school lunches

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1/23/12 9:16 A

I have similar issues with the offerings at my son's day care. One day he was a fed a "chocolate quesadilla". It was a flour tortilla with Hershey's chocolate in it. They also give him juice (we only give him milk or water at home).

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10/4/11 10:29 A

The only drink options in my childrens public schools (Elementary & Middle) is low fat milk (Reg or Choc) and water, each meal has fruit (Banana, Apple, Orange) and a veg (corn, carrots, tater tots ??)

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10/4/11 9:34 A

Every few weeks I go to school and eat with my kids (1st/2nd graders). My two prefer to have a lunch from home (yeah). The saying is true... you can lead a horse to water but cannot make them drink.

Sure the hot lunches look "fairly" well balanced on the surface but how they are prepared is another thing. Veggies soaked in butter. Fried egg rolls. Fate laden gravies and sauces etc. To top it all off, they eat what they want off the plate anyway. Sure the teachers and aides encourage the children to eat some of everything but you should see how good they are at moving the food around the plate.

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9/27/11 2:52 P

Our school is not like that either but it's elementary school. There are no extra snacks to buy just hot lunch. It's not a bad menu, but I only let dd buy once a week (she likes pizza with her friends). The rest of the week she brings from home. She is an athlete and knows her body at it healthiest is what gets her through practices.

Not to say she doesn't get treats - it's just a real treat not a donut filled with vitamins, extra fiber and dipped in powdered sugar called "healthy" by the government.

Today was fresh farmer's market strawberries, celery, carrots, real baked turkey on whole grain with just mustard (she doesn't like mayo), lite string cheese, water and a slice of homemade apple spice cake. I don't call the cake "healthy". Snack was mixed nuts and dried fruit.

Here is the school lunch today:
breaded chicken pattie on a bun
Cheetos
apple
carrots with dip
orange juice
milk

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9/27/11 1:00 P

I don't think we'd be doing kids any favors by hiding the junk food. Growing up, we had a vending machine or two, could by various things a la carte (donuts, chocolate milk, cookies, chips, etc) and pizza was a regular option on Fridays in high school and once a month in elementary and middle school. However, we also had healthy options, too. They also sold fresh fruit, veggie bagel sandwiches, etc. I packed my own lunch by choice and every now and then splurged on pizza or fries. I ALWAYS made sure I had lunch money on veggie bagel day (an everything bagel with lowfat peppercorn garlic cream cheese, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce and provolone). Sometimes if I forgot a lunch I'd grab a turkey sandwich or a yogurt at school. Children need to learn to make good choices and hiding the poor choices isn't necessarily a good way for them to learn. I had friends whose parents junk food and they ended up eating WAY more junk food than I ever did, eating it away from home and my mom always kept a few treats in the house. Lol, I'm still like that. It takes us about 6 months to go through a container of ice cream and a month or two to eat one of those candy bars from trader joe's.

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9/19/11 11:16 A

I trusted my childrens' healthy eating to my school system.... in which I was active and an advocate.
The government doesn't plan school lunch menus - at least not in MY area.

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9/19/11 2:30 A

Send them to school with a lunch.

Do you really want to trust your child's health to the government?

Edited by: MRSJOCCO at: 9/19/2011 (02:31)

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7/16/11 8:13 P

So true! At my daughters' high school the kids are the one's that bring in the junk food. Soda and chips is the staple for breakfast for many of the high school kids.

I think the middle and elementary schools still have too much "junk food." Pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers etc. They do offer many healthy fruits and vegetables, but you can't make the kids eat them. They also have a "new" food like mango or such for the kids to try once or twice a week.

My lunch lady doesn't even make the kids take the fruits and vegetables. She says they will only waste it. (I think they throw out a lot of food when the kids don't take it, too.)

Hopefully, school lunches will continue to improve. Especially, with the childhood obesity rate going up.

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7/15/11 6:44 P

My schools definitely sounded like that article. Do you work at a private or charter school?

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7/8/11 6:38 A

this is to reply to the school lunchroom dilemma article. " On the way to the lunchroom, the hallways are lined with vending machines selling soda, chips and candy. The kids in the lunchroom flock toward the a l carte counter, where they can buy French fries, hot dogs, and sugary drinks. "
I can not speak for all school lunches but the school I work at is nothing like the one your article talks about. Soda is NOT ALLOWED in our lunchroom or classrooms. Teacher & staff who want it bring their own and can only have it in the staff room. Our vending machines only have water, flavored water & juice. We do NOT sell french fries, ice cream or candy. Hot dogs are only on the month once every 2 months. The most the kids can buy al a carte are 2 small cookies a day. We have a standard for fat and sugar levels and nothing over that is allowed. The sodium levels in some items are still high but we are working on that.
Also classroom parties can't have candy and junk foods anymore.
We offer healty choices but we can't make the kids eat it.