Preschooler's Homemade Lunch Gets Replaced with Cafeteria Nuggets

[Laurie4b]

I'm an afterschooler so my dd is in PS. I got fired up recently when her teacher started giving the kids credit on a chart for bringing in fruit and vegetables in their lunch and for snack. It seemed like a good idea until she told my daughter that the prepackaged Dole peaches packed in juice (not syrup) that my daughter brought to school for a snack wouldn't count because it had too much sugar. Sugar wasn't even an ingredient on the label! My daughter was devastated and I was ticked off that she told her that something that was healthy was no good. I ended up sending in the cardboard packaging with her to school the next day so she could show it to the teacher and the teacher relented.

 

Good grief.

[catz]

Her turkey and cheese sandwich was replaced with chicken nuggets??? Because nuggets are more nutritionally balanced? :confused:

:iagree: Depending on what kind of chips they were, she might have been better off with those? Like if they were of the 3 ingredient variety (potato, a quality oil, salt). Those aren't nutritious by any stretch but don't have nearly the junk that the typical chicken nugget has in it.

[pqr]

Yup, people make mistakes. Everyone, put away that noose and those flaming torches. ;)

 

 

No noose, no flaming torches, we homeschool and the ONLY people to check our kids' lunch are the parents.

 

Alas this was not a lone mistake. The stupidity that pervades the "I know better than you" group is particularly strong in ps after all they do know better....just ask them

[angela in ohio]

I didn't read the whole article but read enough to know that the state government and the school are WAY overstepping their jurisdiction. ESPECIALLY when they substitute chicken nuggets (most likely made of processed, chopped, pureed, formed-again chicken with unhealthy breading, then fried) for an actual turkey sandwich! REALLY? Who do these people think they are??

 

That depends on the sandwich. Processed lunch meat and American "cheese food" on white bread is pretty much just as horrible as chicken nuggets, expecially when you add potato chips.

 

I don't understand why nuggets was in quotation marks in the title? :confused:

[chicagoshannon]

This is outrageous! I don't care what the lunch contained they had no right to do what they did.

[Researcher]

I don't see how nuggets are considered more nutritious than a turkey and cheese sandwich. What about food intolerance or allergy issues? The sandwich might have been made with gluten free bread for all they know and the nuggets would not have been a safe substitute.

[stripe]

I just read this article linked to in the Fox story. Notice that the girl's food was not discarded. She brought it home with her. If you read what the mother actually says, I think it's a bit different than how it was edited by Fox. The mother says the girl chose to eat the nuggets instead of the sandwich, not that anyone at school confiscated or trashed the sandwich.

 

http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/homemade-lunch-replaced-with-cafeteria-nuggets.html

 

When the girl came home with her lunch untouched, her mother wanted to know what she ate instead. Three chicken nuggets, the girl answered. Everything else on her cafeteria tray went to waste.

 

“She came home with her whole sandwich I had packed, because she chose to eat the nuggets on the lunch tray, because they put it in front of her,” her mother said. “You’re telling a 4-year-old. ‘oh. you’re lunch isn’t right,’ and she’s thinking there’s something wrong with her food.”

...

Still, Kozlowski said, the parents shouldn’t have been charged.

[In the Rain]

I get what you are saying and yet, I am depressed that there are people out there who walk among us that think government chicken nuggets are superior in nutrition then turkey and a banana.

 

:iagree: Yeah, that is what I was thinking. My dd would probably cry if someone made her eat a chicken nugget. She saw them made by Jamie Oliver. :ack2:

[FaithManor]

Chicken nuggets are not food. They are floor sweepings.

 

If they had a problem with that lunch they'd have a field day with my kids' lunch boxes - dairy free, gluten free, nut free, largely grain free / mostly paleo foods... I hate to think what they'd want them to eat.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

Floor sweepings is an excellent description!!! Can you imagine how much nasty, straight ole unhealthy vegetable oil those nuggets would have been fried in!

 

I think up to about a million reasons why I homeschool now!

 

I would be furious to have the school do this. Oh my word you would not want to be around for that school board meeting! :glare:

 

We eat very, very few grains here...some rice, etc. and pancakes for the boys for one once per week, homemade pizza (for the boys) once per week, garlic bread once per month. But sandwiches and breaded items just do not happen. I'm gluten free and dh is having some bloating from grains, so the basis of our diet is vegetable and healthy proteins followed by fruits in moderation and healthy fats, and then dairy at the top with limited sugar and honey being the main sweetener when I do make desserts. In one year, I don't even quite get through a 4 lb. bag of sugar. So, the school would consider me bizarro and yet this is really healthy! We do well with rice, so I do admit to serving rice probably twice per week. But, when you consider the sheer amount of grains many families consume, we are WAY below anything approximating the FDA grain component of the food pyramid.

 

My child would have arrived at school with some herbed cold chicken/ turkey or a boiled egg, carrot sticks or a small salad, orange slices or grapes, cashews, water or milk to drink, and a generous serving of cheese (extra sharp cheddar is a favorite, but swiss is much loved as well) to help fill them up. To think that such a lunch might end up replaced with breaded, deep fried, chicken nuggets because I didn't provide some element (probably in this instance the grain), makes me see red!

 

Nuts, just nuts!

 

Faith

[mommaduck]

That depends on the sandwich. Processed lunch meat and American "cheese food" on white bread is pretty much just as horrible as chicken nuggets, especially when you add potato chips.

 

I don't understand why nuggets was in quotation marks in the title? :confused:

There is American cheese and American cheese food. There is a difference. You cannot tell that difference just by looking at them; you would have to read the package ingredients.

 

However, the article doesn't say what kind of turkey or cheese it was. It could have been real turkey and Munster or Swiss cheese for all anyone knows.

 

I would also be upset. I have a gluten AND grain free child (this includes oats and rice).

Edited February 15, 2012 by mommaduck

[5kidsforME]

Yup, people make mistakes. Everyone, put away that noose and those flaming torches. ;)

 

First of all, of course they are now (after all of the hoopla) going to say it was a mistake. Even if it was a mistake, that, IMO is not the only problem.

 

No one should be inspecting lunches except the parents. Period.

[Dustybug]

:iagree: This was my first thought too.

 

I did think about food allergies as well.

 

But there are times when a parent is not sending remotely healthy lunches. I briefly taught at a private school and I did ask a parent to send something other than oreo cookies for lunch! That was all she was sent and all she ate. I did not see that it was affecting her positively.

 

I never threw her food away or suggested oreos not be sent. But I did ask her dad to send more and other items that would feed her brain. (I think both parents worked in the medical field, by the way.) I think they just did it because they thought she'd eat it and not complain but honestly she looked sick of them.

 

So yes, I do think there is a role for suggestions. Some people just don't know what's healthy. But if that's the case there should be education not this nonsense and certainly not withgarbage food.

 

Some people don't know or care what is healthy, but this still violates a parent's rights to make decisions for their child.

 

My dd's kindergarten teacher refused to

allow her to eat a cookie I'd packed in her lunch once, because she claimed it was junk food and an "extra" that dd didn't deserve because she'd been talking during the silent period at the beginning of lunch. :glare:

 

It was, FTR, a high-fiber, flax, oatmeal, and cranberry laden cookie made with whole wheat flour for my chronically constipated daughter. I had it out with the teacher, but she refused to admit she'd done anything wrong. She claimed she had no way of making it fair that dd could have her cookie and another kid would be denied Oreos. Seriously.

 

:001_huh:

[Just Kate]

Some people don't know or care what is healthy, but this still violates a parent's rights to make decisions for their child.

 

 

:iagree: THIS!!!

[angela in ohio]

There is American cheese and American cheese food. There is a difference. You cannot tell that difference just by looking at them; you would have to read the package ingredients.

 

However, the article doesn't say what kind of turkey or cheese it was. It could have been real turkey and Munster or Swiss cheese for all anyone knows.

 

I would also be upset. I have a gluten AND grain free child (this includes oats and rice).

 

Right. And there are chicken nuggets made of whole pieces of breast meat and chicken nuggets made of mostly filler.

 

But either way, my point is that you can't assume the sandwich was more nutritious than the nuggets. Obviously, the child wasn't GF because she had a white "whole wheat" sandwich.

[meltf928]

I personally don't care if the sandwich was superior to the nuggets or not. Unless the lunch consisted of just cookies/chips/equally junk, then the school has no right to interfere in what the parents send for lunch.

 

Our lunches would likely be looked down upon due to lack of grains as well and when my former dairy allergic DD was still allergic to dairy, those nuggets would have sent her to the hospital..

[Rbsmrter]

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who thinks this, but calling ketchup a veggie is the same as calling applesauce a fruit, imho. If there's enough ketchup (not that you'd need enough to make a whole serving) I don't have a problem with that counting. A better example is tomato sauce on pizza (again, if the volume was enough) or spaghetti sauce.

 

 

 

:lol: LOVE it!

 

Unfortunately ketchup and applesauce don't even compare. Check the back of that ketchup packet next time. TOMATO CONCENTRATE FROM RED RIPE TOMATOES, DISTILLED VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, SALT, SPICE, ONION POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORING.

 

Last time I checked, my apples (or applesauce) didn't come with a hefty dose of high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, alot of parents (and most school administrators) seem to think that 27g of artifically sweetened tomato juice counts as an actual vegetable. The nutritional qualities of applesauce vs ketchup don't even compare. That isn't based on my opinion, that's based on the labels on the back of the packaging.

[5kidsforME]

Unfortunately ketchup and applesauce don't even compare. Check the back of that ketchup packet next time. TOMATO CONCENTRATE FROM RED RIPE TOMATOES, DISTILLED VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, SALT, SPICE, ONION POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORING.

 

Last time I checked, my apples (or applesauce) didn't come with a hefty dose of high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, alot of parents (and most school administrators) seem to think that 27g of artifically sweetened tomato juice counts as an actual vegetable. The nutritional qualities of applesauce vs ketchup don't even compare. That isn't based on my opinion, that's based on the labels on the back of the packaging.

 

 

Yes, I am confused on how anyone is trying to say that ketchup=applesauce. :confused:

 

My applesauce is literally made from only apples.

[angela in ohio]

Last time I checked, my apples (or applesauce) didn't come with a hefty dose of high fructose corn syrup.

 

Unfortunately, much of the applesauce sold in stores does come with a high dose of HFCS. :glare:

[Spy Car]

I just read this article linked to in the Fox story. Notice that the girl's food was not discarded. She brought it home with her. If you read what the mother actually says, I think it's a bit different than how it was edited by Fox.

 

Fox "News" distorts the truth of its reporting to feed the right-wing (((((echo chamber)))))? Say it ain't so! :lol:

 

Bill

[Rbsmrter]

Unfortunately, much of the applesauce sold in stores does come with a high dose of HFCS. :glare:

 

You are completely right, however I haven't had a problem finding no sugar added applesauce. I've never been able to find sugar free ketchup. I have found organic ketchup, but it's always sweetened with something. Applesauce can be made with apples and nothing else, although there are plenty of things you could add. I'm pretty sure you have to add other stuff to ketchup to make it ketchup, otherwise I'm thinking it would just be tomato sauce.

[Dmmetler]

Preschool food/nutrition rules are different than K-12. In many government funded preschool programs, parents cannot send in food at all unless there's a serious allergy issue (and by serious, I mean something life threatening and documented by a physician). That's not a school call-that's coming from higher ups. Even the preschool at my DD's former school provides lunch, on a tray, for all pre-K students, although parents are allowed to send in food in addition-because they are an authorized provider for the preschool subsidy money that working poor women can get, they are required to offer the school lunch to the kids-and this is a school where I was shocked to find out that school lunch was $50/month (my daughter packed through K-I could give her a good, balanced lunch that she'd actually eat for MUCH less than that!)

[Tree House Academy]

I have read several articles about this and here are my 2 cents.

 

1. The school made a mistake. The lunch was healthy and fine...even according to the "rules."

 

2. Had there been an "infraction" of some sort causing the lunch to be unhealthy, then the school was supposed to supplement the lunch to make it healthier. For instance, a child brings chips and a coke to school...they should be offered dairy, meat, and fruit/vegetable. This child brought a decently healthy turkey and cheese sandwich along with a banana and apple juice. If a substitution was to be offered, it should have only been a vegetable...not chicken nuggets. Chicken nuggets would have been a supplement for the sandwich and there was NOTHING wrong with the sandwich. The school was wrong!

 

3. The whole thing was blown out of proportion. The school should not charge the mom. It was their mistake. They need to formally apologize to the mother AND the child...and now, maybe even the public. ;)

 

4. The "substitution policy," in theory, is a GOOD idea. It allows the school to offer kids with parents who truly just don't care what they eat some alternative to the junk food. However, a few lunch ladies on power trips can ruin the whole stinkin' thing for everyone.

[stripe]

Fox "News" distorts the truth of its reporting to feed the right-wing (((((echo chamber)))))? Say it ain't so! :lol:

 

Bill

 

I am touched that you actually read my comment, since I think the words of the mother shed a lot of light on the situation and no one else apparently read it.

 

Frankly, I do think schools should be promoting healthy food. How can a kid learn if all they've been sent for lunch is candy? Or what about if a child forgot their lunch? Or the lunch was spoiled (rotten, moldy, fell in the mud) ? The idea that the teacher and the school are ensuring the children don't end up hungry and unable to learn seems appropriate to me. Eating a bunch of sugary foods that leave the child hungry impacts the child's behavior. So if you believe in parental rights NO MATTER WHAT then it seems fundamentally unfair of you to send your kid off into the world where other people will have to deal with that child. The level of "I have the right to do whatever I want!" is a bit scary. Certainly parents and children eat differently, but sometimes what a parent does is wrong or not the greatest. Many parents who are unhealthy themselves do not want their children to grow up obese and sickly but they don't know what to feed the kids. Jamie Oliver had plenty of this, with kids sent chips, cookies, and soda in their lunch and really notng else.

 

The other article said the school supplemented with chicken nuggets. Obviouly stupid. But it was the daughter who decided not to eat her mom's food.

[stripe]

Some people don't know or care what is healthy, but this still violates a parent's rights to make decisions for their child.

 

I stand by my decision to speak to the father of the student in my (private achool) class about the unhealthy lunches that his daughter did not eat and seemed embarassed by, when all the other student in the class brought more standard lunches such as a sandwich or other main course, not just dessert. He did not appear to mind and understood my comments stemmed from concern about his daughter's ability to do work at school and her general health.

 

I wish more teachers advocated for their students and encouraged them their positive development. Parents don't have a monopoly on concern or knowledge. It is not usurping parental authority to work with parents for the betterment of their chlldren. The world is a better place when more people care about young children.

[stripe]

If the kid throws out the lunch and eats nothing, how is that better than eating a buttered roll?

 

The mother in this case never claimed her child's turkey sandwich was removed. She didn't like the value judgment of her lunch being seen as needing supplementation, and thus somehow giving her daughter an "out" to avoid her sandwich. The girl chose not to eat the sandwich.

 

Fox news cited another article which I quoted from earlier that has much more detail from the mom.

[Haiku]

Just and FYI: The school did not throw away the girl's lunch. They sent it home. Not that it really changes things, but the article on the Carolina Journal site mentions that the lunch was sent home.

 

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who thinks this, but calling ketchup a veggie is the same as calling applesauce a fruit, imho.

 

If the applesauce and the ketchup are the standard crud that school lunch fare consists of, then neither is healthy. Both the applesauce and the ketchup will have HFCS in them, which to me negates the idea of them actually still being a fruit or a vegetable.

 

Dd17's school serves free breakfast because so many of the kids qualify for free lunch. It consists of things like cellophane-wrapped sugar-frosted danishes and PopTarts with orange drink (drink, not juice). We had to forbid her from eating the school breakfast and insist she eat breakfast at home. We had to protect her from school "nutrition."

 

Tara

[Sahamamama]

First of all, of course they are now (after all of the hoopla) going to say it was a mistake. Even if it was a mistake, that, IMO is not the only problem.

 

No one should be inspecting lunches except the parents. Period.

 

:iagree:Yes, this. They are saying that HOW the lunch was inspected was a mistake, not THAT the lunch was inspected was a mistake.

[mirth]

“With a turkey sandwich, that covers your protein, your grain, and if it had cheese on it, that’s the dairy,†said Jani Kozlowski, the fiscal and statutory policy manager for the division. “It sounds like the lunch itself would’ve met all of the standard.†The lunch has to include a fruit or vegetable, but not both, she said.

The person who had the final word on compliance said someone made a mistake. Maybe they should just apologize and give back the $1.25.

[Moxie]

I just can't imagine the nerve of a person to go up to a kid and say, "I know your Mommy packed you this lunch but I'm going to take it away and give you something different." What else would that person be willing to do?!?

[mommaduck]

 

“With a turkey sandwich, that covers your protein, your grain, and if it had cheese on it, that’s the dairy,†said Jani Kozlowski, the fiscal and statutory policy manager for the division. “It sounds like the lunch itself would’ve met all of the standard.†The lunch has to include a fruit or vegetable, but not both, she said.

The person who had the final word on compliance said someone made a mistake. Maybe they should just apologize and give back the $1.25.

A mistake. How can you make that kind of "mistake"? What exactly was the "mistake"? Did the person really not know that a turkey and cheese sandwich was acceptable? :glare: Mistake = we realise we received a lot of unwanted attention to our idiocy, but don't want to admit said idiocy...so we'll call it a "mistake"

 

If my child were carrying bags of cookies to school as their lunch, fine if a teacher was kind enough to buy them a lunch and then talk to me later about it (my kid would have to have intentionally ditched their healthy lunch and changed it themselves for that to have happened). If I send a healthy lunch to school with my kid and that is what they are eating, then that is what I would expect them to eat.

[momto3boys]

Oh my, I just saw this and its in my town! Glad we're opting to HS...I don't give my kids chicken nuggets, I would have freaked out if they gave my child food I had not okay'ed!!

[Kathryn]

Kind of OT, but the switching of lunches without regard for possible restrictions reminded me...

When we were considering my going to work and putting ODS in a daycare/preschool environment, we were asking a lot of questions because of his life-threatening food allergies. The director of one place that didn't allow packed food told us that wouldn't be a problem, that they had an Indian boy whose family were strict vegetarians and he was allowed to bring his lunch. About ten minutes later, as we were touring the room and were asking if he could sit by a teacher at mealtime instead of next to other children, since we didn't want inadvertent touching/sharing going on, she pointed out the Indian boy and laughed about how he always eats his lunch and then finishes his neighbors' lunch, which that day was beef stew. We left shortly afterwards and to this day DH and I cannot figure out why on earth she would have shared that information with us.

[Dustybug]

I stand by my decision to speak to the father of the student in my (private achool) class about the unhealthy lunches that his daughter did not eat and seemed embarassed by, when all the other student in the class brought more standard lunches such as a sandwich or other main course, not just dessert. He did not appear to mind and understood my comments stemmed from concern about his daughter's ability to do work at school and her general health.

 

I wish more teachers advocated for their students and encouraged them their positive development. Parents don't have a monopoly on concern or knowledge. It is not usurping parental authority to work with parents for the betterment of their chlldren. The world is a better place when more people care about young children.

 

Speaking to a parent in private is completely different, imo, than searching through the child's lunch and replacing it (whether they trashed the sandwich or not) with something else. I don't mind when teachers work WITH parents, however changing the girl's lunch without even speaking to the parents is absolutely usurping the parental authority and does not ring at all of teamwork.

 

 

A mistake. How can you make that kind of "mistake"? What exactly was the "mistake"? Did the person really not know that a turkey and cheese sandwich was acceptable? :glare: Mistake = we realise we received a lot of unwanted attention to our idiocy, but don't want to admit said idiocy...so we'll call it a "mistake"

 

If my child were carrying bags of cookies to school as their lunch, fine if a teacher was kind enough to buy them a lunch and then talk to me later about it (my kid would have to have intentionally ditched their healthy lunch and changed it themselves for that to have happened). If I send a healthy lunch to school with my kid and that is what they are eating, then that is what I would expect them to eat.

 

:iagree:

 

And the original link I posted was from carolina journal, but apparently a bad one, so I copied the link another poster provided into my OP. I did read that the lunch wasn't thrown away, etc. It still outrages me.

[Dustybug]

Kind of OT, but the switching of lunches without regard for possible restrictions reminded me...

When we were considering my going to work and putting ODS in a daycare/preschool environment, we were asking a lot of questions because of his life-threatening food allergies. The director of one place that didn't allow packed food told us that wouldn't be a problem, that they had an Indian boy whose family were strict vegetarians and he was allowed to bring his lunch. About ten minutes later, as we were touring the room and were asking if he could sit by a teacher at mealtime instead of next to other children, since we didn't want inadvertent touching/sharing going on, she pointed out the Indian boy and laughed about how he always eats his lunch and then finishes his neighbors' lunch, which that day was beef stew. We left shortly afterwards and to this day DH and I cannot figure out why on earth she would have shared that information with us.

 

 

:001_huh:

[sgo95]

I agree that this was a mistake on the school's part.

 

However, I'm mainly posting because some of things I'm reading on this thread are passing some pretty harsh judgements on chicken nuggets, HFCS, and store-bought applesauce in wasteful little plastic cups :w00t:. We eat plenty of healthy food made from scratch but sometimes we also eat :ack2::svengo::ack2: Tyson chicken nuggets, applesauce in plastic cups, and juice sweetened with HFCS. I'm just so ignorant and irresponsible.....some government program should be created so someone can come to my house, take away the junk I feed my poor kids, and provide alternatives that are acceptable to a more enlightened group of people ;).

[melissad2]

I just don't like schools, teachers or government in general interfering with my parenting decisions.

 

FWIW it is not about the sandwich or chicken nuggets to me. It goes way beyond a simple dumb decisions on the schools part and messes with my sense of boundaries.

[mirth]

:glare: Mistake = we realise we received a lot of unwanted attention to our idiocy, but don't want to admit said idiocy...so we'll call it a "mistake"

 

Actually, "mistake" was my interpretive descriptor of what the compliance person said. She did not actually admit to any wrongdoing on behalf of More at 4. She only said it appears as if the original lunch would've complied.

 

I wonder why the original was sent back home and not offered along with the supplemented meal. Isn't the point to try to make up the perceived nutritional deficit, and not completely try to replace what the family is doing?

[Snickerdoodle]

Wendy, Wendy, Wendy.....

 

How could you?

 

 

:tongue_smilie:

[mommaduck]

Actually, "mistake" was my interpretive descriptor of what the compliance person said. She did not actually admit to any wrongdoing on behalf of More at 4. She only said it appears as if the original lunch would've complied.

 

I wonder why the original was sent back home and not offered along with the supplemented meal. Isn't the point to try to make up the perceived nutritional deficit, and not completely try to replace what the family is doing?

Ah, so they really aren't admitting to ANY wrongdoing?

[Heather in Neverland]

I stand by my decision to speak to the father of the student in my (private achool) class about the unhealthy lunches that his daughter did not eat and seemed embarassed by, when all the other student in the class brought more standard lunches such as a sandwich or other main course, not just dessert. He did not appear to mind and understood my comments stemmed from concern about his daughter's ability to do work at school and her general health.

 

I wish more teachers advocated for their students and encouraged them their positive development. Parents don't have a monopoly on concern or knowledge. It is not usurping parental authority to work with parents for the betterment of their chlldren. The world is a better place when more people care about young children.

 

We do it at my school. The teachers make sure every child eats a vegetable and finishes their lunch before running off to play. And if we see a parent that consistently sends a very unhealthy lunch, I will personally speak to the parents about it. If they do not change the lunches they send then I WILL give their child a healthy lunch AND charge their account and not even think twice.

 

Our lunches are all made from scratch. No preservatives. Nothing prepackaged or frozen. Completely homemade every day.

 

I had one student this year whose parents sent him to school with a sandwich of nutella on white bread, Oreos, and chocolate milk. EVERY DAY. The kid acted like a spazz after lunch then crashed and could not hold his head up the rest of the afternoon.

 

If that parent is not smart enough to see that the lunch they are sending is GARBAGE then I reserve the right to step in and do something for that child. If they don't like it, they can find another school.

 

But I will NOT sit by and do nothing while a child gets sick from the lunch his idiot parents send. Not on my watch.

 

.

[TN Mama]

I find it sad that packed lunches are being brought to the standards of an organization that qualifies ketchup as a vegetable.

 

:iagree: And pizza.

[Moxie]

We do it at my school. The teachers make sure every child eats a vegetable and finishes their lunch before running off to play. And if we see a parent that consistently sends a very unhealthy lunch, I will personally speak to the parents about it. If they do not change the lunches they send then I WILL give their child a healthy lunch AND charge their account and not even think twice.

 

Our lunches are all made from scratch. No preservatives. Nothing prepackaged or frozen. Completely homemade every day.

 

I had one student this year whose parents sent him to school with a sandwich of nutella on white bread, Oreos, and chocolate milk. EVERY DAY. The kid acted like a spazz after lunch then crashed and could not hold his head up the rest of the afternoon.

 

If that parent is not smart enough to see that the lunch they are sending is GARBAGE then I reserve the right to step in and do something for that child. If they don't like it, they can find another school.

 

But I will NOT sit by and do nothing while a child gets sick from the lunch his idiot parents send. Not on my watch.

 

.

 

If you speak to the parents and they still send the same lunch, you have no right to switch the lunch. You can send the child home for poor behavior and point out that it might be due to the lunch. I could even get behind you giving the kid a sandwich in addition to the lunch his parents sent. To completely switch it is going too far.

[*********]

You are completely right, however I haven't had a problem finding no sugar added applesauce.

 

I always read the labels on the applesauce before I buy it. I can usually even find a store brand that has no sugar or HFCS in it.

 

Of course, my boys like to sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top, so perhaps that defeats the purpose, LOL. But at least then I know how much and what kind of sweetener they're getting.

[Susie in SWVA]

In case anyone is interested, these are the email addresses of the principal and vice principal at the school where this incident occurred.

 

Principal - Jackie Samuels jsamuels@echalk.hcs.k12.nc.us

 

Vice principal - Audrey Noble anoble@echalk.hcs.k12.nc.us

 

Susie in SWVA

[elegantlion]

Unfortunately, much of the applesauce sold in stores does come with a high dose of HFCS. :glare:

 

Even Great Value has a sugar free applesauce, 3 ingredients, no real or fake sugar.

 

Ds and I have a blast reading labels in the grocery. We take bets on what product has HFCS.

[Heather in Neverland]

If you speak to the parents and they still send the same lunch, you have no right to switch the lunch. You can send the child home for poor behavior and point out that it might be due to the lunch. I could even get behind you giving the kid a sandwich in addition to the lunch his parents sent. To completely switch it is going too far.

 

It's a private school. They are free to take their child elsewhere if they are unhappy with my decision.

[swellmomma]

I haven't read all the replies yet but do you know what stood out in the article to me. At the end the principal knew nothing about it. His only answer was "they all eat in the cafeteria". He didn't know that teh meal was switched, or if the family was charged just that they all eat in the cafeteria. If that is who is overseeing everything in the entire school no wonder the teachers applied the rule wrong. The principal is to lead the staff, when rules like this are brought in it is up to the principal to ensure that that teachers/support staff understand it fully before they are enforcing it. If the parent is being billed for the lunch doesn't that mean it went through the office and the principal should know?

 

Either he is an idiot, or he is trying to CYA by pleading ignorance, which just makes him look like an idiot. And this idiot is who is chosen to run the school? Way to inspire confidence ;)

 

ETA the funny thing is after reading that article yesterday I decided I wanted chicken nuggets, so when the little kids and I went to the store to pick up milk yesterday I bought nuggets and fries to bake up for lunch ;) I just don't pretend it was healthy

Edited February 15, 2012 by swellmomma

[Audrey]

Completely ridiculous. Although I am all for healthy eating choices, I don't believe a SCHOOL has any right whatsoever, in any way, shape or form, to dictate to ANY parent what they can and cannot feed their children. Suggestions? Sure. Mandates? Not on your sweet bippy. :glare:

[Jenny in Florida]

Unfortunately, much of the applesauce sold in stores does come with a high dose of HFCS. :glare:

 

Not the stuff I buy.

[Spy Car]

I stand by my decision to speak to the father of the student in my (private achool) class about the unhealthy lunches that his daughter did not eat and seemed embarassed by, when all the other student in the class brought more standard lunches such as a sandwich or other main course, not just dessert. He did not appear to mind and understood my comments stemmed from concern about his daughter's ability to do work at school and her general health.

 

I wish more teachers advocated for their students and encouraged them their positive development. Parents don't have a monopoly on concern or knowledge. It is not usurping parental authority to work with parents for the betterment of their chlldren. The world is a better place when more people care about young children.

 

:iagree:

 

Wouldn't it me nice if "news" outlets didn't fabricate and misrepresent the truth? :glare:

 

There is a public interest in developing healthful eating habits in young people. I don't know that the USDA guidelines are the "gold standard" if they include chicken nuggets, probably not the most healthful option (depending on how they are made), but potato chips certainly don't quality as a "vegetable."

 

It is my understanding this is an optional pre-k that has some rules about lunches. Home lunches and school lunches need to have basic minimums. I have no doubt this standards are a well intended effort to improve the lives of children.

 

As you are aware we have a health crisis in America. Never in our history has the incidence of Type II Diabetes, Childhood Obesity, and early Heart problems been so high. And the problem is clearly diet related. Should we as a society sit back and do nothing? I think we agree that would be a bad idea.

 

Do well-intended programs ever get implemented in clumsy ways by individuals who are charged to carry them out? Sure.

 

But twisting the facts of the story, as FOX "News" and the propaganda machine of its affiliates at Drudge and WND have done is unconscionable. But people fall for it time and again. Break out the pitchforks; THE GOVERNMENT is the devil. Oh brother! :rolleyes:

 

Bill

Edited February 15, 2012 by Spy Car