I had some insightful comments from readers about my previous post about school lunches, and I want to share them all with you. The last two commenters are school teachers; the lady who left the final comment teaches not far away from here. What she has to say is really eye-opening, and may give some of my readers a reason to count their blessings.
Anita said...I've read Mrs. Q's blog off and on for a while now. She was featured on one of the morning shows last year; in shadow though.
The comments that she's gotten on her blog have varied and provided much "food for thought" :) just as your post has.
I'll be looking for her book.
You're right; parents are very busy these days - taking kids here to there, making decisions after reading paper after paper that's sent home, or the numerous emails. Whew!
But we can do better. I think it has to be a big revelation for parents before a committment is made to improve our diets.
I'm certainly guilty of eating and providing the junk food, but I continue to do better with nutrition. Sodas are a no-no most of the time. And I continue to buy the fruits and veggies. Wish me luck with my meal planning. :)
The comments that she's gotten on her blog have varied and provided much "food for thought" :) just as your post has.
I'll be looking for her book.
You're right; parents are very busy these days - taking kids here to there, making decisions after reading paper after paper that's sent home, or the numerous emails. Whew!
But we can do better. I think it has to be a big revelation for parents before a committment is made to improve our diets.
I'm certainly guilty of eating and providing the junk food, but I continue to do better with nutrition. Sodas are a no-no most of the time. And I continue to buy the fruits and veggies. Wish me luck with my meal planning. :)
ingasmile said...I am a very concerned parent when it comes to what happens during a school day and that includes lunches, recesses and enough PE/art/music time. My kids both like school lunches but do not get that kind of stuff at home. We grow a big garden and now have chickens so my boys are learning every day about good nutrition.
Neither of my kids wants to take a lunch to school though. Plus I am not sure the nutrition of ham/cheese or PBJ sandwiches are any better than what they are already receiving at school.
Jamie Oliver is trying to rally the US for better school lunches. I love watching him cook with such enthusiasm.
I do think many parent's just don't care but there are many others who do and would like to see drastic changes made.
Inga
Ms Martyr said...I also was going to mention Jamie Oliver in a different context. A few years back he had a show where he was trying to improve the school lunches in Great Britain. He showed by example how he could make nutritious lunches for the same cost as junk food. Many of the kids and their parents were unfamiliar with vegetables. He also met with quite a bit of resistance from the food preparers.
Much of the food offered in the US school lunch program is subsidized by the companies providing it. I know the schools are strapped for funds and are almost forced to accept what is offered because they can't afford anything better.
Midlife Mom said...When I think of the stuff that I ate in school lunch it makes me sick. Seriously it was horrible, those big fat hot dogs, fish sticks, chemical meat sandwiches, gag! Doesn't sound like they are much better today in some places. They have a la carte here but the kids just pick the stuff they like not the veggies and good stuff.
Margaret said...It is way more expensive and time-consuming to eat healthy stuff, whether school lunches or meals at home. Sad,isn't it?
A school teacher In a nearby metropolitan district said...On a personal level, since I work in an area high school, I find the lunches in my building totally awful -- and not very filling. We also serve breakfast -- cold cereal and a small container of milk. Lunches are sandwiches and chicken nuggets. We no longer have a cafeterial staff that cooks -- to save money all the food is brought in from a central point and all we have on site are servers and dish washers. 99% of our student body eats free lunch. For probably at least 35% of them (maybe a lot more), this is the only food they get all day. 30% of our student body is either homeless or living with relatives / friends. We open during snow storms (when every other school district has closed) because we know that our kids get the only food they see during the week from us. I keep a pantry in my coat closet to feed kids who are hungry -- ramen noodles is a staple because it's warm and filling. So are breakfast bars, jello, apple sauce, pudding, chef-boy-r-dee spaghetti bowls -- all containing lots of "processed" ingredients. But they require no refigeration and can be "nuked" in a couple of minutes. Sometimes the food you can get a hold of is better than no food at all.
All our food comes from a central kitchen now too; before that time, it may not have been nutritious, but at least it tasted good. We used to have a Fajita bar and a baked potato bar that were wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI had a student tell me, "The food in the lunchroom is just gross. They serve chicken that has bones in it. Bones in chicken is just gross."
ReplyDeleteAmerican children are really out of touch with what "real" food is and where it comes from.
Once, out of desperation from working so many long days and not being prepared with a good lunch from home, bought a mystery meat sandwich in the lunchroom, took one bite and threw it away. And I eat almost anything.
Good old days were really good old days! Back in the 50s when I ate school lunches in Wisconsin, we looked forward to the days when there were fresh dinner rolls. They were so good! My strongest memory was asking a poor classmate what she was eating while I was eating my wonderful lunch, her answer, lard on her bread. I was shocked.
ReplyDeleteMargaret said "It is way more expensive and time-consuming to eat healthy stuff, whether school lunches or meals at home".
ReplyDeleteI disagree and a lot of cooks and nutritionalists do, too. If you're familiar with grilling vegetables and even meat, if that's what you want to eat (meat), you really can fix good, nutritious, more healthy food and it doesn't have to cost more. 3/4 of the grocery store you don't need and that's the processed food part--all the boxes and most of the cans.