By zeke

August 9, 2008 1:44 AM | Link to this

Collards. OK! Okra. Hell no!

My grandaddy, born in 1895 and growing up in the rural South where they ate everything to survive said a man should never eat what a hog won’t! Okra is one of those things! But, don’t let that surprise you! When he grew up, when they butchered a hog, THEY USED EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHAT WAS IN THE INTESTINES!!!

By Stacey

August 9, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this

I haven’t met a vegetable yet that my son doesn’t love. Like most kids, however, he will choose to eat junk when he can. If the vegetables are presented as the only option (like it was when I was in school) he will eat every bite. But if he can choose between veggies and pepperoni pizza, the pizza will win 95% of the time.

The daycare that he attended (he also went there for Pre K) served things like collard greens, squash, and blackeyed peas everyday except Friday. On Fridays they had things such as pizza or hot dogs & french fries. His teacher said that most of the kids ate just as well during the week as they did on Friday, yet they had parents complaining that they didn’t serve “kid friendly” food everyday!

By Stan

August 9, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this

I think it is GREAT that government schools are starting to get the picture that they need to serve better food to the kids!! That said, I didn’t like okra as a kid and I still don’t. Though I do LOVE collards, unfortunatly my wife does not.

I agree with Stacey above, I think kids will eat what they are served if it is the only choice (for the most part). I would at least try the Okra as a kid, and still try it from time to time.

I still worry about how the food is prepared. If it is loaded with bad fats, then it kinda defeats the healthy benefits. If there is a ton of cheese, esp. the overly processed kind, in the casseroles what’s the point? If all the good foods are prepackaged, processed, loaded with preservitives junk available in the freezer section of Kroger then why bother? Are the Lunch Ladies really cooking the food? Or just heating it up in the foil packaging?

By Natalie Rogers

August 9, 2008 11:28 PM | Link to this

I am thrilled that school districts are finally addressing parental and community concerns about school lunch nutrition. This is long overdue, in light of the epidemics of childhood obesity, heart disease and type II diabetes.

Children can’t raise themselves. They are simply too intellectually immature to make good choices nutritionally, and that is why they have parents (and schools) to teach them how and what to eat in order to live and grow into healthy adults. It is ludicrous to think that a child (or even an adult for that matter!) will choose broccoli over ice-cream when both are offered simultaneously. Healthy eating habits must first be well-established before offering kids so many confusing “choices”. For this reason, I am personally in favor of going back to “plating” food for elementary students.

Give them healthy food. If they are hungry, they will eat it. Timeless philosophy that has been proven true for thousands of years before school lunch even existed.

Even kids who are described by their parents as “picky eaters” will eventually benefit from being offered a school lunch consisting of nutritious, whole foods.

Children can only learn healthy eating habits from adults who are consistently modeling those healthy eating behaviors at home AND at school. We can all do a better job leading by example.

By Chris

August 9, 2008 11:33 PM | Link to this

…what kids need arent more vegetables, they need more outside activities…when we were younger, if we came in the house before dark, we got in trouble…we never had to worry about eating anything…we burn it off playing, and being kids…we still made excellent grades, and never had trouble fitting into our clothes.

By Natalie Rogers

August 10, 2008 12:01 AM | Link to this

Chris, I am glad you mentioned the importance of increased physical activity in the effort to improve the health of modern-day children. Wellness is not achieved purely through good nutrition alone. Both improved nutrition AND increased physical activity are vital if we are to address the declining health of our nation’s children, before they become victims of an already strained healthcare system.

By catlady

August 10, 2008 7:41 AM | Link to this

In alabama in the 1960’s we had those same things for lunch.

My children would eat them cheerfully if they were not cooked to death and oversalted and fatted. My children would eat just about anything. They were brought up, when a food was being introduced, not to be allowed to have the food. They had to just watch us eat it. Then, if they asked, we would let them have a tablespoon, with the promise that “if” they liked it, next time I would fix something for them. Of course, they always wanted more. I also did not allow them to have any candy or soft drinks until they went off to school. My older daughter found out that the marshmallow Easter eggs were edible when she was in kindergarten. Food has never been an issue at our house. I served the healthy, wholesome, mostly organic stuff (I have been an OG for 35 years) and they determined how much of it they wanted to eat. Between meal snacks were cheese or fruit. No power struggles, no cavities, lots of energy, good weight.

Zeke, around here they would use the intestines (sausage casings) but do not use the eyeballs of the hogs.

By catlady

August 10, 2008 7:51 AM | Link to this

To the original question: as a long time teacher I can tell you that no, stuff like that won’t be eaten. Kids at our school have the worst dietary habits I have ever seen. Our kids will eat chicken nuggets, hamburgers/ cheeseburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, and pizza. They throw the other stuff away. As a result, our cafeteria very rarely (once a month) exposes them to anything different.

Until 20 years ago, when we went to ordering food county-wide instead of individually by school, we had great meals of real food. Occasionally we would have one of the above, but mostly it was just normal, family-style food (mashed potatoes made of real potatoes!) Each class got to design a menu during the year. My class wanted to have “deer meat”. I mentioned that it would be hard to buy enough for the whole school, and several children volunteered that their dad would bring us one!

By JJ

August 11, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this

My child is a senior this year, and has not eaten a school lunch since middle school. She packs a healthy lunch the night before. Salads and veggies…….

She also gave up sodas, and drinks water all the time.

By OhTheDrama

August 11, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this

Hooray that they are offering healthier options. During the school year we have a problem with my son eating dinner at home because between school breakfast, a snack from home and school lunch, he’s pretty much eaten for the day. The problem there is that he has had plenty of opportunity of fill up on not so healthy options and then we he gets home, making him eat his veggies is also making him overeat. We’ve also discovered that over the summer, he would unknowingly try to skip eating his healthy meals and wait for an opportunity for junk food to arise. Luckily, we were able to control the junk food and found that he ate his healthy options at dinner.

Yes, I am thrilled that the schools are offering more healthy meals, and would be happy if they removed ALL junk food from the menus. After all these are not their children. Most strangers ask a parent if it’s okay for a child to have a snack, the schools shouldn’t take liberties by offering snacks to our children leaving us with no control or easy way to know how much snack food they are getting.

By Pinecrest

August 11, 2008 11:05 AM | Link to this

In the 1970s we always had “heavy duty” vegetables on our school lunch trays every day. If my neighbors at the table didn’t want their blackeyed peas or green peas, I’d be happy to eat them.

By BeanieWeenie

August 11, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this

Beans and okra on lunch school menus? Do they want “explosions” before the end of the school day? What are they thinking?