interesting blog- undercover teacher & school lunches

[Hen]

here's an article about a teacher who is documenting a year of eating school lunches at her school. She is concerned about the majority of the kids there who get free/reduced lunches and worried that this might be the most nutritious meal they get. She takes photos.

 

Fed Up, a year of school lunches

 

I thought is was interesting that she is doing this. what thinks the hive?

[4kiddies]

I checked out that site this morning. GROSS! I cannot imagine eating that everyday....those poor kids. How about that pizza that had something like 64 ingredients!!:tongue_smilie:

[FaithManor]

Well, I know that the meals served in the Lutheran school I taught at were atrocious! The grease swam on the top of things like lasagna and probably a full cup or more could have been ladeled off each pan. They used hydrogenated vegetable oil (according to John Hopkins and Harvard medical schools - this accounts for 75% of the cholesterol clogging arteries and that there is no safe level of ingestion - pure poison!) for everything. High fructose corn syrup was everywhere. They did start adding apples and bananas to the menu and quite a few children would take these.

 

It was sickening. DD always took a packed lunch except on the rare soup and salad days. They did serve a nice potatoe soup and a reasonable salad bar but this was usually only once per month. I proposed that there be two kinds of soup everyday, a salad bar everyday, four kinds of fresh fruits, no cookies, no sandwiches offered, and pastas with homemade sauces. Desserts would be only offered for fun at the holidays. I was told the children would go hungry. I doubt it...maybe for a day or two but once they realized the change was permanent, most would start eating. The parents that didn't like it could send junk filled lunches to school. I felt that it was the school's job to role model good good nutrition since this is directly linked to afternoon school performance and shouldn't waste money on junk. Frankly, good food is not that expensive but it does require more planning and cooking effort than just dumping a bunch of nuggets in the fryer 20 minutes before lunch time.

 

That's my rant! I hope this teacher doesn't get fired...she should be promoted!

Faith

[TXMary2]

I read this story early this morning on AOL. In looking at the pictures on her blog it appears that her school at least is trying. I saw apples, carrots, mixed veggies, apple sauce etc. I think she may be expecting too much. Schools are already strapped for cash due mostly to mismanagement. I don't think it is feasible to offer the types of things she wants offered. I also have an issue with schools trying to be *everything* to children and using tax dollars to do so, but that's another thread.

[chiguirre]

Every lunch she showed had a vegetable and fruit, so I'm pretty sure they meet the federal guidelines. OTOH, they're not very appetizing. I would also note that food service budgets are normally separate from the rest of the school district's budget. The food subsidies they receive and the price they charge for breakfast and lunch should cover all their costs.

[myfunnybunch]

A good friend just got a job as the lunch lady at the school her children attend. She's a parent who cares deeply about nutrition. She's working really hard to make sure the kids at least have healthy foods available each day. There's a salad bar. She makes muffins or oatmeal for breakfast in the mornings. She tries to make something fresh for lunch if she can. There's always fresh fruit available.

 

But it's not easy with the budget and time/staff constraints. It's going to take a major shift in thinking and some creativity for school food service programs to start buying more local and fresh foods, staff kitchens adequately to allow prep time for fresher foods and encourage kids to visit the salad bar more and rely on the nugget-like substances less.

 

I think the meals pictured look and sound disgusting, by the way. Ugh.

 

Cat

[angela in ohio]

I'm having more stomachaches these days," she said. "It's not every day, but at least once a week I just don't feel very good."

 

She added that she has a history of irritable bowel syndrome and couldn't be sure the bellyaches were from the school meals.

 

"I can't place it," she said. "Keep in mind that I eat organic and healthy outside of work so it's not like I'm suffering. What is hard for me to think about are the kids who rely on the school for the best (or only) meal of the day and they get hot dogs, processed meat products, fruit cups with high-fructose corn syrup, etc."

 

While I tend to agree that school lunch can be gross, I can't place her point. Is she doing it to feel the health effects? If so, wouldn't eating organic healthy food the rest of the day (which these students are probable not) make it completely different than what the students are experiencing. It would really be solidarity if she was willing to eat as they do all the time. It seems like a half-hearted stunt at best, with very little on the line for her.

[mrsrevmeg]

I remember when my oldest son was in ps he would talk about how gross the school lunches were and how he felt sorry for the kids who had to eat them. The menus usually sounded not so bad, but they were gross when you actually looked at them. One day when I was volunteering, they had burritos with this gross orange slime all over them. The burritos were burned on the outside and cold on the inside.

[Hen]

I noticed she mentioned that the fruit cups were in syrup with corn syrup. It's like they are doing the name game of a balanced meal but the reality is far short.

 

I think even with a small budget, they could do better. Even a sandwich would be healthier. I think she will get fired eventually when caught.

[cougarmom4]

I agree those pictures look pretty awful.

I'd have to add, however, that I think part of the problem is the kids themselves. Many of them wouldn't eat healthy food if it was put in front of them! They WANT chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers, etc.

I've always wondered how much of the food goes to waste anyhow. Many kids are too busy chatting to eat!

[Daisy]

Hubby has been loving it! He's a first grade teacher and says it is a fairly accurate picture of public school meals. He says everything is prepackaged because food companies come to the school districts and basically offer their excess product for reduced rates.

[RoughCollie]

When we lived in MA, the school lunches were healthy and appetizing. They cost twice as much as they do here in PA, and the lunch program had to pay for itself.

 

My kids are appalled at how nutrition-free and full of fat the lunches are at their school in PA. The cost is low, $1.50, and I figure that is why. The salads consist of iceberg lettuce, the breads are not whole wheat, anything that can be fried, is fried, and none of the meat served tastes like what it is purported to be.

 

My kids want me to go to the school board about the problems with the school lunches, but I am not going to. They would need to charge more for lunches to improve them, and the demographics here would not support that. This is a *much* poorer community than the one we came from.

 

Instead, my kids get their lunch money for the week on Monday morning. They have the option of buying lunch or bringing their lunch and keeping the money since I can't afford to pay them an allowance. So far, no takers. No one at their school brings lunch, and they are likely too lazy to pack their own.

Edited March 15, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Mrs Mungo]

A good friend just got a job as the lunch lady at the school her children attend. She's a parent who cares deeply about nutrition. She's working really hard to make sure the kids at least have healthy foods available each day. There's a salad bar. She makes muffins or oatmeal for breakfast in the mornings. She tries to make something fresh for lunch if she can. There's always fresh fruit available.

 

How much impact a cafeteria manager can have really depends upon the state. In many states the state nutrition board comes up with the menu, orders the food, etc and the managers have zero leeway. If you want to complain, you often need to take it to the state level because that's where a lot of the decisions are made.

[Snickerdoodle]

HEre's another fun link:

 

School lunches from around the world

[Snickerdoodle]

Here's another one:

http://whatsforschoollunch.blogspot.com/

 

You can click on the sidebar to see different countries

[myfunnybunch]

How much impact a cafeteria manager can have really depends upon the state. In many states the state nutrition board comes up with the menu, orders the food, etc and the managers have zero leeway. If you want to complain, you often need to take it to the state level because that's where a lot of the decisions are made.

 

Yes, I completely agree with this, and this is what is happening in our district/state. I'm not saying the fabulous meal service is all my friend's doing, except that she's doing what she can with what she's got and she's got the freedom to do so. She does have to follow a mostly predetermined menu and is uncomfortable serving some of the foods she serves. It's not all super healthy. There are chicken nuggets and turkey hot dogs. She'd like to do away with the boxed breakfast cereals altogether, and the sugary chocolate milk too.

 

And she has fresh, often local, pears and apples to serve, a salad bar at every meal, some local foods, and is able to make muffins and oatmeal and fresh ham sandwiches because she is fortunate to be working with a school district/school meal service that has been fairly proactive in changing nutrition policies as much as finances and practical considerations will allow. That's what needs to change at every level of decision-making.

 

Cat