Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Aug 27, 2013 15:05:11 GMT -5
I understand Michelle Obamas rules are coming in soon...... Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity?
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Aug 27, 2013 15:10:01 GMT -5
I understand Michelle Obamas rules are coming in soon...... Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity? You would think not; however, I have found that many people are not "sensible." My cousin's 6 yr old eats McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries almost every night because "he would starve" if she didn't let him eat what he wanted
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Aug 27, 2013 15:10:16 GMT -5
I understand Michelle Obamas rules are coming in soon...... Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity? Well, they aren't exactly "her" rules since we have a democratic form of government in the U.S., not a dictatorship (well, not formally, anyway, LOL). And they took effect last September. The complaints in the OP are not new -- kids have been complaining about the smaller, healthier meals since the first day of school last school year.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Aug 27, 2013 15:14:01 GMT -5
As for common sense in parents regarding healthy food, well...LOL.
There is a growing population of parent wusses as Almost40 described. I know so many kids who only eat "tan" foods, or only chicken nuggets and white spaghetti and only applesauce. No other whole food or fruit or vegetable is ever eaten. It's sad, really.
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Aug 27, 2013 15:25:12 GMT -5
Sure...We even had some parents shoving fish and chips through the school gates because their kids were "starving" but it blew over. Now (several years on) the kids are really interested in nutrition and healthy eating.....its reinforced in lessons. Its "uncool" to fill your body with a load of crap. Kids make a fuss about a lot of things....so what? As parents we make their decisions for them.... and that includes eating well.
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Aug 27, 2013 15:26:52 GMT -5
Two thoughts came to mind 1 - Once again govt is getting involved where it has no business being involved 2 - fat free milk might not taste like vomit, but so some it tastes like badly colored water, so if "I" was forced drinking it every day - I would complain too. I also feel the same way about wheat bread 1 - My understanding is this is a public school, not private? So funded by tax dollars. So how is it that the government has no business being involved? 2 - The kids and their parents can complain all they want about being served healthier food by the governments tax dollars. And they can choose to eat it or not eat it. What they can't factually do is claim that they are being starved.
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Aug 27, 2013 15:28:02 GMT -5
Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity? You wouldn't have thought so.
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Aug 27, 2013 15:38:26 GMT -5
We have semi -skimmed and granary bread... there is no argument about it, that's just what is in the house. Like it or lump it.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Aug 27, 2013 15:38:33 GMT -5
Only a YMer could be aghast that you can't force someone on food stamps to eat certain foods (no junk food!) and be indignant over healthier food choices in public schools (where's my junk food???).
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Aug 27, 2013 15:38:48 GMT -5
I don't particularly like whole wheat bread myself but i don't think I could actually say I was "starving" while refusing to eat it. At least not with a straight face. One of my Mom's favorite saying was no one ever starved to death five feet from food when we were young and complained were were starving. I did read that they can have chocolate or strawberry milk though. It is skim and probably not as much sugar as they are used to in it, but it isn't just blue watery milk either. Then again I have been known to drink water with lunch. Am I the only person who if I ate 850 calories for lunch everday, and didn't basically not eat the rest of the day, would be 400 lbs pretty quick? When I was a kid, I went to "daycare" for 3 yrs. They fed us breakfast. I puked every single day for those three years bc I didn't like the food. To this day I can't eat food I don't like no matter how hungry I am. Of course, I was never anywhere close to starving to death, but in a regular course of the day, I will wait and wait and wait just so I don't have to eat something I don't like. I would hate for my kids to experience something like that. For the record - I am not saying that my story has anything to do with OP - just a story My kids are extremely skinny...the youngest especially so, so eating lunch is extremely important. My kids are pretty good eaters and will eat most everything I cook (I am a "this is dinner, eat it or starve kind of mom...within reason)...to make sure they eat lunch (and don't get even freaking skinnier) I have always gone over the menu and let them pick the days they want to buy at school versus take a lunch. I don't see the big deal...if you don't like what is on the menu, take a lunch. If lunch isn't big enough, take some food from home.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2013 15:46:53 GMT -5
Or beat up a weaker kid and take their lunch.
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formerroomate99
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Post by formerroomate99 on Aug 27, 2013 16:02:28 GMT -5
I understand Michelle Obamas rules are coming in soon...... Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity? I remember in high school 20 years ago being VERY hungry by the end of the day because the school lunch was so small. And I'm a girl. If they're getting smaller still, my boys are definitely going to be brown bagging it.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Aug 27, 2013 16:14:23 GMT -5
Or beat up a weaker kid and take their lunch. Exactly..our kids are going soft :-(
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Aug 27, 2013 16:17:57 GMT -5
Are the boys used to getting a lot more food? I'm not sure what you mean by "getting smaller" It has to be enough lunch for a growing child
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Aug 27, 2013 16:25:53 GMT -5
I understand Michelle Obamas rules are coming in soon...... Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity? I remember in high school 20 years ago being VERY hungry by the end of the day because the school lunch was so small. And I'm a girl. If they're getting smaller still, my boys are definitely going to be brown bagging it. I don't pretend to be an expert on what this particular school is serving, but in general healthier and fewer calories does not have to mean less food. Serving a turkey sandwich on white bread with a big blob of mayo may be more calories (and less nutrition) than serving a turkey sandwich on whole grain with no mayo but that doesn't mean the turkey on wheat will fill you up less. There are plenty of lower calorie options that are an equivalent quantity of food as a side of boxed mac and cheese or something. And there's no rule against packing the kids a snack, or giving them one after school. How many hours is an average school day anyway, about 6?
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Aug 27, 2013 16:44:22 GMT -5
That's very true. Kids need carbohydrate and protein....They don't need loads of extra fat, sugar or salt.......It isn't rocket science to make a few adjustments. The first things that went in our schools were the coke and sweet machines. Kids were actually eating these things instead of going to the canteen. Its not good enough...and as a parent I would be very unhappy if my child were doing this.
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jkapp
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Post by jkapp on Aug 27, 2013 16:55:17 GMT -5
I say that my perception of rural Kentucky does not involve cuisine. Whole wheat bread too disgusting to eat - really? What is the obestity rate for that community? I love whole wheat bread, especially for turkey sandwiches...however, there is some whole wheat bread out there that tastes like recycled tires So I can believe the school's suppliers might have some nasty-ass bread.
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jkapp
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Post by jkapp on Aug 27, 2013 16:57:31 GMT -5
I'm not familar with the new guidelines. But back when I was in school, the lunches tasted like vomit. And there wasn't enough food to go around either. I recall that in high school no one wanted the "D lunch period" (meaning the latest one) because not only would you be eating at like 1:30, but there was hardly anything left. I remember even the pizza at school was crappy. Just a slab of fatty bread with a tiny bit of cheese and sauce on top. I guess if I ever have kids, I'll be packing their lunch. I only ate school lunches in Elementary school, but I remember we were convinced the pizza sauce was just ketchup
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Aug 27, 2013 17:26:37 GMT -5
Two thoughts came to mind 1 - Once again govt is getting involved where it has no business being involved 2 - fat free milk might not taste like vomit, but so some it tastes like badly colored water, so if "I" was forced drinking it every day - I would complain too. I also feel the same way about wheat bread I'm not a big fan of skim milk either. As you said, it tasts more like milk flavored water than actual milk. I don't like wheat bread as much as white bread, but I don't find it disguisting or anything. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time believing the cause of obesity in kids is the fact that the milk in school lunches is 2% instead of skim milk.
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 27, 2013 19:27:34 GMT -5
I'm not sure what you mean by "getting smaller" It has to be enough lunch for a growing child Not sure if this is true in England's schools, but here in much of America, you only have to look at the kids to see that the vast (yep, pun intended) majority are getting plenty of calories. Unless these kids are suddenly going to sprout up and use the fat they're carrying around to become 9 feet tall, they are getting enough food for a growing child. Kids that would have been average weight 20 years ago look like concentration camp survivors compared to most of the other kids now. We are one of the few countries in the world where our poor people are fat. Our local paper had an article a few months ago about how the sequester might impact a local food bank. The picture accompanying the article was a good representation of what we see around here and showed 40-50 people standing in line to get groceries from the food bank. Every single person in the line was fat and a few appeared to be morbidly obese. That's not just poor people in the free food line, that's just how the trend is going now. Getting enough lunch is not our problem. Getting too much lunch - or in many cases - too many empty junk calories, is the problem.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2013 19:49:05 GMT -5
I actually pay to eat school lunches . . . some of the time. Like Phoenix suggested, D lunch is AWFUL because they run out of food. You will actually be standing in line, and then the line will close because they are out of food. So then you have to go get at the back of a longer line hoping they don't run out.
Ours are actually pretty good. The best ones are the "homecooking bar" (stuff like turkey tetrazinni, squash casserole, veggie boat, fruit cup, whole wheat bun) and the Mexican bar (taco salad that really consists of nacho chips plus seasoned meat, black beans, Mexican corn, lettuce, tomato, your choice of sour cream or salsa). I actually make my home version of taco salad that way. We also have grab-it-and go salads with chicken, ham, or vegetarian plus deli food plus burgers plus pizza. We have something like six or eight food stations in what we call a food court. If you can actually get down there early enough to get food, it's fairly good. It is also $3 for faculty (prices went up). We have police officers who "stop by" for lunch along with school board members, city council people, etc. It makes them look good, and it is a cheap, decent lunch.
Some stuff has really changed. You get an entrée, up to THREE vegetables, a fruit, a roll (usually whole wheat but ours are tasty) PLUS a dessert. I actually can't get everything . . . it is way too much food. But if you think of kids who don't have food to eat at home, it really does help.
Most of our kids eat the school lunch although pizza is the popular favorite. They don't have access to a microwave to warm anything. So it is basically a cold lunch or the school lunch. My seniors usually have early release, though, so most of them go home to eat. It is always interesting when you have those who stay even if their day is over; you know they need the food security that free or reduced school lunches provide.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Aug 27, 2013 21:31:31 GMT -5
It sounds like plenty of calories to me: 850 for high school lunches, 700 for middle schools and 650 calories for elementary.
They also mentioned that the rich kids could buy a second entree - although being able to pay for your lunch is a new definition of rich.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Aug 27, 2013 21:54:13 GMT -5
I'm not sure what you mean by "getting smaller" It has to be enough lunch for a growing child Not sure if this is true in England's schools, but here in much of America, you only have to look at the kids to see that the vast (yep, pun intended) majority are getting plenty of calories. Unless these kids are suddenly going to sprout up and use the fat they're carrying around to become 9 feet tall, they are getting enough food for a growing child. Kids that would have been average weight 20 years ago look like concentration camp survivors compared to most of the other kids now. We are one of the few countries in the world where our poor people are fat. Our local paper had an article a few months ago about how the sequester might impact a local food bank. The picture accompanying the article was a good representation of what we see around here and showed 40-50 people standing in line to get groceries from the food bank. Every single person in the line was fat and a few appeared to be morbidly obese. That's not just poor people in the free food line, that's just how the trend is going now. Getting enough lunch is not our problem. Getting too much lunch - or in many cases - too many empty junk calories, is the problem. I agree with this...my two kids are very skinny but back when I was in high school they would just be considered normal...compared to kids nowadays my kids look like I starve them. They both eat and eat but I don't cook junk and I rarely bring crap food into the house. I'm not sure if that is it or if they were jsut blessed with a good metabolism...then again, it isn't like everyone's metabolism is suddenly slow today compared to when I was in high school. There were very few fat kids when I was in school...now there are very few skinny kids
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Aug 27, 2013 22:25:59 GMT -5
Huntington also has a major, major drug problem. Crack and meth heads are generally not worried about giving Junior a balanced, healthy meal.
I went to a tiny, rural school in WV for 1st/2nd grade. The food was wonderful. It was all made from scratch. My great grandma's sister was one of the cooks. We also had the option every day of having salad bar instead of the entree.
When I switched back to the larger, neighboring district, I packed my lunch nearly every day. There was no salad bar. On spaghetti day you might get some limp iceberg lettuce. There was very little cooking going on in those kitchens. All of the baked goods were produced in a central bakery at one school and trucked to the various locations.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Aug 27, 2013 22:28:08 GMT -5
My youngest daughter's school doesn't provide breakfast or lunch. this is her first year there but she will take a lunch every day. My older one went to a charter school for K and 1st and again, no lunch service. She took a lunch every day. It wasn't the end of hte world.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2013 23:31:29 GMT -5
They can supply better food, they just don't hire people who know how to prepare volume meals. Doubt they pay enough to get sous chefs :-)
In KY, they could have provided rice & beans + in season fruit + milk for a little over $1 per kid per day (so long as the milk contract wasn't a kickback deal). It would meet protein and calorie requirements and you can eat a lot of it for cheap!!!!
My GKids don't like the school lunches. DD feeds them uber healthy, so the school food looks like utter crap to them (and it tastes like it too). She buys veg at the farmers markets, but they close for the winter, so her budget gets a little more squeezed. I'll get her the 50lb bags of rice & beans at Costco if she has a hard time. If you are serving that as the 'base meal' then a little meat/chicken can go a long way as a garnish instead of the main protein. I wish they had 25lb bags of quinoa - - that is one of the primary foods they eat since it is high protein and tasty (much better for them than rice). quinoa is pretty expensive though - I think the 3 lb bag is $12. Will have to see if we can talk Costco into carrying big bags of dried black beans, ours only has pinto beans for a dried option.
I often think that the schools should outsource all non essential services. Food service should be privately run.
They should also stop building a jillion different school campuses. Why can't they band together on one larger campus and get the efficiencies of scale for services like food & libraries?
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 28, 2013 5:38:34 GMT -5
"I wish they had 25lb bags of quinoa - - that is one of the primary foods they eat since it is high protein and tasty (much better for them than rice). quinoa is pretty expensive though - I think the 3 lb bag is $12. "
See if she has any local stores that sells food in bulk bins. Even at Whole Foods, which is often very expensive, quinoa out of the bulk bins is $2 or $3/lb, depending if it's organic or not. There's a health foods store near me that carries nonorganic quinoa for under that price most of the time.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Aug 28, 2013 6:21:37 GMT -5
They can supply better food, they just don't hire people who know how to prepare volume meals. Doubt they pay enough to get sous chefs :-) In KY, they could have provided rice & beans + in season fruit + milk for a little over $1 per kid per day (so long as the milk contract wasn't a kickback deal). It would meet protein and calorie requirements and you can eat a lot of it for cheap!!!! My GKids don't like the school lunches. DD feeds them uber healthy, so the school food looks like utter crap to them (and it tastes like it too). She buys veg at the farmers markets, but they close for the winter, so her budget gets a little more squeezed. I'll get her the 50lb bags of rice & beans at Costco if she has a hard time. If you are serving that as the 'base meal' then a little meat/chicken can go a long way as a garnish instead of the main protein. I wish they had 25lb bags of quinoa - - that is one of the primary foods they eat since it is high protein and tasty (much better for them than rice). quinoa is pretty expensive though - I think the 3 lb bag is $12. Will have to see if we can talk Costco into carrying big bags of dried black beans, ours only has pinto beans for a dried option. I often think that the schools should outsource all non essential services. Food service should be privately run. They should also stop building a jillion different school campuses. Why can't they band together on one larger campus and get the efficiencies of scale for services like food & libraries? I don't think there are many distributers of 4 ounce cartons of milk. I also think part of the reason they are so expensive is the packaging. The problem with the rice and beans this is it wouldn't meet the required guidelines I don't think. The lunches are no longer allowed to serve lots of carbs and starchy vegatables like potatoes and rice. They also have to serve at least one fruit and vegatable with the lunch. Wouldn't beans fall into the carb part of a diet? I am not sure how much rice and beans the kids would have to eat to get the required protien, but I'm guessing it is more starch than the school lunch program allows. There really are only two choices as for food service as far as I have ever seen. Either pay people to prepare the food which would require paying them to be there enough hours to actually cook the food. Or pay the cafe workers min wage for three hours a day and have them open cans of mushy veggies and cook frozen pizza. I will add that my kids school system dropped the soda machines and homade cookies and brownies from the cafe 6 years ago. the reason was to get sugery stuff out of the cafe and be more healthy. the unexpected consequence was that those items brought in $40,000 a year in net profit. So the first thing they had to do after cutting the soda was fire twocafe workers at each school.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Aug 28, 2013 6:25:00 GMT -5
I understand Michelle Obamas rules are coming in soon...... Is any sensible parent really going to argue against giving kids healthy food in a bid to tackle childhood obesity? "Sensible" according to WHOM? Michelle Obama?
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Aug 28, 2013 6:27:02 GMT -5
I do think that schools should NOT be serving Pizza Hut, McD's, etc. I think this is corrupting the school to bring in that type of fare. Kids can certainly be served a healthy tasty meal. Baked or grilled chicken instead of fried, etc. But, the problem is everything under the sun becomes a nutritional evil. We pretty much had bashed red meat into the ground.
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