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Some school districts quit healthier lunch program

zimmer

Educating the Ignorant
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After just one year, some schools around the country are dropping out of the healthier new federal lunch program, complaining that so many students turned up their noses at meals packed with whole grains, fruits and vegetables that the cafeterias were losing money.


Federal officials say they don't have exact numbers but have seen isolated reports of schools cutting ties with the $11 billion National School Lunch Program, which reimburses schools for meals served and gives them access to lower-priced food.


"Some of the stuff we had to offer, they wouldn't eat," said Catlin, Ill., Superintendent Gary Lewis, whose district saw a 10 to 12 percent drop in lunch sales, translating to $30,000 lost under the program last year.


"So you sit there and watch the kids, and you know they're hungry at the end of the day, and that led to some behavior and some lack of attentiveness."


Some school districts quit healthier lunch program - SFGate
KIDS ARE GOING HUNGRY and FOOD JUST GETS TRASHED. Isn't government wonderful?

ROTFLOL... typical of government. They stick their nose in, waste taxpayer money, and Fail. In most cases they just pour in more money, but it's not so easy here... you can bring a kid to ObamaMeals but you can't force them to eat. No eat, no money, no profit.

It's not so much what people eat that causes obesity, it's how much they eat.

"A lot of kids were resorting to going over to the convenience store across the block from school and kids were buying junk food," the 17-year-old said. "It was kind of ironic that we're downsizing the amount of food to cut down on obesity but kids are going and getting junk food to fill that hunger."
Doh Homer... no chit.
 
KIDS ARE GOING HUNGRY and FOOD JUST GETS TRASHED. Isn't government wonderful?

ROTFLOL... typical of government. They stick their nose in, waste taxpayer money, and Fail. In most cases they just pour in more money, but it's not so easy here... you can bring a kid to ObamaMeals but you can't force them to eat. No eat, no money, no profit.

It's not so much what people eat that causes obesity, it's how much they eat.


Doh Homer... no chit.

I think it points to a very different issue: We're so jilted as a society that kids don't appreciate food when it's given. They assume it will always be there, and they're picky as hell. . . whereas other kids would give anything if they could have what our kids throw away.

It peeves me to no end my kids just take their food for granted (and we pay full price for ours) and I can't police them during lunch to make sure they eat it all.

We're a spoiled freaking country. . . filled with people who whine that "I don't like FRUIT" - nature's candy and they don't like it? Oh - but if they were Snicker's it would just be wrappers in the trash.

Meanwhile - cost for meals in our district has gone up .20/meal - for the same stuff that they only eat half of.
 
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Glad to read that at least some schools are saying thanks but no thanks. However, there have been some incidences in schools where they have food police actually checking the lunches of packers and if they didn't find the lunch to meet their level of nutritional value, would then take the lunch from the child, make them eat in the cafeteria and then send a bill to the parent for the school lunch.
 
I think it points to a very different issue: We're so jilted as a society that kids don't appreciate food when it's given. They assume it will always be there, and they're picky as hell. . . whereas other kids would give anything if they could have what our kids throw away.

It peeves me to no end my kids just take their food for granted (and we pay full price for ours) and I can't police them during lunch to make sure they eat it all.

We're a spoiled freaking country. . . filled with people who whine that "I don't like FRUIT" - nature's candy and they don't like it? Oh - but if they were Snicker's it would just be wrappers in the trash.

Meanwhile - cost for meals in our district has gone up .20/meal - for the same stuff that they only eat half of.


This reminds me so much of my cat. My cat was a feral half grown kitten when I first encountered him. He was starving and scrawny as hell so I started coaxing him with dry cat food. He would scarf the stuff right up! One month I could not afford the extra expense of cat food so fed him our table scraps. Once he had a taste of our table scrapes he will no longer eat cat food and if no scraps are provided will go many days without eating simply because he refuses to touch the cat food that he would eat previously without hesitation.

Back on topic - I really cannot judge the children completely without having tried what they are being offered. I know some foods if not prepared right are just awful! I have had a couple stints in jail in the past and the food was so bad I would go without eating for sometimes days at a time because I knew I would survive and could hold out till I could get home and have real food. It was just that bad. But part of me believes that badly prepared food probably isnt the only issue here. Children today are just spoiled with their hot pockets and sugary foods and trying to get some of them to eat the same foods we grew up on is near impossible.
 
I think it points to a very different issue: We're so jilted as a society that kids don't appreciate food when it's given. They assume it will always be there, and they're picky as hell. . . whereas other kids would give anything if they could have what our kids throw away.

It peeves me to no end my kids just take their food for granted (and we pay full price for ours) and I can't police them during lunch to make sure they eat it all.

We're a spoiled freaking country. . . filled with people who whine that "I don't like FRUIT" - nature's candy and they don't like it? Oh - but if they were Snicker's it would just be wrappers in the trash.

Meanwhile - cost for meals in our district has gone up .20/meal - for the same stuff that they only eat half of.

Oh yes... we are spoiled. We can have the best of the best, and service must be pronto. On the latter note I was in Cabo with a buddy doing some work, and we headed to the restaurant. Having spent decades of my life in Europe I was familiar with bad service, so we sat down and 3-min passed when he half screamed... where's the f-ing service. I laughed.

Bottom line with the food is... it's not the business of the federal government to feed kids. If a school wants a canteen, fine... but it should be treated as a business without federal taxpayer money being poured into it. If a local district want to do it fine. If the parents don't like it, they can provide lunch for their kids.
 
Yep It's not the schools fault that Big Food and uninvolved parents have ruined our children. It's a multi-layered problem.
 
KIDS ARE GOING HUNGRY and FOOD JUST GETS TRASHED. Isn't government wonderful?

ROTFLOL... typical of government. They stick their nose in, waste taxpayer money, and Fail. In most cases they just pour in more money, but it's not so easy here... you can bring a kid to ObamaMeals but you can't force them to eat. No eat, no money, no profit.

It's not so much what people eat that causes obesity, it's how much they eat.


Doh Homer... no chit.

Surely we can afford to hire six professional chefs to devise tasty and healthy alternatives to student favorites nationwide. I just think it's ludicrous. Making healthy food for kids isn't rocket science. But it does take cooking knowledge. Schools apparently have no respect for the job of Head Chef in their kitchens. I'm sure they don't even call them chefs.

With the new insurgence of interest in cooking, there are plenty of trained chefs out there looking for jobs. But school districts don't hire them. They hire some jamoke who cooks in her kitchen, throw a menu at her and set her loose.

Healthy meatloaf...healthy fish tacos...healthy mac & cheese...healthy stews...healthy mashed potatoes and low-fat gravy...it's not rocket science.
 
Back in the day, when we weren't slogging to and from school in the snow uphill both ways, we ate all the crap food and weren't as obese. Then again, we still had things like recess and gym class where we went and did physical activity, too. The food quality is important, but it's more than only the food.
 
Surely we can afford to hire six professional chefs to devise tasty and healthy alternatives to student favorites nationwide. I just think it's ludicrous. Making healthy food for kids isn't rocket science. But it does take cooking knowledge. Schools apparently have no respect for the job of Head Chef in their kitchens. I'm sure they don't even call them chefs.

With the new insurgence of interest in cooking, there are plenty of trained chefs out there looking for jobs. But school districts don't hire them. They hire some jamoke who cooks in her kitchen, throw a menu at her and set her loose.

Healthy meatloaf...healthy fish tacos...healthy mac & cheese...healthy stews...healthy mashed potatoes and low-fat gravy...it's not rocket science.

Maggie... spot on. I'd add... if they did something like that you wouldn't need $11 Billion of taxpayers money.

Back in the day, when we weren't slogging to and from school in the snow uphill both ways, we ate all the crap food and weren't as obese. Then again, we still had things like recess and gym class where we went and did physical activity, too. The food quality is important, but it's more than only the food.

It is more important than the food. It's how much you eat, how much kids move, not so much the type of food.
 
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I do think the new calorie limits are unreasonably low. Especially for older kids, and double-especially for active older kids that play sports.
 
It gets better... ROTFLOL... and there is a solution... We can save $11 Billion by getting rid of vomit.

Better yet - we could save trillions by getting rid of the Obamas, which of course would rid us of a massive vomitous mass as well.
 
It is more important than the food. It's how much you eat, how much kids move, not so much the type of food.

While that's true, in regards to weight, surely you must agree that it's easier to move more and eat less if you're eating healthier food?
 
I thought schools were supposed to offer choices to students? Or maybe things have changed in the last 20 years.
 
It gets better... ROTFLOL... and there is a solution... We can save $11 Billion by getting rid of vomit.


Or maybe the parents actually do their jobs and teach their children some respect and decent eating habits instead of letting them eat cheeseburgers every day and wondering why the kids develop such an entitlement complex when it comes to the taste of the food they're given.
 
Maggie... spot on. I'd add... if they did something like that you wouldn't need $11 Billion of taxpayers money.



It is more important than the food. It's how much you eat, how much kids move, not so much the type of food.

If you think this idea would save money, I have a bridge in San Francisco to sell you.
 
Why don't they just make all school food healthy, increase funding to school lunch programs so that this can be done, transfer subsidies from unhealthy garbage to healthy food.

Seriously, I don't understand how you can't have a school lunch program and not make a profit on it while still have it affordable to both the schools and students. School lunch prices will increase, but vouchers should be available to families who demonstrate financial need.

I think school lunches should be free anyways, but this would be a good compromise IMO.
 
We did this in the UK a whle ago and so far it has been a great success. Once kids work out this is all they get they tend to start coming around to it and if parents dont like it they can send their kids to school with junk food.
 
The problem is that the program exists at all, and the fault lies with the parents.

My son can be a picky eater. He is 12. But he does not buy his lunches at school, he packs them himself. And when we go to the grocery store he goes with us. He is allowed to pick what he wants... to a point. For instance he eats breakfast cereal and he can choose what he likes... provided what he picks has 10 grams of sugar or less. And he can tell you which cereals qualify too. He checks the labels. He would prefer white bread but what he is allowed is whole grain, so he chooses a whole grain honey wheat. Of course he is going to want some chips with that, so we buy the assortment packs and and he gets one. The sized are predetermined. He likes the individual juice packets... and he can have any of them he likes that do not have high fructose corn syrup in them. How about some cookies? Sure, why not. He can pick what he wants, limit 3.

Check this out: my son likes to play video games. Go figure. On our PC he has his own home screen and login. It is limited for content (by me) and he does not know his password. He has to be logged on every time by one of us. Check this out: When he gets off the school bus it is not at home (he would have to walk up a half mile long steep hill in the woods), he gets dropped off at my shop. He comes in and does his homework until it's time to close at 6. When we get home he empties the dishwasher and sweeps the floors and then he can be logged on to play until 8:30 when it is time to shut it off so he can get showered and be in bed by 9 because he likes to read for a half hour before he goes to sleep. He even does his own laundry. And he does all of it without being asked or complaining. He has learned that attitude gets negative response, that asking to play games before homework or chores will likely get him a couple of days off, that pushing bedtime boundaries will scale back bed times a half hour at a time. He's smart, he's fit, he doesn't complain and he generally gets what he wants or at least close to it. And we have fun. We don't deny him things without reason and he doesn't ask for unreasonable stuff.

It wasn't always this way. A year ago he was getting whiny, complaining that his friends have things like cell phones and get to stay up later, and they get to buy their lunches at school and choose what they want. Thing is it wasn't working. We were aggravated, he was often disappointed, I'm sure he got tired of hearing that his friend's parents were caving because they were lazy and were not really doing their kids any good by giving them all of what they wanted with no expectations. Real world doesn't work that way, and what we end up with is a bunch of self involved 20 somethings living in their parents' homes way too long and going on strike because McDonalds won't pay them $15 an hour. We're not having it.

The kids aren't the problem. It'd the lazy assed parents who would rather be their kid's friend than be their role models. That's why my stepson (21) is living with us and just now applying for jobs and looking at colleges. He's a vidiot. So is his lazy assed father. That's why he is 3 or 4 years behind where he should be. It was easier to be lazy and his father let him. You want to retire someday, stop raising kids who will never be able to take care of themselves and maybe you can. And quit complaining about the government and taxes if you are not willing to step up and do YOUR JOB AS A PARENT instead of expecting someone else to do it. They won't. Your kid's best interest is not their focus. IT SHOULD BE YOURS.
 
KIDS ARE GOING HUNGRY and FOOD JUST GETS TRASHED. Isn't government wonderful?

ROTFLOL... typical of government. They stick their nose in, waste taxpayer money, and Fail. In most cases they just pour in more money, but it's not so easy here... you can bring a kid to ObamaMeals but you can't force them to eat. No eat, no money, no profit.

It's not so much what people eat that causes obesity, it's how much they eat.


Doh Homer... no chit.

I eat junk all the time, and I'm not overweight at all. My sister-in-law is in the 8th grade and she HATES all of this healthy food just as the article suggests.
 
I eat junk all the time, and I'm not overweight at all. My sister-in-law is in the 8th grade and she HATES all of this healthy food just as the article suggests.

I know she's probably just one of a large number of kids (hence a big age difference) or she was an accident, but the bold part just sounds odd.
 
I know she's probably just one of a large number of kids (hence a big age difference) or she was an accident, but the bold part just sounds odd.

Yeah she is quite a bit younger than my wife who is the oldest of 3, her sister (the 8th grader) was a big surprise.....
 
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