# Lunch police...



## billc (May 15, 2012)

Toilets, lightbulbs, medical care, retirement, and now...school lunches...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/15/Democrat-Pizza-SLICE-Act



> Yes, the federal government wants to control everything -- including the lunches schoolchildren eat. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) has proposed legislation titled The SLICE Act (School Lunch Improvements for Children&#8217;s Education) that would allow the federal government the power to set nutritional standards for schools and stop pizza from being listed as a vegetable. Currently, pizza can be listed as one vegetable serving in school meals because it has tomato paste in it.


hmmm...parents are so 20th century.  Don't worry, Big Brother loves you...


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## Steve (May 15, 2012)

Jesus, about damned time.  School lunches should be nutritious.  Seriously.  I typically poke fun at the propaganda machine.  But this is a serious concern.  So many kids eat school provided lunches, and it's just a bunch of crapola.  We need to go back to a time when food was prepared from actual, recognizable ingredients and not microwaved or frozen.  We need to charge parents more who can afford it, and subsidize lunches for parents who can't afford it, and make lunches that are nutritious and healthy and that aren't processed beyond recognition.  And parents always have the option of bagging lunches for their kids.


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## billc (May 15, 2012)

You would think parents have the option for bag lunches but don't hold your breath.  There was already the story of a lunch worker who confiscated the lunch of a little girl, it contained a turkey sandwich, banna and a juice box, because it didn't have a vegetable.  The worker forced the girl to buy the school lunch which had chicken nuggets.  If you give the feds this power, they will quickly abuse it.  You can put vegetables and fruit on the plate of every school lunch and the only thing you will get is heavier garbage bags.  The next step will be the lunch ladies will then inspect the kids plates to make sure they ate the lunch and so on and so on.  People need to learn that "We are from the government and we're here to help," isn't just a joke anymore.  Help the poor kids but keep the power at the state, or better, the local level where there can be more parent control over the school authorities.  Better yet, encourage the parents to not have kids till they are ready to support them, then they can buy lunch items for their kids and not be forced to endure government "charity."

You think the lunches should be nutritious, sure, I'll buy that.  Then add in the corrupt politician who gets the contract for his campaign donor and then see how nutritious the lunches become, especially if the feds have a hand in it...


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## Josh Oakley (May 15, 2012)

billcihak said:


> You would think parents have the option for bag lunches but don't hold your breath.  There was already the story of a lunch worker who confiscated the lunch of a little girl, it contained a turkey sandwich, banna and a juice box, because it didn't have a vegetable.  The worker forced the girl to buy the school lunch which had chicken nuggets.  If you give the feds this power, they will quickly abuse it.  You can put vegetables and fruit on the plate of every school lunch and the only thing you will get is heavier garbage bags.  The next step will be the lunch ladies will then inspect the kids plates to make sure they ate the lunch and so on and so on.  People need to learn that "We are from the government and we're here to help," isn't just a joke anymore.  Help the poor kids but keep the power at the state, or better, the local level where there can be more parent control over the school authorities.  Better yet, encourage the parents to not have kids till they are ready to support them, then they can buy lunch items for their kids and not be forced to endure government "charity."
> 
> You think the lunches should be nutritious, sure, I'll buy that.  Then add in the corrupt politician who gets the contract for his campaign donor and then see how nutritious the lunches become, especially if the feds have a hand in it...



Got a link to the story?

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## Josh Oakley (May 15, 2012)

billcihak said:


> Toilets, lightbulbs, medical care, retirement, and now...school lunches...
> 
> http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/15/Democrat-Pizza-SLICE-Act
> 
> ...



Is it OKAY that pizza is listed as a vegetable??

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## Gentle Fist (May 15, 2012)

Yeah my kids bring their lunch to school for that very reason...


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## ballen0351 (May 15, 2012)

fistlaw720 said:


> Yeah my kids bring their lunch to school for that very reason...



Mine also.  After I watched that show by the chef I cant remember which one (jamie Oliver maybe) about school lunches Ill never let my kids buy lunch again.


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## granfire (May 15, 2012)

Steve said:


> Jesus, about damned time.  School lunches should be nutritious.  Seriously.  I typically poke fun at the propaganda machine.  But this is a serious concern.  So many kids eat school provided lunches, and it's just a bunch of crapola.  We need to go back to a time when food was prepared from actual, recognizable ingredients and not microwaved or frozen.  We need to charge parents more who can afford it, and subsidize lunches for parents who can't afford it, and make lunches that are nutritious and healthy and that aren't processed beyond recognition.  And parents always have the option of bagging lunches for their kids.



Well sadly in times past the institutional kitchens around the world have managed to turn perfectly fine ingredients into blech. 

However, a sad fact of life, what the farmer does not know he won't eat: Too many kids have never been exposed to real food from real ingredients and they.will.not.touch.it.
Ever. 

And sadly enough, the drizzle of tomato sauce on pizza will be the closest they will be the closest they will ever get to a real life vegetable. 

now, don't get me wrong. One can make pizza that is nutritious and still good.
I just don't see it happening any time soon.


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## WC_lun (May 16, 2012)

On the other side of the spectrum, youhave Republicans that thoguht ketchup should be considered a vegetable serving.  i think I prefer trying to make it so kids get nutritious lunches.


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## Josh Oakley (May 16, 2012)

ballen0351 said:


> Mine also.  After I watched that show by the chef I cant remember which one (jamie Oliver maybe) about school lunches Ill never let my kids buy lunch again.



Yeah. The naked chef. I didn't see the show but he also gave a TED talk about his program. Good stuff.

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## Josh Oakley (May 16, 2012)

And tomatoes aren't even vegetables!!

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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

WC_lun said:


> On the other side of the spectrum, youhave Republicans that thoguht ketchup should be considered a vegetable serving.  i think I prefer trying to make it so kids get nutritious lunches.



not arguing with you, but all the vinegar and salt aside, ketchup IS the closest many kid will get to something vegetable. 
That is a sad fact.

It is also a sad fact that at home the closest those kids (many, in certain areas) come to a fresh salad is what the Golden Arches serve up between their sandwiches and the preservative doused culinary atrocity of Iceberg masquerading as lettuce in their 'salads' 

We live in a semi rural area...I have more than once gotten the question 'you make pizza yourself?!' from the lady at the checkout. And I was cheating up the middle HARD with ready made crust mix, tomato sauce, shredded cheese blend and peperoni slices... 

The problem runs deeper. You offer the good food and the kids won't eat it and throw it away.

The problem needs to be solved much earlier and closer to the root:
Add Home ec to the earliest classes. Every kid can grow something, and if it is in a flower pot, a bit chives, some parsley...maybe a couple head of lettuce, a few green beans or peas.
Even rather little kids can help in preparing simple meals - best with what they grew.
bring dang cooking back into schools. I don't expect the kids to actually do it, but at least they would know how to do the basics. And how real food tastes compared to boxes.

But just putting the stuff on the plate, expecting them to change their habits? Not gonna happen. 

Of course, we have removed ourselves so far from our roots that grown people proclaim in all seriousness that one ought not to kill one's own cow for meat, or go hunting for meat, since stores have those handy shrink wrapped packages for which no animal must suffer.


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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

Josh Oakley said:


> And tomatoes aren't even vegetables!!
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2



Oh details...

It says fruit and vegetables, so it's covered.


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## billc (May 16, 2012)

Here is the story about the little girls lunch...

http://www.39online.com/entertainment/onlinedish/kiah-online-dish-preschoolers-lunch-confiscated-for-being-unhealthy-story,0,2109598.story



> There's a food fight going on at a North Carolina elementary school  after a preschool student's homemade lunch was confiscated and she was  forced to eat cafeteria nuggets.
> 
> The little girl's grandmother  had packed her a turkey and cheese sandwich, on multi-grain bread, a  banana, potato chips and apple juice. Sounds healthy to me, but it  obviously was not up to par for the state agent who inspects sack  lunches. Yes, there is such a thing. Talk about lunch police. They  declared the lunch unhealthy because it was missing a veggie and milk.
> 
> According to the Carolina Journal, The Division of





> Child Development  and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services  requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs, including  in-home day care centers, to meet USDA  guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one  serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or  vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.




My point is simply that having the feds takeover is not going to help the situation.  This sort of thing needs local attention.  So, in typical big government solution mode, instead of giving the girl the milk and the vegetable part of the school lunch to round out her sack lunch, they confiscated the whole thing and made her eat...chicken nuggets.  It is the perfect example of why the feds should not be involved and the local government should be closely monitored by concerned parents.


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## Empty Hands (May 16, 2012)

They already have this power, you goof.

I can only imagine how bad it's gotten now.  I 've been in school from around '83 to '95.  Only in elementary school did we have a cafeteria that actually cooked stuff, instead of warmed it up.  Even then, it was heavy on mashed potatoes and gravy, fish sticks, and the like.  From middle school on school lunches consisted almost entirely of pizza, burgers, and very greasy (so much it was soggy) tater tots and hashbrown squares.  In high school, they started selling Arby's and Taco Bell right out of the cafeteria.  And for all that, I lived in an upper middle class town with a brand spanking new high school, fully funded teams and art programs, and schools with good budgets.

It's an abomination.  Only a blinkered partisan could look at the current situation and call it even slightly reasonable.


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## Makalakumu (May 16, 2012)

As long as the government provides school lunches, you'll never have healthy food.  The government always (eventually) ends up doing the opposite of what it says it will do.  Healthy, locally grown, food isn't something you can mass produce.  It's something the free market produces and something that enlightened, emboldened, and inspired individuals can take advantage of.  I can't tell you how many schools I've seen opt out of the federal lunch program and jump into the local, for profit, natural food market here in Hawaii.  Parents and schools can take advantage of this website.

http://kokuahawaiifoundation.org/wastefreelunches/


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## MJS (May 16, 2012)

I've been out of school for 20yrs now.  I'm not sure how much has changed since I went to school.  I'm sure someone regulates, to an extent, the lunch program.  Health wise...not sure where it rates, but I'm sure its not the best.  I remember some kids would just opt to go to the snack stand and eat the twinkies, apple pies, cupcakes, etc, that were available.  However, given the fact that there're alot of fat kids, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to at least offer 1 healthy meal. I say 1, because once they leave school for the day, nothing stops them from chowing down on junk and sitting down in front of the tv.  

OTOH, kids learn what they live, so a big start is right in the home.  I have to wonder...if we looked at a bunch of fat kids, I wonder if their parents would be fat as well.  I'm sure we'd find some pretty unhealthy findings.


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## dancingalone (May 16, 2012)

MJS said:


> OTOH, kids learn what they live, so a big start is right in the home.  I have to wonder...if we looked at a bunch of fat kids, I wonder if their parents would be fat as well.  I'm sure we'd find some pretty unhealthy findings.



I used to volunteer time at a food bank.  Many of the clients didn't have basic cooking skills.  They had no idea how to cook fresh vegetables or staples like beans and rice until we started offering cooking classes.  We got in a big truck of fresh produce once and most of the clients passed up offerings like carrots and tomatoes for Rice-a-Roni and canned spaghetti sauce.


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## billc (May 16, 2012)

My point in all of this is that having the feds insert themselves even deeper into the situation is not going to improve it.  Does anyone disagree with that...


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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

billcihak said:


> My point in all of this is that having the feds insert themselves even deeper into the situation is not going to improve it.  Does anyone disagree with that...



it's not the feds, it's the local eggheads....

THINK ABOUT THE FRIGGIN CHILDREN!!!


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

Empty Hands said:


> .  In high school, they started selling Arby's and Taco Bell right out of the cafeteria.e.



Well they are the two of most health fast food places.  If you look at the food info they are not bad prob even compared to a real school lunch.


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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

ballen0351 said:


> Well they are the two of most health fast food places.  If you look at the food info they are not bad prob even compared to a real school lunch.



Taco bell, at least it all has some real lettuce in it..

But that is another weird thing in our food pyramid:
Cereal=good
even if it is cookie crisp...
Cookies=bad
even if made with stuff like whole grain flour, raisins, nuts, etc...
And when you look closer, you might be just as well off - or better - to have a handful of cookies and a glass of milk for breakfast. 

got chewed out in school one time when I had some sort of a cake like thing for breakfast. Wasn't the usual occurrance, but hey, teacher asked what breakfast was that day...stuff was sweet, I think it had honey in it...tasted great with butter...
(Teacher was a huge jerk tho...probably the only person in the world I am close to hating, even after 25 years)


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

granfire said:


> Taco bell, at least it all has some real lettuce in it..
> 
> But that is another weird thing in our food pyramid:
> Cereal=good
> ...



Food Pyramids are out thats so year 2000.


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## Steve (May 16, 2012)

Saw the link.

What do you guys think we should do?  Do you guys think shutting down school cafeterias and forcing parents to feed their kids would be better?  Is there a middle ground?  What are the answers?


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

Steve said:


> I don't believe this happened. Could you provide a link to where you "read" about this lunch lady forcing a child to purchase a school lunch and confiscating her food from home?  It sounds like BS to me.


I remember it being on the news a few months ago.  Ill see if I can find it but the school offical said a turkey sandwich  wasnt good enough and made her take the school lunch.


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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

ballen0351 said:


> Food Pyramids are out thats so year 2000.



LOL, forgive me for not being up to date on my plate thing...it's lunch time and I have not eaten my cookies yet!


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

Heres a few links

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/n-c...ome-after-determining-its-not-healthy-enough/
or
http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=8762


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

opps guess you beat me too it


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

Steve said:


> Saw the link.
> 
> What do you guys think we should do?  Do you guys think shutting down school cafeterias and forcing parents to feed their kids would be better?  Is there a middle ground?  What are the answers?



I dont think its hard to make better food in schools.  That show I saw (I got to find out what it was) the chef was able to make better food for not much more cost.  The problem is the workers need to do more work and the kids need to eat it.  getting the kids to eat it will be the hard part.  my daughter wont eat anything.  Her diet consists of Peas and Carrots, plain noodles, or chicken nuggets.  She refuses to eat or try anything else.  Im talking major blowout fights with her to try something else.  The doc says as long as shes eatting something its better then forcing her and she not eatting.  

She did try a steamed crab this weekend and liked them so hopefully shes growing out of it.


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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

ballen0351 said:


> I dont think its hard to make better food in schools.  That show I saw (I got to find out what it was) the chef was able to make better food for not much more cost.  The problem is the workers need to do more work and the kids need to eat it.  getting the kids to eat it will be the hard part.  my daughter wont eat anything.  Her diet consists of Peas and Carrots, plain noodles, or chicken nuggets.  She refuses to eat or try anything else.  Im talking major blowout fights with her to try something else.  The doc says as long as shes eatting something its better then forcing her and she not eatting.
> 
> She did try a steamed crab this weekend and liked them so hopefully shes growing out of it.



yep, getting the kids to eat it is the hard part. Especially in the less affluent districts. Seen it with my own eyes, a continent away. The people with the least exposure are the pickiest.


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

You have to start young by the time they reach high school it too late.  I grew up poor and on things like hot dogs and  processed foods.  I hated vegitables.  It wasnt until my late 20s i even started eatting them at all.  Only in the last few years have i started eatting them regulary. To me they were nasty.  For my kids we decided not to let that happen to them so from the start we have given them fresh veggies and fruits and my kids other then my one daughter will eat any veggie you put in front of them.


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## Steve (May 16, 2012)

granfire said:


> yep, getting the kids to eat it is the hard part. Especially in the less affluent districts. Seen it with my own eyes, a continent away. The people with the least exposure are the pickiest.


kids will eat whatever you give them.  They may balk at first, but they'll eat it.


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## granfire (May 16, 2012)

Steve said:


> kids will eat whatever you give them.  They may balk at first, but they'll eat it.



your kids, maybe
I know my own is easy care when it comes to food. 

But the majority is not.
But not in a setting like school, especially when they do get to go home after. The food will end up in the trash. Better junk food in the kids than good food in the trash.


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## ballen0351 (May 16, 2012)

Steve said:


> kids will eat whatever you give them.  They may balk at first, but they'll eat it.



Not at school not when.they know in a few more hours they can leave and hit Mcadonalds on the way home.  Young kids maybe but high school and middle school no way.


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## MJS (May 17, 2012)

dancingalone said:


> I used to volunteer time at a food bank.  Many of the clients didn't have basic cooking skills.  They had no idea how to cook fresh vegetables or staples like beans and rice until we started offering cooking classes.  We got in a big truck of fresh produce once and most of the clients passed up offerings like carrots and tomatoes for Rice-a-Roni and canned spaghetti sauce.



Whats interesting also, is the healthy options for the bad foods.  They had a chef on TV one day, with 3 different not os healthy foods, which were fried chicken, fried seafood, and fried mozzarella.  He showed how many cals. were in each of those, and then gave a more healthy version, of the same food.  It was amazing to see how the cals. were pretty much cut in half and then some.  

The other downside is its a fact that eating healthy isn't cheap.  Think about it.  Take $10 and go to McDonalds.  Take that same $10 and go to the grocery store.  That $10 is going to go much further at the burger joint, using the dollar menu, vs trying to pay for veggies at the store.  

Of course, eating right is only part of it.  Exercising is a plus as well.  And FWIW, I'm certainly not a health nut.  I treat myself, but in moderation.


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## MJS (May 17, 2012)

billcihak said:


> My point in all of this is that having the feds insert themselves even deeper into the situation is not going to improve it.  Does anyone disagree with that...



I dont disagree with that.


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## MJS (May 17, 2012)

Steve said:


> Saw the link.
> 
> What do you guys think we should do?  Do you guys think shutting down school cafeterias and forcing parents to feed their kids would be better?  Is there a middle ground?  What are the answers?



I dont think that shutting down the cafe is the answer.  Like I said, once the kids leave school, nothing says that they can't chow down on junk.  Would educating people on the better ways of eating work?  Maybe, maybe not.  Take a look at this link.  

http://www.cromwell.k12.ct.us/chs/page.php?pid=50

Its the breakfast/lunch menu for some schools in my hometown.  What are your thoughts on the food selection?


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## WC_lun (May 18, 2012)

Granfire, I actually agree with you.  There is a reason childhood obesity is at all time highs here in the States.  Parents SHOULd tech thier children how to eat well, but lets face it, most parents lack that skill as well.  However, if a child does understand good nutrition, they should be able to get that at thier school.  While they might be few and far between, there are some parents who are teaching thier children correctly.  Too me it is just rediculous that it is easier to get a slice of pizza or a junk food at a school than a proper meal.


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## Empty Hands (May 18, 2012)

WC_lun said:


> Too me it is just rediculous that it is easier to get a slice of pizza or a junk food at a school than a proper meal.



Good God man, are you insane?  If children can't easily obtain terrible food from school, then Socialism wins!


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## Steve (May 18, 2012)

ballen0351 said:


> Not at school not when.they know in a few more hours they can leave and hit Mcadonalds on the way home.  Young kids maybe but high school and middle school no way.


Actually, the opposite proved to be true in Jamie Oliver's television show (referenced earlier).  If given a choice, the kids always chose sugary strawberry or chocolate milk over white milk.  But once those choices went away, within a few days, they happily drank the white milk.  Same for the food.  They balked initially, and when given a choice, always chose sugary, processed foods.  But when the choice was removed, they ate healthier foods happily.


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## Steve (May 18, 2012)

MJS said:


> I dont think that shutting down the cafe is the answer.  Like I said, once the kids leave school, nothing says that they can't chow down on junk.  Would educating people on the better ways of eating work?  Maybe, maybe not.  Take a look at this link.
> 
> http://www.cromwell.k12.ct.us/chs/page.php?pid=50
> 
> Its the breakfast/lunch menu for some schools in my hometown.  What are your thoughts on the food selection?


The issue is larger than just school lunches.  Education is the key.  If you think about it, the heart of the home used to be the kitchen.  Now, it's the TV room.  People don't cook like they used to and then their kids don't cook.  That's not a judgement... just the way things are.

So, yeah, I agree that education is critical.  My wife travels for work, so it's usually just me and the three kids during the week.  I do almost all the cooking in the house, and have gone out of my way to teach both of my oldest kids to cook.  While my son doesn't like it, he can get around okay in the kitchen and I can rely on him to make things like chili or tacos.  Nothing fancy, but he won't starve.  My daughter likes to cook, and she can do more elaborate dinners.  But mainly, I have tried to teach them survival skills.  And the truth is, cooking from scratch is often faster than cooking out of a box.  It takes a little more hands on than putting it in the microwave, but for many it's about time.  And I can cook a fresh salmon filet on the grill with grilled veggies in less than 1/2 hour start to finish (add 15 minutes if I want to use the charcoal grill).


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## billc (May 18, 2012)

A basic, heathy lunch should be offered by the school.  The responsibility for this rests with the local community through the school board.  The menu should be submitted for public viewing before the school year, and any concerns should be brought up to the board.  For all I know this is how it is already done.  Beyond that, I don't think there is anything that can be done that will defeat bad parenting.  If there are families that just can't afford to provide a lunch, then the state should provide the healthy lunch for the kid. I don't think the school should be searching lunch sacks or confiscating the food that parents allow their children for lunch.  I think that goes beyond their jurisdiction.

The feds, however, should not be any more involved than they are already.


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## billc (May 19, 2012)

this is the kind of help the feds give...

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/05/19/super-school-fined-15k-for-selling-soda/



> Davis High School has been fined $15,000 after they were caught selling soda pop during lunch hour, which is a violation of federal law.
> The federally mandated law prohibits the sale of carbonated beverages after lunch is served. The program is an effort to help fight childhood obesity and to have young students make better food choices.
> The mandate allows for carbonated beverages to be sold before lunch, but restricts students from buying lunch, then purchasing carbonated drinks afterward.
> &#8220;Before lunch you can come and buy a carbonated beverage. You can take it into the cafeteria and eat your lunch, but you can&#8217;t first go buy school lunch then come out in the hallway and buy a drink,&#8221; said Davis High Principal Dee Burton.
> ...





> Wait a minute&#8230;..it&#8217;s OK to by the pop and then go into buy lunch but you can&#8217;t leave the lunchroom to go get the pop second? You can buy a Snickers but you can&#8217;t buy licorice? You can buy ice cream but not Skittles???? WTF???????
> Parents have learned the art of education and give and take. You let them have the junk food (in moderation) and you educate them on the dangers of sex outside of a committed relationship. You tell them about the dangers of overindulging in alcohol and you don&#8217;t make it as attractive as if you were to just prohibit it. And at some point, you have to let go of the reins and trust them to make intelligent decisions on their own and be ready to allow them to suffer the consequences of the bad decisions.
> Which is something that the Obama Administration can&#8217;t do&#8230;let the American people make their own decisions and take the consequences of those decisions.
> 
> ​



Yes, having the feds step in is going to help...



> The $15K to pay the fine will come from funds normally used for the school&#8217;s music program, art department and sports. That should make for some better, more well rounded students, eh? Oh&#8230; and how do they plan to avoid being fined again in the future? The principal is looking for a way to move the soda machines into a room which can be locked and guarded starting at lunch time.



Yes, first the dumb law, and then the new police needed to enforce it...


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## granfire (May 19, 2012)

billcihak said:


> A basic, heathy lunch should be offered by the school.  The responsibility for this rests with the local community through the school board.  The menu should be submitted for public viewing before the school year, and any concerns should be brought up to the board.  For all I know this is how it is already done.  Beyond that, I don't think there is anything that can be done that will defeat bad parenting.  If there are families that just can't afford to provide a lunch, then the state should provide the healthy lunch for the kid. I don't think the school should be searching lunch sacks or confiscating the food that parents allow their children for lunch.  I think that goes beyond their jurisdiction.
> 
> The feds, however, should not be any more involved than they are already.





billcihak said:


> this is the kind of help the feds give...
> 
> http://hotair.com/archives/2012/05/19/super-school-fined-15k-for-selling-soda/
> 
> ...



While you are not completely wrong, you have no idea.

it makes no sense, of course, that you can buy a snickers bar over licorice. However (assuming one is not talking about German style real licorice, but 'Twislers') a Snickers bar has some redeeming qualities, having some milk properties and peanuts (btw, more and more schools do go peanut free....no Snickers in our school)

Icecream. Not sure why it has a bad rep. Depending on the kind you get, icecream is actually - wile not healthy - not bad. Skittels? LOL....(Gummiebears would be debatable, but I would ahve to say they should be the good kind, Haribo...they have gelatin in them that is good for the bones and joints)

I do agree, the schools and the powers in charge of them should provide healthy food in the cafeteria, instead of searching lunch bags.

But you can only offer, not actually make the kids eat it.
They don't get it at home, they won't know what to make of it when it's served.

A growing majority of people have no idea anymore how the food is supposed to taste.  They have been brought up on TV dinners and fast foods. Either is loaded with MSG, salt and fat. You take that out and people will not recognize the base food and likely reject it.


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## Makalakumu (May 19, 2012)

My solution is thus.

Get the government out of providing food for our children.  You have no idea what's in it.  For example, Eric Schlosser wrote Fast Food Nation and I read it in horror.  The meat that I ate as a child came from the cheapest and sickest animals and 96% of it was contaminated with fecal matter.  That could have killed me.  And who knows how many times it actually made me sick.

Whilst the nutritional value of the food is worth discussing, the overall safety of the products they push on kids is something that's being overlooked.  You will not be told the truth and you have no way of checking because the agency in charge of food safety is compromised.  

Schools need to educate students and parents about what foods actually help their children learn.  Schools can contract with any number of private businesses to bring in food and these places can be held accountable if they bring in unsafe products.  I worked at a school that contracted with Subway.  Students could buy a small sandwich, an apple, and either a juice box or carton of milk for $2.50.  I've seen schools contract with companies that provide full healthy meals for as little as $4.  Students ate part of the food in the morning at a break and finished it at lunch.  

The positive benefits of healthy food are better grades, longer attention spans, and less disruptive behavior.  I've seen it with my own eyes and all of the studies I've read support this.  And when students are involved in actually making/distributing healthy food, schools affect a lifelong change in behavior because now kids know how to do it for themselves.  

I promise, get the government out of the business of giving our children ****** food and we'll see things actually get better.  We cannot affect change to a system that knowingly feeds kids food with **** in it.


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## granfire (May 19, 2012)

Makalakumu said:


> My solution is thus.
> 
> Get the government out of providing food for our children.  You have no idea what's in it.  For example, Eric Schlosser wrote Fast Food Nation and I read it in horror.  The meat that I ate as a child came from the cheapest and sickest animals and 96% of it was contaminated with fecal matter.  That could have killed me.  And who knows how many times it actually made me sick.
> 
> ...




I don't know the guy, but I am assuming he has a great deal of sensationalism going for him.

You think school food is any different from what the grocer sells you, you are sadly mistaken. 
You want real food, find a 4H organization that still does lifestock.

Alas, there is nothing with old dairy cows ending up in burgers: They are lean and ground up you won't notice how tough.

Sadly we have reached a point where we cannot leave the food choices to parents anymore and until we treat cafeteria food like real food Subway is probably one of the better options. 

better yet, home ec becomes a staple in schools again, from an early age!


Don't forget: because you have a grocery store around the next corner, a lot of areas in the US d not have that privilege. The Salad at McDonalds is the closest they will get to fresh produce! That is a real problem!

In addition to that, seems like food banks need to offer cooking classes, too...


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## Makalakumu (May 20, 2012)

granfire said:


> You think school food is any different from what the grocer sells you, you are sadly mistaken.



I think you should read the book.  The government produces food at a level of quality far below what you can by at the grocery store.  Cafeteria food is pretty disgusting...


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## Tez3 (May 20, 2012)

Try food the French way...http://www.vancouversun.com/enterta...ench+Kids+Everything+Yours/6549934/story.html

French schools have three course Cordon Bleu lunches, no choice and an hour and a half for lunch. Sitting in French eating places is a pleasure with well behaved children eating what the adults eat.

Jamie Olivers campaign in America. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/american-school-kids-trash-jamie-658131


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## Makalakumu (May 20, 2012)

Does the UK provide lunches for school children? If so, how are they? If not, what do children bring to school?


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## granfire (May 20, 2012)

Makalakumu said:


> I think you should read the book.  The government produces food at a level of quality far below what you can by at the grocery store.  Cafeteria food is pretty disgusting...



Cafeteria food is a mystery to me anyhow. If you think it is a new thing that they churn out gross stuff, you are mistaken. 
It has been and is and likely will continue to be a joke among people how they can take prime ingredients and render them inedible in the end. 

It took forever to make military rations edible, and still there are some in the assortment you better not touch. 
"the government" does to my knowledge not produce food. Aside from the mess halls of the armed forces, and their grub is actually good. 

Don't get me started on the USDA and the FDA though...there is a lot of room for improvement.


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## Tez3 (May 20, 2012)

Makalakumu said:


> Does the UK provide lunches for school children? If so, how are they? If not, what do children bring to school?



Yes they provide lunches, free to children with a parent/guardian on benefits. The quality varies. Schoool children used to get free milk to drink at school, I used to love 'milk time' but Thatcher stopped that, she also put the price up for those that paid making it hard to afford. Many bring a packed lunch from home to eat at school. 
the Conservatives want to destroy school meals.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educatio...r-attacks-Michael-Gove-over-school-meals.html


It was the Liberals ( British not the American type) who after winning the election here in 1906 who passed the Act that made school meals available. The Conservatives of course opposed it and the Labour Party not yet big enough to have any effect. A 106 years later the Conservatives are still trying to have school meals stopped, perhaps they will succeed. http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=2045 Thatcher has left us a legacy of many things being worst not least the standard of schools meals. Wealth before children.

_"School meals were provided as a charitable act from the mid-nineteenth century and expanded after the 1870 Education Act, amid rising concerns about undernourished children.[1] Manchester and Bradford began to provide school meals, and lobbied central government to legislate encouraging other local authorities to follow.[2] The Liberal government elected in 1906 introduced policies dealing with the poor health of Britain's children, with an urgency brought on by fears about the nation's capability for war and colonial conquests. These policies included the 1906 entitlement for local authorities to provide food for poor children. By 1945 1.6 million meals were being provided, 14% free and the rest charged at the cost of ingredients. [3] __School meal provision was made compulsory, by the 1944 Education Act, which made it a statutory duty rather than optional entitlement for local authorities. This was part of the wide political shift of the 1940s under Labour that involved the creation of the welfare state and the NHS. In 1945 school meals were described by the Ministry of Education as having 'a vital place in national policy for nutrition and well-being of children.'[4] A 1999 survey by the Medical Research Council suggested that despite rationing, children in 1950 had healthier diets than their counterparts in the 1990s, with more nutrients and lower levels of fat and sugar.[5] Regulated nutritional standards, having been introduced in 1906, were standardised in 1966. __These provisions were removed by the 1980 Education Act of Margaret Thatcher's government. The act removed the requirement to provide school meals of any nutritional standard and statutory requirement to provide meals other than for eligible children of families on income support. Additionally, school meals were opened up to Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT), obliging local authorities to open services to private sector competition and award contracts to the most 'competitive' offer. It 'transformed a free education service into a commercial operation.'[6] Spending cuts increased charges, and half a million children lost the right to free meals, so uptake fell rapidly.[7] Schools which had provided set meals switched to free choice cafeteria systems, with services outsourced to private companies. The Social Security Act of 1986 further ended entitlement to free meals for thousands of children.[8] __What was lost in the 1980s was not just the right to school meals, but the principle of school meals as a state-owned public service, an activity of schools, and part of children's education. The companies that stepped in, and local authorities still owning services but now needing to compete with those companies, were driven not by concerns with children's health and education, but by requirements of competition, profit and cost-cutting measures which were bound to impact on the nutritional quality and social role of school meals." _


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## Cryozombie (May 20, 2012)

I think the government should be in charge of school lunches.  Then, since they are Monsanto's buttboys, they can make sure that our kids get "healthy and nutritious" foods, Good quality vegetables like Pizza and Toxic Monsanto Corn,  Healthy Pink Slime chicken nuggets instead of Mom's turkey Sandwich and Banana meals, etc.


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