Lunchroom lessons: I quit! - A Rant

[Danestress]

Am I understanding you correctly that you think it's teaching "morally reprehensible" to let children share in their class mate's junk food without having to eat a fruit or vegetable?

 

I'm all over fruits and veggies. I actually *like* them and so do my children, so it's not a really a "force feed" issue around here. Pizza is good too, though. We have no wheat allergies, so for us, the carbs are great and we do eat tomato sauce and cheese as well. I don't really care if my children eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal. A turkey sandwich and glass of milk is fine. Over the course of the day, they usually get their "five a day" and often more.

 

No one in my family is fat or even a little overweight, so I guess maybe I look at this differently. I have never let food be an issue. I seldom tell my children what they have to eat in order to "earn" something else. I want them to eat what they feel like eating, and learn over time how their bodies feel eating various foods and combinations. A lot of people swear that fruits and vegetables should not be eaten in the same meal with other foods.

 

I don't know. I can see disagreeing. I can see having a discussion - though I can't really see having a productive discussion with someone who believes that I am morally reprehensible for not micromanaging lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You must have misunderstood my op. This is the hill I choose NOT to die on. I could try to fight this battle for better nutrition in our school district, but that's not where my greatest passion nor interest lies. In the last few years, I've been more deeply involved in fighting the math wars with some success and I'll continue with that, among other things.

 

What I decided yesterday was that lunch will not be the hill I die on, and on principle I can't be part of teaching what I believe to be morally reprehensible lessons to these innocent and trusting children. So I won't continue. Call that a control issue if you want to, but I'm giving up a doorway to any influence I may have and have already had.

 

The unfortunate thing is that not enough parents or taxpayers have thrown down the gauntlet for better nutrition. That's why we don't have it. But my battle will be elsewhere.

[Carol in Cal.]

Yeah and if it is anything like the fruit and veggies I was served as a kid it's no wonder kids don't want to eat it. :ack2:

 

Musing...imagining...remembering...bruised bananas, old mealy apples, sour oranges...canned string beans...canned peas...canned sour red cabbage...wilted iceberg lettuce...'mixed vegetables'...cooked carrots beat to death...squash...

[mrs.m]

Yeah and if it is anything like the fruit and veggies I was served as a kid it's no wonder kids don't want to eat it. :ack2:

 

:iagree:

 

Over-cooked canned green beans, anyone? :ack2:

[Joker]

Yeah and if it is anything like the fruit and veggies I was served as a kid it's no wonder kids don't want to eat it. :ack2:

 

:D Yep! I made the mistake of eating with my younger her first week when she was in K and in ps. The veggie was corn -- it looked like corn but it definitely didn't taste like it. She spit hers out in a napkin and I sooo wanted to do the same. I can't imagine imagine "forcing" any child to eat that.

[gardening momma]

Ok, I think I'd change my mind if those were the kinds of fruit and veggies offered. I went to a very small private school, and we didn't have a cafeteria or hot lunch. We all brought sack lunches everyday.

[Matryoshka]

:iagree:

 

Over-cooked canned green beans, anyone? :ack2:

 

Okay, I do remember canned wax beans (even worse than green imho), and canned beets... Yeah, I never ate those. :ack2:

 

Sigh... fresh fruits and veggies would be nice...

[Carol in Cal.]

Okay, I do remember canned wax beans (even worse than green imho), and canned beets... Yeah, I never ate those. :ack2:

 

 

 

Wow, your memories are worse than mine, and that is saying something!

 

There there are the psuedo-veggies and psuedo-fruits with no redeeming nutritional content to speak of:

Ketchup

French fries

Chips

Canned peaches

Canned mandarin oranges (they're good, but they're basically candy)

Canned pears

Brown apple chunks

[LibraryLover]

Even if the best, most gorgeous organic fresh fruits and veggies were the subject, I still do not want someone to make rules around my child's eating. Chat it up, let them water this wonderful organic garden, let them cook with Jamie Oliver. Make it avaiable...but don't make food rules. The rules of 'eat this ,don't eat that before you eat this, you can only eat this if you eat that" is my objection.

 

It's one dang meal. lol Leave my child be, ok? :) That's all, as good as the motivation is, as poorly as I know some children do eat, leave my child be. :) I want good food made available to all children...as many apples and grapes and berries as they want, but leave the rules part out.

 

Gosh, I am cantankerous on this point. ;)

Edited April 22, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Murphy101]

Sorry but that is NOT your call and yes I would have been one of the irate parents even though I actually agree with your opinion on the need for fruit and veg.

 

While I do not doubt the best intentions on the part of the OP, she crossed the line.

 

It is NOT up to her to make these choices and this is one of those rare times when I actually agree with the school admin.

 

The children are NOT the teacher's they are the parent's and the decision (even if it is a bad one) must be left to the parents.

 

When will we get the point that it is NOT up to the generic "lunchroom lady" to decide what "my" children eat.

 

Woohoo! I agree.

 

Yeah and if it is anything like the fruit and veggies I was served as a kid it's no wonder kids don't want to eat it. :ack2:

 

Yep. Nevermind that they often serve the fruits and veggies that have the LOWEST to almost zero nutritional content. Corn, green beans, and apples most of the time. Which are fine occasionally, but not exactly powerhouses of nutrition.

 

And actually nutritional needs of people DO vary. It is ignorant to suggest otherwise.

 

My nutritional needs as a pregnant/bfing woman are very different from my type 1 diabetic dh and we are both very different from the kids, especially the teens and the infants. For one thing, our caloric needs are drasticly different.

 

Also, there is nothing wrong with eating pizza. The pizza at the school might be crap, no argument there.

 

And I would argue pizza isn't junk food.

If I said my child had a dinner roll, a hand sized portion of beef marinated with some bellpepper and onion on top, and a slice of cheese - that is a great lunch.

It is also all the ingredients on a pizza.

 

Even if it was plain cheese pizza. So what. I feed my kids grilled cheese sandwiches and soup all the time and that isn't junk. Both are just cheese and bread.

 

If you want to cut waste, then stop putting food on the tray they tell you they won't eat and instead put one serving of what they say they want on the tray. And quit making so much there is enough for seconds. Problem solved. It's not rocket science.:001_huh:

[BabyBre]

Originally Posted by Breann in WA

You must have misunderstood my op.

 

Nope, you're quitting your job because you can't extend it into having your own way about what other people's children should eat. That's dying, in this context.

 

What I decided yesterday was that lunch will not be the hill I die on, and on principle I can't be part of teaching what I believe to be morally reprehensible lessons to these innocent and trusting children. So I won't continue. Call that a control issue if you want to, but I'm giving up a doorway to any influence I may have and have already had.

 

You're positioning your opinions as absolute fact that should, morally and scientifically, be binding on everyone. You have no right to impose them on other people's children.

 

The unfortunate thing is that not enough parents or taxpayers have thrown down the gauntlet for better nutrition. That's why we don't have it. But my battle will be elsewhere.

There are a lot of unfortunate things in schools today.

 

However, nutritional preferences vary greatly from family to family. And nutritional needs vary greatly from child to child. It is not right to choose one set of views and needs and impose them on everyone. That is not the business of the state. It is presumptuous.

 

The secretary was right.

 

 

Ouch, Carol. Your tone seems unnecessarily hostile! And you did misunderstand my op.

[BabyBre]

Nutritional need doesn't vary greatly from family to family, however. One family may prefer to eat deep-fried everything and chips and soda all day, but it doesn't make it nutritious. And the fact that the schools seem to offer all kids that menu rather than a healthy one is nuts, imho. What about the food preferences of those that like to eat healthy? What if I'd prefer my kids not be required to eat a protein (in school, that would be the chicken nuggets?) and grain (Wonder bread?)? Or what if I'm fine with that requirement but would like grilled chiken, or brioled fish, or whole grain everything?

 

I am rather gobsmacked that adding a fruit OR veggie that the child gets to choose themselves is so controversial. :confused: And that by default schools cater to the preferences of the junk-food eaters, and that seems fine because it's the status quo, and we wouldn't want to upset those that are fine with the status quo.

 

Kids eat what they're used to. And if the schools are feeding them crap 1-2 meals a day 5 days a week for most of the year, they are going to get used to eating crap, and that's one of the things that make it so hard for families who want to eat healthfully to get their kids on board. My kids refused mac 'n' cheese and hot dogs when they were young because they were unfamiliar foods. Familiar = good. Kids usually have to try something a few times before it's "accepted". Aiming at the lowest common denominator is not the way to go.

 

Some people have said that their kids have texture issues. So, an apple or orange is bad, but chicken nuggets and nachos are universally a fine texture for everyone? Wouldn't texture or preference issues come up for kids no matter what the food is that's served - the menu is by definition limited - it's what it's limited to that's the question.

 

The thing is, saying "I don't want the school telling my kids what to eat" is a meaningless demand if you're sending them to eat at the cafeteria. They will then eat what is offered at the cafeteria (or the vending machines). The choices they are offered are pretty much what they then can eat.

 

Did anyone else look at that thread about school lunches around the world? It's a disgrace what passes for lunch in American schools. And the rest of the kids on the planet don't seem to be scarred by being offered vegetables at every meal.

 

 

:iagree: You said it better than I could have. Thank you!

[Carol in Cal.]

And you did misunderstand my op.

 

You're confusing misunderstanding with disagreement.

Edited April 22, 2011 by Carol in Cal.

[BabyBre]

Thanks for all the comments, supportive and otherwise! I slept on it for about a week and let my principal know yesterday that I'll finish out the year but won't be working in the lunchroom next year.

 

It is liberating.

[Slartibartfast]

I do think sharing fruit could lead to more germs being spread around.

 

I don't think one should try to force kids to eat certain things.

 

 

When my dd was in public school there was a boy in her class who had a bologna sandwich, fritos, a kitkat and a juicebox in his lunch everyday. I wouldn't DREAM of packing that lunch for my kid. But I brought fruit to parties now and then and he told me he didn't like fruit. I didn't make him eat any before he ate a sugar bomb cupcake.

 

Different kids have different food issues and it wouldn't be my place, and it wasn't your place to require an explanation of those issues.

 

My experience was that most kids loved fresh fruit and vegetables if it was offered to them. A couple kids didn't but those were more uncommon. Why not just try and see one tiny change that could be done, when I brought strawberries, blueberries and melon to my dd's class the tray was completely empty when we left. There were veggie trays at the parties now and then and the kids ate those as well. What is on the produce bar that it isn't getting very much attention?

 

I disagree with your actions, but I do think your heart is in the right place.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Sis

[6packofun]

I think this is a tough one because there should be more healthy options in public school lunchrooms, but the system for deciding what is "healthy" is flawed. It's pathetic, really. LOL

 

One thing that keeps coming to mind is that parents don't want any requirements for their children's lunches, but I'm curious if most parents still require their children at home to eat their MEAL or at least part of it before being given dessert? I wonder if that could be worked into the schools somehow. Take one of these two main dishes--do you want a small serving or a regular serving?--and if they eat most or all of it, they can come back up with their tray and trade it for the dessert or fruit. ?? Probably WAY too complicated for these people, though, and still too "overbearing" for some, which I understand. But I like the idea of making mealtime as much like home as possible. (Which for some kids, may not be great at all, I realize!)

[BabyBre]

One thing that keeps coming to mind is that parents don't want any requirements for their children's lunches, but I'm curious if most parents still require their children at home to eat their MEAL or at least part of it before being given dessert? I wonder if that could be worked into the schools somehow. Take one of these two main dishes--do you want a small serving or a regular serving?--and if they eat most or all of it, they can come back up with their tray and trade it for the dessert or fruit. ?? Probably WAY too complicated for these people, though, and still too "overbearing" for some, which I understand. But I like the idea of making mealtime as much like home as possible. (Which for some kids, may not be great at all, I realize!)

 

That's exactly the system that we had in place. Our district requires kids to take a protein and grain, which must be eaten before having seconds. I don't really see why it's considered so criminal to also include a fruit or vegetable. I understand parents having a problem with requirements at all, but it seems that's when you pack a cold lunch. When parents buy a hot lunch they turn over control of lunchtime, just like when they enroll their kids in public school they turn over control of their education. Should parents remain vigilant and do everything they can from home? Of course.

[katilac]

Reading the original post and others, I just can't believe that some schools allot enough time for lunch to get all that done, lol. Around here, you're lucky if you can shovel in that first serving. and that's one reason why even lots of parents pack lunches that might make you raise your eyebrows: especially with younger children, lunch needs to be quick and easy. My dd only spent a month in kinder, but that was long enough for me to realize I needed to scrap the carefully balanced, complete meals. Granted, dd is a fairly slow eater, but I certainly didn't want to encourage her to master the art of shoveling her food in, kwim?

 

So I mostly abandoned fresh fruit and vegetables (difficult to pack, took her too long to eat) and warm leftovers in the thermos (too difficult to open, and took too long to eat). We quickly went to mostly sandwiches (yes, on white bread, my kids eat many healthy things but not wheat bread!). And processed crackers with cheese or peanut butter, because sometimes you don't want a sandwich, and those are quick and easy to eat, and have some protein. Lots of stuff that's easy at home is harder to pull off in a packed lunch: it's tough to keep yogurt and fresh veggies cold, chopped fruit gets a bit nasty even with Fresh Fruit, leftovers are difficult, etc.

 

"School lunch" is generally not conducive to fresh, healthy meals, whether you are buying the hot lunch or bringing a sack lunch from home.

[6packofun]

I don't really see why it's considered so criminal to also include a fruit or vegetable. I understand parents having a problem with requirements at all, but it seems that's when you pack a cold lunch. When parents buy a hot lunch they turn over control of lunchtime, just like when they enroll their kids in public school they turn over control of their education. Should parents remain vigilant and do everything they can from home? Of course.

 

I totally agree.