What is Wrong With School Lunches?

Anonymous Hero,

I could not agree more.

It is a part of every parents responsibility to raise a healthy child. Unfortunatley too many parents are unhealthy also (and the apple rarely falls not far from the tree). But there is only one place for them to point the finger of blame - the mirror.

Whatever did happen to taking responsibilty for ones actions?

That's percisely why I pack my kids a healthy lunch everyday. It's a special treat when they get to purchase the school lunch. They actually complain when they have to eat the barf school pizza when I get lazy now.

In the movie "SuperSize Me" there was a school in the midwest somewhere that was filled with troubled teens. By changing the menu to healthy fresh foods, the behavior of the kids dramatically changed for the better.

My wife is an obesity counsler and it pains me to hear almost all of the kids she sees are growing up on fast foods and processed junk food.

Bravo to you!! I only wish that more parents would practice what you do.

Funny, your kids don't seem to consider a school lunch a treat .

As science and technology has advanced over the years in leaps & bounds there are certain aspects of society (specifically health & fitness) that has regressed tremendously with no end in sight.

I don't know about 'predisposed'. I would say that we habitually eat what we learned to eat as children. (bacon, KFC, mcdonalds, dairy queen, etc were treats when I was a kid)

If you can, check out the audio book by Kevin Trudeau, "How To Lose 30 Pounds In 30 Days" www.naturalcures.com

It is physiological. And it does vary from individual to individual.

I think the topic has strayed.

People have to pay for those meals made available at the schools for their kids. They've always had a cafeteria even when I went to elementry school in 1967. The meals then were better then what they serve kids now. Schools are supposed to be teaching kids the food groups and a healthy diet in Health Class but they aren't practicing what they preach in the cafeteria. That is the main point.

My xwife makes my son his lunches, but for awhile there he was eating the cafeteria food and when he did he was always complaining that they never fed him enough. My son eats like a bird and when he's not getting enough to eat, then they are not feeding them enough.

I also don't consider a piece of bread with just pizza sause and some parmasan cheese sprinkled on top as pizza. I don't consider Katchup served with french fries a serving of vegetable. The school cafeterias are skimping on our kids and I think that has much to do with over inflated saleries.

So pay those teachers and administrators their over inflated saleries and who cares if your kids are being taught properly and treated well.

Not all parents have time to make lunches for the kids and get ready for work themselves. Time is the driver here.

The problem can also be in that they may have been feeding him enough but the food they are feeding is not wholesome - good food. Junk food and empty calories can fill you initially, within an hour you are starving again.

I wish all parents would make the time. Once you get in a routine is is really not that hard, believe me. As a natural pro bodybuilder (who also works a full time job) I eat 7 meals a day. I prepare them every night for the following day. Once you get in a routine it is easy, as I mentioned. It takes me no more than 30 minutes for me to organize and get together the 4 meals that I bring too work with me each day. Organization and planning, there is nothing to it.

On a side note in reference to the pizza and fries. I love the commercial that markets a full serving of vegetable's in every serving of Manwich sauce. Ridiculous......

In the interest of full disclosure... I do not have kids.

I take exception to this statement.

"Not all parents have time to make lunches for the kids and get ready for work themselves. "

In my humble childless opinion if parents do not have time to feed their children they have no business having children in the first place! Which is one of the reasons I chose not to have children, I tend to be selfish, lazy and self absorbed. So knowing that I would probably not provide the support that children need and are entitled to I made the concious decision not to take on the parent role.

Parents today farm out their responsibility to educate, entertain and protect their children. Now you tell me they deligate the feeding of their offspring to someone else too? Just what are parents responsible for today?

Until you've walked a mile in the parent's shoes you shouldn't be making such statements.

All parents want to be there for their kids and do for them. However, five years later when school starts and other bills start piling up, those ideals end up being changed.

It would be wonderful if we lived in a perfect world but we don't and we have to make exceptions to make ends meet. I don't know about up in Canada but most Americans have to have two incomes to get by.

Something that was told to me by someone that had 10 kids of his own and 6 adopted kids:

"It doesn't matter how many kids you have, you will always find a way to manage."

Hats off to someone trying to provide for that many children.

I would just hope it is "quality management". It is hard to imagine someone raising 16 children without cutting corners, etc.

Apparently not, hence the 6 kids that needed to be adopted.

You didn't clarify if they were orphaned, an unpreventable tradgedy, abandonned a preventable tradgedy, or removed from unsuitable homes, a crime.

I need to apply for a licence to own a cat or dog, but not to have a child or six.

Apothicus,

Well said.

I too have chosen not to have children (thus far although I still have time, as does my wife). Our decision is based upon what you could say is selfishness too.

Financially we could easily afford to but we are enjoying each other and not having the responsibilities right now of raising a child. And until or unless that changes we will not have children.

To survive in this world nowadays is a daunting task and without proper nurturing how can any parent expect their child to ever succeed?

Is it any wonder the country/world is in the mess it is? Too many people take becoming a parent for granted. It is the biggest responsibility one will ever face and impact of which has the potential to effect so many and so much.

So although the intent of this blog may be getting off course a little it is still the parents responsibility in the end. When the school systems drop the ball someone has to pick it up.

"All parents want to be there for their kids and do for them."

Oh, no, obviously not true! I just got back from a Domestic Relations hearing to add moral support for a friend.

Their docket load is abysmal and deadbeat parants (mostly dads) are at the root of the problem.

You may care what your kids eat, but that is just a single data point in a pretty large universe. It may be true that there are many parents that say they care, but actions are the metric of the day here.

You have to do something, not just piss and moan about it.

Returning from that Domestic Relations office should hammer in the point that having kids is both a choice (with the possible exception of rape) and a responsibility.

I watched one "dad" complain that he can't afford to pay what is required because he is supporting his out of work girlfriend. The judge asked, "So, you are taking your son's money to support your girlfriend?"

The example I just cited begs the question of just where are our priorities?

Present generation students miss plays-out door to a great extent. Schools are also have become robot shops just delivering students with grades or marks. Play is is no more a serious part of present education system. Tuitions, assignments, tests and retests. The T.V and computer world also have partially killed the need or time for play. Grounds again are hard to see due to rapid urbanization.

That is how the new generation is heading through.You go for a sweating out play, your fat is taken care of.

There are kids (I could say "many" but that would be meaningless) who for economic reasons get their calories primarily from school meals. The point of the blog post is that, whatever food service the government provides should be at least reasonably healthy. It's a good point.

Yes, I have must admit I am missing the blogs topic! And I apologize.

I do not have kids so I really can't comment on what they would be getting served in our local school. Schools should be teaching kids proper nutrition and it should be reinforced at home as well.

But the bottom line might be if the schools are not providing proper nutrition for children then the responsibility falls back on the parent.

I can tell you what happened at the school where my daughter attended high school when the cafeteria started serving "healthy" food. The kids would not eat the crap. They simply threw it away and started bring their own lunches. All of the goody goodies in the world can not out smart the typical high school cafeteria crowd. They will eat what they want regardless of how many do-gooders are standing around trying to save them from themselves. It is time to face reality, Neither Jaxy nor any other vegan fruitcake will ever convince them to eat that tasteless crap.

Sad and pathetic but true - some people don't want to help themselves.

I feel sorry for them.

I'm not a vegan, I don't like fruitcake and healthy food tastes fine to me.

"Bring their own lunch" ...what a novel idea ..... people actually feeding themselves. And I assume these lunches were prepared in their homes, where the parents have some influence, (I won't dare say "control") over what those kids put in those lunches?

It is not up to the "goody goodies, Jaxy or vegan fruitcakes" (where did that comment come from?) to "outsmart" the typical teenager. It is up to the parents to educate their children. Plain and simple. A child allowed to eat nothing but junk food should be considered child neglect the same way a child allowed to eat nothing at all would be. Note the use of the term "allowed", if your child gets to be a teenager and the only way you have any influence over them is to "outsmart" them, you screwed up long ago and nothing the school does will help you. The police maybe, but not the school.

One more question about this guest post. Who is doing the cooking in your house where healthy food is synonomous with "tasteless crap"? My idea of healthy fare would be a nice lean steak grilled to medium rare, a fresh baked potato with farm fresh butter and chives, a cob or three of corn that left the field less than a couple of hours ago, some home baked bread and maybe a cold locally brewed beer. Ok so I used to pass a farmers field-side stall on the way home from work each day, that was heaven. Even now, being city bound again I can still shop for good fresh food. But then I don't have to rush the kids back and forth from soccer practice, piano lessons and yoga.

Where are your leafy green vegetables???

This is a perfect example of why healthy eating has to start at home with the parents. I have no idea what was being served, but it was probably healthier than the junk processed foods. You wouldn't have to 'outsmart' kids if they were eating the same healthy foods at home as in cafeterias.

Many people who commented first are absolutely correct in saying that changing eating habits start at home and it shouldn't be up to the schools to do all the work.

Before you make accusations about me being a vegan fruitcake, realize that you know nothing about me. Just because I blog about vegetarian foods and such does not make me a vegetarian. Stop being so naive.

"Just because I blog about vegetarian foods and such does not make me a vegetarian."

Well, that shatters my image of you, because I am vegetarian! ;-)

Incidentally, the previous poster's tasteless jab about "tasteless crap" is naive!

How you spice and present the food has everything to do with how it tastes. If anyone wants taste, they should try authentic Indian food as an example. Additionally, unsalted and unspiced meat is also pretty tasteless.

Uh... folks, Pizza is actualy a pretty healthy breakfast. It contains carbs from the crust, protein from the meat and cheese in the topping, veggies from the sauce. It is a far healthier breakfast than a sausage biscuit and cup of coffee. The human body actualy needs fat as a part of a healthy diet.

Uh...."guest"

healthy diet = healthy fats.

We do not need to look far to see why there is a health crisis and obesity running rampant, etc.

"Pizza is actually a pretty healthy breakfast" ah the images.....

Now we see exactly what is wrong with school lunches, we have way to many self styled experts trying to dictate their taste over what people who are actualy trained in the field recomend. Yes Pizza for breakfast.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/1/pizza-for-breakfast-yes/

Well there ya have it. If its on the internet it must be true.

Besides it comes from a blogger in NY too, and she has a dog. She is not only healthy but busy too. Shes does however have more creditentials than Guest.

So now that the experts have put that little matter to rest we can get on with our day.

sarcasim/off

Where is your degree in nutrition? She has one.

Where does it say she has a degree in nutrition. Also she says "Eating just about anything in the range of 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all," "even pizza can be healthy if it's thin-crust, loaded with veggies, and you stick to one slice" This sounds like some pizza is healthier than some alternatives not Pizza=Healthy, besides how many pizzas are thin crust and loaded with veggies and how many pizzas are deep dish loaded with meat and cheese and tons of grease.

Concerning what children eat: in the first place the home matters, but in the second BIG place is peer pressure.

When my boys were growing up we didn't have a television and I made all our bread from scratch (& only a wuss uses a bread machine - personal prejudice - you want to feel the bread "come alive" in your hands) & almost every meal included something from the garden - in winter - canned, frozen or from the greenhouse.

But when the boys were older, they wanted what their friends had - not "wierd stuff". But I recall that I never really appreciated what phenomenal cooks my mother and Aunt Katherine were and are (their mother died when they were young) with garden produce, wild game, etc. until I was about 25... Is there something about that age? Now my oldest son (the engineer - 25) asks me to bring .... or asks me to show him how to make ....

And for all those who have stated the opinion (not just in this forum) that since they don't have children, the health and welfare of all children is no concern of theirs; those young persons, some day, will be making everything, providing every service you use and paying into your health care and equivalent of Social Security. What goes around, comes around - and if that's the kind of reasoning you need to convince you to be your sisters'/brothers' keeper, then shame on you.

Don't get me wrong the welfare of the world's children is of grave concern to me.Which somewhat explains my rants about irresponsible parents. However I am not allowed or welcome to intervene in the upbringing of someone elses children. Just try to disipline or even reprimand a child misbehaving in public today. The probable result will be an angry confrontation with a parent followed by a long discussion with a police officer or worse.

Concerned I am, responsible for I'm not.

Luckily for us all there are enough well cared for and well educated children coming up through the ranks to run the world when my generation is through screwing it up. Most of the kids I see today though will be flipping burgers, collecting welfare or doing hard time. None of which is going to do much for my social security. It not todays children I am complaining about, its the parents. The ME generation is not very well suited for parenthood.