Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Feb 25, 2015 21:06:56 GMT -5
USA lunch compared to other countries. How come we can't afford to feed our kids these kinds of meals? Would they even eat them if they were served? Do you feel school lunches are why so many kids are over weight? Discuss. "More than one-third of kids in America are obese or overweight. In 2013, the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools, served 5.1 billion lunches, Bloomberg reports. The quality of these lunches must somehow correlate to the health of America's youth, considering more than 32 million children are served NSLP every day. Parents could model better eating habits and stock their crispers with fresh fruit and vegetables, but a viable starter solution might begin at lunchtime. Sweetgreen, a healthy quick-serve restaurant that values local and organic ingredients, clarified disparity between American student lunches and those of other countries by photographing typical school lunches from around the world. The visuals are eye-opening. A representative for the company told The Huffington Post that to create these mock meals, Sweetgreen evaluated different government standards for school lunch programs and compared the data to real photos from students who had posted on several social media platforms. Because school lunches can vary by region, it's important to note that the images below aren't exact representations of a country's school lunch, but offer a resemblance. American politics acknowledge that our nation's children should not go hungry, but there's less of an emphasis on what exactly our children are being fed. With the great risks associated with being overweight and news that diet may be just as important to mental health as it is to physical health, the state of students' nutrition should be all it takes to improve the quality of the lunch tray -- think fewer chicken nuggets and more produce. But America's got some work to do." These pics are huge but you get the idea. www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/photos-of-school-lunches-from-around-the-world-put-america-to-shame/ar-BBhWUSm
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Feb 25, 2015 21:46:03 GMT -5
I want the lunches they serve in Italy & Finland! Yum!
If it's any consolation, the college food used to be next to awful too. At DD's college, their food options now are incredibly good. Maybe our country needs to get a clue on what's healthy, rather than what's cheap, & takes few people to throw together...
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Feb 25, 2015 21:57:28 GMT -5
Remember a few yrs ago - Michele O's Lunch program? One kid's mom sent him to school with home-cooked chicken, the school took it away from him and told him that he must eat the McNuggets cuz they met the nutrision requirements?
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Feb 25, 2015 22:49:48 GMT -5
We probably could afford to feed the kids more 'fresh' fruits and veggies... but that brings us to: I doubt the kids would eat it. We live in a time and place where kids expect to get exactly what they want to eat when they want to eat it. (just read an article about how hard it is for low income families to make home cooked meals - and one of the issues was that who ever was cooking had to be a short order cook - because not all the kids would eat what was served.) I'm going to so, no, not so much. I suspect it's all the other food the kids eat during the day. The local teachers are annoyed because they can't hand out edible 'treats' to the kids anymore - so no 'fruit roll ups', no candy, no "healthy" processed kid friendly snacks. The kids seem to get these things a couple of times a day, in addition to their breakfast and school lunch. If the 'treats' are say 50 to 100 calories and they get 2 or 3 of these a day - they could easily be adding 150 to 300 'empty calories' a day. It doesn't sound like a lot - but I'm sure that adds up over time. If the kids then go home and have another snack and then a high calorie dinner and then some snacks in the evening... well.. you get fat kids. We also seem to live in a culture where "feeling peckish" is a HUGE problem that must be resolved immediately. No one tolerates being hungry - not even for an hour or two. It's too horrible, I guess.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Feb 25, 2015 23:03:24 GMT -5
The high-priced preschool I sent my kids last year boasted of the organic snacks they served in their school. I'm not sure what I expected, but this was a typical snack.
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Feb 25, 2015 23:05:26 GMT -5
(just read an article about how hard it is for low income families to make home cooked meals - and one of the issues was that who ever was cooking had to be a short order cook - because not all the kids would eat what was served I agree with everything you wrote except for this part, I don't think being a short-order cook is limited to low-income families. Pretty much every family I know has to accommodate with customized meals- whether it be a gluten issue, dairy issues, food allergies, a special diet for behavioral issues, somebody is vegan or vegetarian, and so on. Making specific meals for each person in the family seems to be the norm these days, so fast food is that much easier.
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mamasita99
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Post by mamasita99 on Feb 26, 2015 6:07:37 GMT -5
The children would have to be trained at a very early age to enjoy eating those kinds of foods, well at least the fruits and veggies. Many of the children have been raised on fast food and processed foods, so when offered "real food" they are turned off. The amount of food the children throw away at school is horrible. The pathetic boiled veggies I can understand, but side salads, and yogurt, milk, bananas? It's mandated to be on their lunch but it doesn't always get eaten. As teachers we try to get the children to at least put the items they don't want on the side and if it can be recycled (such as an unopened milk or banana) we hold onto it and can offer it for breakfast or additional food for the super hungry. We also have a program with a local shelter where we can drop off food overages as part of our community service project.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Feb 26, 2015 6:38:23 GMT -5
We don't eat much processed food and basically never eat out. We get a pizza maybe once a month. My kids have always eaten the same meal as us for dinner. The only time we do substitutions is if DH and I are cooking something that is spicy (thai red curry, etc), then we will let the kids have the option of something like scrambled eggs or a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. We are lucky in that neither is very picky. Is this because of our methods? I would assume at least partly, though I know some kids are just born picky eaters too so we're lucky there.
My 4 year old is starting to voice opinions on what he eats. For instance, my DD would eat steamed broccoli every day but 1-2x a week is his max. So sometimes he'll tell me he doesn't want broccoli but he'll eat carrot sticks or cucumbers as a sub. We don't have much junk food in the house and at this point he still thinks of raisins as something sweet to eat, LOL. I know it won't last forever with him but I feel like we're giving them a really good base to go off of. At least up until this point he's been filling up on fruits and veggies. I don't forbid him from eating things (say if we're at a b-day party, someone else's house) and I know he has stuff like goldfish and cookies at daycare, I just don't keep chips, goldfish, etc in the house so they aren't even an option.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Feb 26, 2015 6:40:14 GMT -5
The high-priced preschool I sent my kids last year boasted of the organic snacks they served in their school. I'm not sure what I expected, but this was a typical snack. I sent my son to preschool with a box of raisins every time. I feel like the luckiest mom that he didn't complain .
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Feb 26, 2015 9:00:46 GMT -5
I think there are two different problems here. One is making healthy options kids will eat. Truthfully the tide is turning IMO. I have given out soda for halloween for years. Every year a number of kids will politely say no thank you to the soda. About 5 years ago I added juice boxes so the little ones would have something they would drink. Then past few years I have also put out bottles of water because so many kids are turning down the soda. The parents are actually around most of the time and telling the kids the soda is okay but the kids are saying no I really prefer the water. So it is changing it just probably won't happen over night. The second part of the problem is cost. Does anyone remember that show with Jamie Oliver? I think the schools that did it actually had the kids loving the food. The problem was they couldn't afford to keep doing it for $1.65 a meal. The rules for things the USDA pushes also make it very difficult for schools to buck the system. If the USDA is subsidizing processed chicken, and it is, the schools that accept money from the gov for lunches basically have to buy that processed chicken no matter what. So my questions are could the gov make a real change that gets healthy food in the schools without lobbyists ? Because there is big money in selling processed chicken crap to our schools!! The second question is could the schools do it alone for an amount that people could pay for their child's lunch while being healthy?
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tractor
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Post by tractor on Feb 26, 2015 9:10:10 GMT -5
Getting kids to eat fresh fruit at lunch is tough. My son said that at the high school, most of the fruit is thrown away in the lunch room. I at least have him trained to bring his fruit home everyday instead of throwing it out. I may never have to buy another apple.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 9:34:08 GMT -5
Remember a few yrs ago - Michele O's Lunch program? One kid's mom sent him to school with home-cooked chicken, the school took it away from him and told him that he must eat the McNuggets cuz they met the nutrision requirements? If this happened, it was crazy local choices and had absolutely nothing to do with 'Michele O'...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 9:41:15 GMT -5
Our school actually serves really good lunches. It's kind of a hippie, organic, charter school. The kids aren't even allowed to bring sweets to have in their lunch. If you try to sneak something in, it gets confiscated and you get a little note about no candy at the school (or so I'm told ). Of course, older son won't eat hot lunch there to save his life, but younger son loves it. Fruits and veggies are his favorite. Kids are so different. Even raised in the same house with the same meals.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 9:41:43 GMT -5
my kids only get 20 minutes to eat.....not sure how they could go through the lunch line and eat either of the Brazil or Italy meals in that time.
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luckyme
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Post by luckyme on Feb 26, 2015 10:59:41 GMT -5
Number of issues:
Kids, in pre-school, would get a mandatory meal, even though they were only there 2 1/2 hours and out by 11 am. Nasty looking thing. It was usually a roll with funky ham and cheese and a rock hard apple. Kids would keep the milk, but toss the brown bag into the garbage can on their way out of class. What a waste of money.
Elementary school: IF they would have gym 2 or 3 times a week, that would be much better than worrying about the small pack of fruit snacks in the lunches. Also, whenever the kids were misbehaving, they would take away their recess, and have them sit in class as punishment. WTH?
Middle school: Son had gym on Mondays, and there were a lot of Mondays when there was no school, or the part time gym teacher didn't even show up, so they had a study period. Again, more gym periods would be a huge benefit to the kids.
High school: Kids get about 20/25 minutes for lunch. By the time my kids get there, stand in line and sit down, it's time to leave. DS hasn't had a single school meal in the 4 years he's been there. Would he have eaten the above meals, probably not most of it, but by DD would have loved it.
I cook most of the meals at home, and try not to use processed stuff whenever possible. I also serve at least 3 vegetables so they have a variety to chose from. My kids are like the 3 bears. My youngest is skinny, middle is overweight, and oldest is just right. Youngest is the worst with eating "wholesome" food, oldest eats the most variety and least amount of junk, and middle is in the middle.
So there are a lot of factors that go into the shapes of our society.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 26, 2015 11:10:55 GMT -5
I'm guessing that they chose the best looking of the countries and the worst of the US as a basis of comparison.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 11:13:59 GMT -5
I'm guessing that they chose the best looking of the countries and the worst of the US as a basis of comparison. I don't think the US meal is completely horrible....mashed potatoes? issue? peas - yes, not a green leafy vegetable but a favorite among kids. fruit cup - if it's in its own juice, what's the problem (my HS junior gets one every day from home). if the chicken is white meat and not parts, not the worst thing ever.
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Feb 26, 2015 11:20:57 GMT -5
When I was in elementary school back in the 80's, I wished that the school lunch was as good as the US one pictured here.
Instead, it was usually some vile, mystery concoction garnished with sluffed-off skin from the lunch lady's leprosy.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 11:55:52 GMT -5
When I was in elementary school back in the 80's, I wished that the school lunch was as good as the US one pictured here. Instead, it was usually some vile, mystery concoction garnished with sluffed-off skin from the lunch lady's leprosy. They weren't much better in the 70's. I think pizza day was the only time I would eat anything but the white bread and peanut butter sandwich and milk that came with every meal.
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jeep108
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Post by jeep108 on Feb 26, 2015 12:12:15 GMT -5
When my daughter was little I could get her to eat just about anything. Now that's she's a teen if it's not junk she's not happy. Last night was baked chicken with Quinoa and Asian pear salad. She ate the baked chicken with a a nacho Lunchable that she bought with her own money. When she was little she would of ate the salad. She never complained until she was introduced to junk food.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Feb 26, 2015 12:16:56 GMT -5
When I was in elementary school back in the 80's, I wished that the school lunch was as good as the US one pictured here. Instead, it was usually some vile, mystery concoction garnished with sluffed-off skin from the lunch lady's leprosy. They weren't much better in the 70's. I think pizza day was the only time I would eat anything but the white bread and peanut butter sandwich and milk that came with every meal. We didn't get pizza at my Catholic grade school in the 70s. We usually brown bagged it for that white bread PB&J, apple and homemade cookies) The one day a month I wanted hot lunch was Hot Dog Day. Once a month we'd have hot dogs and chips. Other meals I remember were apple pancakes (YUM), salisbury steak (gross) and mock chicken legs (also gross) I have a vague thought that they had approximately 25 meals that they rotated though.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Feb 26, 2015 12:20:27 GMT -5
(just read an article about how hard it is for low income families to make home cooked meals - and one of the issues was that who ever was cooking had to be a short order cook - because not all the kids would eat what was served I agree with everything you wrote except for this part, I don't think being a short-order cook is limited to low-income families. Pretty much every family I know has to accommodate with customized meals- whether it be a gluten issue, dairy issues, food allergies, a special diet for behavioral issues, somebody is vegan or vegetarian, and so on. Making specific meals for each person in the family seems to be the norm these days, so fast food is that much easier. I agree that the 'short order cook' thing is accross the board for families. And I suspect it has little to do with kids actual dietary needs - other wise they wouldn't be serving their kids processed convenience foods. I've heard my co-workers complain that they make several different dinners to accomodate their kids - who WON"T eat a particular food - because they "don't like it" or they want "mac and cheese" or "chicken nuggets" or "pizza" or whatever. Kids pretty much dictate what and when they will eat these days
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 26, 2015 12:24:57 GMT -5
Anyone else ever get served mystery meat coated in an unidentifiable brown crust?
It went under the name beef cutlette and was also served under the name of "pork chopette".
I am pretty sure neither one of those meats were contained in that crust.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 12:26:24 GMT -5
They weren't much better in the 70's. I think pizza day was the only time I would eat anything but the white bread and peanut butter sandwich and milk that came with every meal. We didn't get pizza at my Catholic grade school in the 70s. We usually brown bagged it for that white bread PB&J, apple and homemade cookies) The one day a month I wanted hot lunch was Hot Dog Day. Once a month we'd have hot dogs and chips. Other meals I remember were apple pancakes (YUM), salisbury steak (gross) and mock chicken legs (also gross) I have a vague thought that they had approximately 25 meals that they rotated though. We got these rectangular shaped pizzas that fit right in the lunch tray. I think the meat was sausage, not sure, but it was always the same. Never any other toppings. Other meals were a nasty mac and cheese and the infamous potatoes with hamburger gravy. I would only eat that if they held the gravy. I remember choking on a hot dog at lunch once and not wanting to bother anyone, so I just sat there not being able to breathe. My Mom always wrote a check for lunch, but around 3rd grade I realized I could sell my lunch tickets to kids in line and use the money to stop at the corner grocery and buy candy instead.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 26, 2015 12:28:00 GMT -5
Creamed turkey!
It looked like the lunch lady had sneezed on top of potatoes. I am also not convinced the perfectly cubed pieces of meat were turkey.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Feb 26, 2015 12:33:15 GMT -5
Creamed turkey!
It looked like the lunch lady had sneezed on top of potatoes. I am also not convinced the perfectly cubed pieces of meat were turkey. We call that "Green Gravy Day"
I love me some green gravy. But, our districts is actually a homemade concoction that I don't think is served anywhere else.
The HS athletics booster club uses "Green Gravy Night" as a fundraiser, and the parents are invited to eat lunch with the kids on green gravy day at the elementary schools.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Feb 26, 2015 12:36:07 GMT -5
We didn't get pizza at my Catholic grade school in the 70s. We usually brown bagged it for that white bread PB&J, apple and homemade cookies) The one day a month I wanted hot lunch was Hot Dog Day. Once a month we'd have hot dogs and chips. Other meals I remember were apple pancakes (YUM), salisbury steak (gross) and mock chicken legs (also gross) I have a vague thought that they had approximately 25 meals that they rotated though. We got these rectangular shaped pizzas that fit right in the lunch tray. I think the meat was sausage, not sure, but it was always the same. Never any other toppings. Other meals were a nasty mac and cheese and the infamous potatoes with hamburger gravy. I would only eat that if they held the gravy. I remember choking on a hot dog at lunch once and not wanting to bother anyone, so I just sat there not being able to breathe. My Mom always wrote a check for lunch, but around 3rd grade I realized I could sell my lunch tickets to kids in line and use the money to stop at the corner grocery and buy candy instead. Those rectangular shaped pizzas were SO GOOD! I wonder if they still taste good or if I was just young/stupid. My kids are pretty picky and some of that is my fault. Although it does have some upside in that they really eat a lot of veggies, fruit, plain chicken, and salads. Only 1 of them has a sweet tooth and my 6.5 year old has only had a desert once in his life...cake on his 1st b-day. The downside is that they don't just see food and eat it. If they are used to spaghetti and you give them different shaped noodles, it's almost like you're having them eat a new food.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 26, 2015 12:36:40 GMT -5
But, our districts is actually a homemade concoction that I don't think is served anywhere else
I'm pretty sure what was arriving in the giant metal containers wasn't homemade.
Ours was yellow and brown. Looked EXACTLY like snot.
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lexxy703
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Post by lexxy703 on Feb 26, 2015 12:38:11 GMT -5
I want Greece & France.
According to our county menu our kids do have healthy options to choose from if the want to. Our main daily offerings aren't as bad as the picture in this article.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Feb 26, 2015 12:39:55 GMT -5
We couldn't afford to do hot lunch on a regular basis. And I think 1/2-3/4 of the kids brown bagged it. The school was mostly 1 income families - dad worked and the moms stayed home. Mine baked cookies and bread on a weekly basis for our lunches.
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