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Study Finds Elementary Students Like New Healthier Lunches

Excon said:
You are late to the conversation.
Weird.
So for your edification, that is not what was said.
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You mean you never posted this?

Excon said:
After being indoctrinated throughout the school year that the lunches are so much better, of course those results would be expected.
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danarhea said:
You mean you never posted this?
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Of course I said that.
That speaks to the reported "like" of the children as perceived by the administrators. Not to thinking something is healthy or even better as you absurdly put it.

Why you have confused the two is beyond me.
 
danarhea said:
So that the idea that balanced meals are better for you than junk food is indoctrination? LMAO.
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No, no, it's that balanced meals suggested by a Democrat are better for you than junk food.
 
roguenuke said:
You seem to think this is a problem. It isn't. I'm all for it being a voluntary program that is tied to money for those lunches rather than a mandated thing by the federal government. My point all along has been if school districts are wanting the money, then they should have to accept the guidelines that come with it.

In reality, only a few hundred districts out of tens of thousands across the country have dropped the program, refused the money. Around 0.15% of the overall schools in the country. That means the program isn't a failure. Many schools simply aren't willing to give it a chance for various reasons. Some simply can't afford to do so because of their own cost/benefit analysis. In reality though, it isn't likely that many of those schools are going to get their students buying school lunch again just by dropping the program because in general, people get used to something and stick with it. Plus, most of those complaining are high school students who don't stick around all that long in a school district. They graduate, move on.



I'm all for bringing your own lunches if the students don't want to eat what is provided. It is their choice.
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If the taxpayers in those districts had to option to vote on whether or not their district would accept the bribes, then you would have a point. The district school boards don't necessarily give a sh*t. As far as they are concerned, it's manna from heaven. So what if a significant port of the lunches end up drawing flies in the dumpster.
 
Morality Games said:
People are actually complaining that public schools are feeding children a healthy diet. Alright then.
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I believe people are complaining that much of that food goes in the trash.
the poll us bogus though as it claims to state kid's views but its actually principle's views.
Next time compare dumpster tonage or something valid.
 
ObamacareFail said:
If the taxpayers in those districts had to option to vote on whether or not their district would accept the bribes, then you would have a point. The district school boards don't necessarily give a sh*t. As far as they are concerned, it's manna from heaven. So what if a significant port of the lunches end up drawing flies in the dumpster.
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You can't show that a "significant portion" of the food is being thrown out, particularly compared to what was thrown away before.
 
roguenuke said:
You can't show that a "significant portion" of the food is being thrown out, particularly compared to what was thrown away before.
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My point stands. The schools that instituted the program are motivated by bribes from the feds. Take away the bribes and the districts would be more concerned with what the parents and the kids want then what moochelle wants.
 
ObamacareFail said:
My point stands. The schools that instituted the program are motivated by bribes from the feds. Take away the bribes and the districts would be more concerned with what the parents and the kids want then what moochelle wants.
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Parents have very little say in what the school provides for the children with or without the government money. That money has been around for awhile. If the parents cared, they would either a) provide their children with lunches from home or b) ensure their schools had enough money to pay for lunches on their own. In reality, without the money from the feds, the districts wouldn't care about the children or the parents anymore than they do now, they would simply work out what was best for their budgets.
 
roguenuke said:
Parents have very little say in what the school provides for the children with or without the government money. That money has been around for awhile. If the parents cared, they would either a) provide their children with lunches from home or b) ensure their schools had enough money to pay for lunches on their own. In reality, without the money from the feds, the districts wouldn't care about the children or the parents anymore than they do now, they would simply work out what was best for their budgets.
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You are assuming based merely on your own views.
 
ObamacareFail said:
You are assuming based merely on your own views.
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I am basing it on the fact that I am a parent with children in school. I know how the system works even beyond that though because I do research. Parents have had little say in what was served at school, especially the majority of parents. Most parents nowdays work hours that don't even allow for them to care about such things. If they find their kids complaining and they feel the complaint is valid, most simply start sending their child with a lunch to school, or in older students cases, may simply make sure they can get their own food somewhere else. Many parents likely have no real issue with the new healthier food, unless their children are complaining majorly about it. The price is much more a concern to parents than the quality of the food.
 
ObamacareFail said:
My point stands. The schools that instituted the program are motivated by bribes from the feds. Take away the bribes and the districts would be more concerned with what the parents and the kids want then what moochelle wants.
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If the parents don't like what is on the school lunch menu, all they have to do is do what we do and pack their kid's lunch. However, if a lunch is on the taxpayers dime, then the taxpayer has a financial incentive for that lunch being fairly healthy as many of the kids eating school lunches are on the free and reduced lunch program, thus they are more than likely covered by either SCHIP or Medicaid, thus the taxpayers pay for their healthcare, thus we want them to eat healthy.

Pretty simple concept. I swear some of y'all would bitch if you were hung with a new rope.
 
roguenuke said:
I am basing it on the fact that I am a parent with children in school. I know how the system works even beyond that though because I do research. Parents have had little say in what was served at school, especially the majority of parents. Most parents nowdays work hours that don't even allow for them to care about such things. If they find their kids complaining and they feel the complaint is valid, most simply start sending their child with a lunch to school, or in older students cases, may simply make sure they can get their own food somewhere else. Many parents likely have no real issue with the new healthier food, unless their children are complaining majorly about it. The price is much more a concern to parents than the quality of the food.
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My daughter begs me to eat lunch at school. I mostly pack her a lunch due to costs but I always let her eat one day a week at school and she seems to like the food. If she didn't I would just pack a lunch one more day a week.
 
roguenuke said:
First of all, if the parents are doing what they are supposed to be and actually paying attention to what their children are doing and talking to the teacher, then yes, those other parents knew exactly what was going on during the school day for their children since we dropped off and picked up our children every day from right in front of their classrooms, which was where the signup sheets were for providing goodies for the students. But then along with those unhealthy snacks there were also plenty of healthy snacks as well, including apples, grapes, bananas, graham crackers, and other things that the children could try.
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In your own words you told us you provided a good amount of sugary unhealthy snacks "including cookies, cupcakes, juice, candy, and other things", and avoided the first question asked of:

Are you contributing to childhood obesity by providing sugary treats for students and the integrity of the school program with these sugary treats? You're fiercely defending the new program, yet are undermining it as the same time.

Thank you for answering the second portion of the question.


roguenuke said:
Second, what grades were those students in?
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Here's the complete GAO report
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/660427.pdf

roguenuke said:
This is important because high school students are notorious for not liking change, particularly when it comes to something they feel is an "injustice", and especially if adults across the country are saying "they aren't going to like the more nutritious foods". Well no they aren't if you continue to say things like that.
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If the students don't like the food, they aren't going to buy it and that is what districts are showing. Schools don't have to wait for the students to adjust to the food, they can opt out and create their own healthy menus. Who are you quoting?

roguenuke said:
As I've said, children will eat if they are hungry, particularly in younger grades. I have no sympathy for high school or even middle school aged students who refuse to eat their lunches. They are old enough to know better.
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That's your opinion, as your family grows up and enters middle school you might have a change of sympathy level when it concerns your own.


roguenuke said:
Show how much money is being wasted exactly.
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Schools have lost anywhere between $30,000 to $200,000, so the amount varies as does the sizes of the school districts and the locations. Many articles on this topic -

Under the school lunch program regulations, Petfalski said, the district's food service was projected to be headed toward a $54,000 deficit. By opting out — and presumably selling more food — he expects about a $7,100 surplus.
Some districts balk at latest serving of school lunch rules

Food sales declined at all five BH-BL schools during 2012-13, and even with reimbursement from the National School
Lunch Program, the district's lunch program ended the 2012-13 school year roughly $100,000 in debt — more than any
previous year.
Local school districts opt out of federal lunch program - Times Union

"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.

In upstate New York, a few districts have quit the program, including the Schenectady-area Burnt Hills Ballston Lake system,
whose five lunchrooms ended the year $100,000 in the red.

Near Albany, Voorheesville Superintendent Teresa Thayer Snyder said her district lost $30,000 in the first three months.
Some schools opt out of gov't-subsidized lunch program with healthier menu - CBS News

The Douglas County School District's board approved a resolution last week allowing the district's nine high schools to opt out of the
National School Lunch Program - the district expects a loss of $167,000.
Douglas County high schools opt out of federal lunch program - The Denver Post

“We watch children every day walk past the cash register and then throw away things that we are forced, have forced them to take essentially, as a result of the federal requirements for lunches,” said Gene Kirchner, the superintendent of Fort Thomas Independent Schools.

His district will lose approximately $200,000 this school year and $260,000 in future years by opting out of the federal program, but he believes it’s worth it.
NKY superintendent: School lunch rules good idea gone too far | Local News - WLWT Home

And many more links for you to read Schools losing money on lunch program

roguenuke said:
The stats are in and only a few hundred schools have opted out, out of over 13000 school districts in the US. That is a very small amount.
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Where are the stats?
 
People have adopted staunch positions against the government increasing the health standards of school lunches.

Just let that sink in.
 
roguenuke said:
You can't show that a "significant portion" of the food is being thrown out, particularly compared to what was thrown away before.
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In Los Angeles Unified, the nation's second-largest school system, which serves 650,000 meals a day. Students throw out at least $100,000 worth of food a day — and probably far more, according to estimates by David Binkle, the district's food services director. That amounts to $18 million a year — based on a conservative estimate of 10% food waste — which Binkle says would be far better spent on higher-quality items, such as strawberries or watermelon.

The extra produce costs school districts $5.4 million a day, with $3.8 million of that being tossed in the trash, according to national estimates based on a 2013 study of 15 Utah schools by researchers with Cornell University and Brigham Young University

Other studies also have found significant waste, including 40% of all the lunches served in four Boston schools. In L.A. Unified, a forthcoming study of four middle schools has confirmed substantial waste and "significant student aversion to even selecting a fruit or vegetable serving," according to McCarthy, who co-wrote it. He declined to provide further details until the study is published.

Nationally, the cost of wasted food overall — including milk, meats and grains — is estimated at more than $1 billion annually. A U.S. General Accountability Office survey released in January found that 48 of 50 states reported that food waste and higher costs have been their top challenges in rolling out the 2012 rules.

Solutions sought to reduce food waste at schools - LA Times

And Lori Shofroth, Tippecanoe School Corps.’ food service director in Tippecanoe, Indiana, indicates that students have been throwing the food away.

“They’re teaching our kids with this meal pattern that it’s OK to throw away,” she told JCOnline. “We did a waste study on three different schools, and there was a huge amount of waste. That was just with produce, fruit or vegetables or milk.”

Ironically, wasted food was one of the very things First Lady Michelle Obama had hoped to avoid. Appearing at a Google Fireside Hangout last year, she declared, “I want every kid to commit to not throwing out anything.”

Schools Drop Federal Lunch Menu: Costly, Students Still Hungry


It's being reported 1 billion dollars annually is being wasted on food products being thrown away from 48 states and Michelle Obama is begging students to not to throw out anything. Sounds as if we have a big problem with wasting food within our schools now compared to what?
 
Cardinal said:
People have adopted staunch positions against the government increasing the health standards of school lunches.

Just let that sink in.
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They object to the govt doing something right because their ideology claims that the govt can't do anything right
 
roguenuke said:
I am basing it on the fact that I am a parent with children in school. I know how the system works even beyond that though because I do research. Parents have had little say in what was served at school, especially the majority of parents. Most parents nowdays work hours that don't even allow for them to care about such things. If they find their kids complaining and they feel the complaint is valid, most simply start sending their child with a lunch to school, or in older students cases, may simply make sure they can get their own food somewhere else. Many parents likely have no real issue with the new healthier food, unless their children are complaining majorly about it. The price is much more a concern to parents than the quality of the food.
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Right, and the cost is a lot less than it used to be. When I was in high school, for example, the lunch in the cafeteria cost 50 cents. That doesn't sound like much until you realize that the same 50 cents would buy two burgers and a coke at the local drive in.
Oh, and kids have been complaining about the cafeteria food ever since then, at least.
 
roguenuke said:
I am basing it on the fact that I am a parent with children in school. I know how the system works even beyond that though because I do research. Parents have had little say in what was served at school, especially the majority of parents. Most parents nowdays work hours that don't even allow for them to care about such things. If they find their kids complaining and they feel the complaint is valid, most simply start sending their child with a lunch to school, or in older students cases, may simply make sure they can get their own food somewhere else. Many parents likely have no real issue with the new healthier food, unless their children are complaining majorly about it. The price is much more a concern to parents than the quality of the food.
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It's not just about the parents...though I think they should have some influence over what is served in the cafeteria. After all it is their kids. It is also about the taxpayers who are paying for the lunches that end up drawing flies in the dumpster.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
If the parents don't like what is on the school lunch menu, all they have to do is do what we do and pack their kid's lunch. However, if a lunch is on the taxpayers dime, then the taxpayer has a financial incentive for that lunch being fairly healthy as many of the kids eating school lunches are on the free and reduced lunch program, thus they are more than likely covered by either SCHIP or Medicaid, thus the taxpayers pay for their healthcare, thus we want them to eat healthy.

Pretty simple concept. I swear some of y'all would bitch if you were hung with a new rope.
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The taxpayer is not given any choice in the matter. The feds and moochelle don't seem to care about them.
 
Meadowlark said:
In your own words you told us you provided a good amount of sugary unhealthy snacks "including cookies, cupcakes, juice, candy, and other things", and avoided the first question asked of:

Are you contributing to childhood obesity by providing sugary treats for students and the integrity of the school program with these sugary treats? You're fiercely defending the new program, yet are undermining it as the same time.

Thank you for answering the second portion of the question.




Here's the complete GAO report
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/660427.pdf



If the students don't like the food, they aren't going to buy it and that is what districts are showing. Schools don't have to wait for the students to adjust to the food, they can opt out and create their own healthy menus. Who are you quoting?



That's your opinion, as your family grows up and enters middle school you might have a change of sympathy level when it concerns your own.




Schools have lost anywhere between $30,000 to $200,000, so the amount varies as does the sizes of the school districts and the locations. Many articles on this topic -

Under the school lunch program regulations, Petfalski said, the district's food service was projected to be headed toward a $54,000 deficit. By opting out — and presumably selling more food — he expects about a $7,100 surplus.
Some districts balk at latest serving of school lunch rules

Food sales declined at all five BH-BL schools during 2012-13, and even with reimbursement from the National School
Lunch Program, the district's lunch program ended the 2012-13 school year roughly $100,000 in debt — more than any
previous year.
Local school districts opt out of federal lunch program - Times Union

"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.

In upstate New York, a few districts have quit the program, including the Schenectady-area Burnt Hills Ballston Lake system,
whose five lunchrooms ended the year $100,000 in the red.

Near Albany, Voorheesville Superintendent Teresa Thayer Snyder said her district lost $30,000 in the first three months.
Some schools opt out of gov't-subsidized lunch program with healthier menu - CBS News

The Douglas County School District's board approved a resolution last week allowing the district's nine high schools to opt out of the
National School Lunch Program - the district expects a loss of $167,000.
Douglas County high schools opt out of federal lunch program - The Denver Post

“We watch children every day walk past the cash register and then throw away things that we are forced, have forced them to take essentially, as a result of the federal requirements for lunches,” said Gene Kirchner, the superintendent of Fort Thomas Independent Schools.

His district will lose approximately $200,000 this school year and $260,000 in future years by opting out of the federal program, but he believes it’s worth it.
NKY superintendent: School lunch rules good idea gone too far | Local News - WLWT Home

And many more links for you to read Schools losing money on lunch program



Where are the stats?
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Did you read the report you posted? It provides the answer to your last question.

In addition, states reported through our survey that 321 SFAs in 42 states stopped participating in the National School Lunch Program in school year 2012-2013.
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As for the top one, this has always been about school lunches and foods provided by government, not parents. I have no issue with parents providing unhealthy food for their children or even other children, so long as the other parents are informed about such "treats" during the school day so they can opt out if they wish.

Some schools are going to have issues, not because of waste but because they cannot afford to import the required foods or the food in general if the students choose to not purchase the foods because these particular districts are operating with little money coming from the free lunch program. Change is always going to cause some negative consequences, many of which are temporary, as some schools have seen.

Although school lunch participation has declined, it is likely that participation will improve over time as students adjust to the lunch changes. Five of the districts we visited reported that, if the past is an indicator, participation will improve over time as students adjust to the new food items, and three noted the importance of nutrition education for students and parents to help make the transition to healthier school meals more successful.
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Plus, they didn't break down that information by school grades. So, I'll ask again, who have shown the largest problems adjusting to the new menus, younger students or older students? If it is older students, as suspected, then they will soon graduate and be gone, whereas the upcoming students will have been eating the healthier foods for years now, having gotten used to it.

Students, parents, educators displeased with new school lunch standards | Deseret News

"The kids shouldn't be hungry if these regulations are understood," Cruz said. "They're just being asked to take more fruits and vegetables."

For the most part, students have been accepting of the changes, particularly in the younger grades, she said. Older students have expressed dissatisfaction, but after a month of healthy lunches, she said the district was "over the worst of it."
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The majority of the complaints are coming from older students, particularly high schoolers.
 
ObamacareFail said:
The taxpayer is not given any choice in the matter. The feds and moochelle don't seem to care about them.
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They're given about as much choice in this as they've always had since individual taxpayers have always had very little choice in the options available to students in public schools for lunch.
 
ObamacareFail said:
It's not just about the parents...though I think they should have some influence over what is served in the cafeteria. After all it is their kids. It is also about the taxpayers who are paying for the lunches that end up drawing flies in the dumpster.
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If they (the parents) don't like what is being served, they can send lunches from home.

Again, you have yet to show that more of the food is being thrown away now than before. Until you do, you have nothing more than anecdotal hearsay and no real evidence at all.
 
roguenuke said:
If they (the parents) don't like what is being served, they can send lunches from home.

Again, you have yet to show that more of the food is being thrown away now than before. Until you do, you have nothing more than anecdotal hearsay and no real evidence at all.
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What baffles me is where are these parents who are mad that their kids are being offered healthy food and not given junk? No parent should be upset by school offering healthy food. None.
 
roguenuke said:
Did you read the report you posted? It provides the answer to your last question.



As for the top one, this has always been about school lunches and foods provided by government, not parents. I have no issue with parents providing unhealthy food for their children or even other children, so long as the other parents are informed about such "treats" during the school day so they can opt out if they wish.

Some schools are going to have issues, not because of waste but because they cannot afford to import the required foods or the food in general if the students choose to not purchase the foods because these particular districts are operating with little money coming from the free lunch program. Change is always going to cause some negative consequences, many of which are temporary, as some schools have seen.



Plus, they didn't break down that information by school grades. So, I'll ask again, who have shown the largest problems adjusting to the new menus, younger students or older students? If it is older students, as suspected, then they will soon graduate and be gone, whereas the upcoming students will have been eating the healthier foods for years now, having gotten used to it.

Students, parents, educators displeased with new school lunch standards | Deseret News



The majority of the complaints are coming from older students, particularly high schoolers.
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Yes I did read the report before I posted the GAO link the first time with my comment of:
"And more schools opting out of the lunch program again this year" post # 616
The GAO report did not cover the schools opting out 2013/2014 school year and for the current 2014/2015 year.

Of course this is about school lunches and foods provided by government, but you have injected your personal stories into the mix many times over the course of the thread making it fair game to ask you questions. Not caring about childhood obesity as long as the other parents are informed on a daily basis, easy to see how that would work for someone. But not for that someone who has to contact every parent when a parent brings in unhealthy treats.

Schools lost large amounts of money and are opting out, not only because of waste but because they can afford to plan their own healthy menus without the federal money. They'll continue on with the free and the discount meal programs just the same. The kids will now have choices at these schools.

Your link is from Sept 2012, we are nearing Sept 2014 and we heard a lot of noise last year from students so we'll have to wait to see what this year brings.

I'm not or have never been against healthy eating, in fact I've been advocating a healthy lifestyle for 25 years. But there is a way to it correctly, can't force it on anyone.
 
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