February 27, 2008 8:37 PM | Link to this
Deer meat—-Wow, the good old days. Even the idea that you “got to pick at menu” sounds like ancient times.
By BP
February 28, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this
My son’s school offers multiple choices for lunch. He tells me that fries are on the menu everyday! French fries are one of the worst foods for you! Anything that is known to be high in fat, calories, sugar or sodium need not be served as a lunch option.
I would like to see wheat buns and wheat pasta as an alternative. More lean proteins and baked food - not fried!
Why not whole milk, most kids will drink chocolate milk anyway! I don’t mind that my son drinks chocolate milk at lunch everyday, at least he is getting a source of calcium.
Considering that our children eat lunch at school 5 days a week for 180 some days a year; there should be healthier choices to help guide them to make healthier food decisions for life. My child is slender and very active and I am trying to teach him about healthy eating, (something I am just now learning), so that he will carry this knowledge throughout his life to ensure that he doesn’t have to deal with weight issues as I have.
Funny enough, my son just watched Super Size Me in his health class this week and just yesterday we had a discussion about that documentary and the food options that his school serves; in the doc there is a section on school cafeteria food. Believe it or not, our children are aware of the “types” of food that their school’s offer and they know it’s not all good!
If we all want what’s best for our children, then the schools should offer healthier food options to ensure that our children remain healthy and we as parents should encourage our children to choose those healthier food options!
By SW
February 28, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this
Choice of 5 items?!?! We (in Walton County) barely get a 2nd choice…usually a cold sandwich of some type. Also, there is never a choice of side items. The other day the hot option was ravioli and the “vegetable” was refried beans. The next day we had tacos and mixed vegetables!! I wish I had the options other counties are snubbing!!!