Free breakfast and lunch at all schools, all year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the school lunches really that bad? Guess I had hoped being MoCo that it would be better. Have a rising kindergartener and liked not having to send lunch for preschool, but they served a pretty healthy lunch. Hopes I could at least let DS get the school lunch a couple days per week. Haven’t seen menus.

The free lunch is bad. Imagine a sandwich on squishy bread the next day.

Idk. I grew up poor and not picky and I still don’t mind squishy bread. Or refrigerated bread. I had a roommate who whine that keeping bread in the fridge made it not taste “fresh”. Um I can’t discern that? I toast it anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone has menu what do they serve for breakfast and lunch weekly? And what time do they serve breakfast and lunch? Do they serve am/pm snacks for free too or are they allowed to eat snack in classroom ? This is for my rising kindergartener, so I have no clues.

For milk serving, is that carton with straw type or juice box type with straw or bottle type with cap? My kid cannot open cap or carton yet.

My kids went to summer school and they ate the free meals. The milk (chocolate or plain) comes in a turn cap bottle. They also had water bottles. The food was bad from what they told me (my kids are in ES) and they were always hungry when they came back home. No snacks were given. The free breakfast was only if the kids went early (our bus went there 15 min before school started so no free breakfast for them). They were told to trash any uneaten/unopened packaged food. That is a waste of food. They should have been allowed to put back any unopened fruit cups or applesauce or whatever or take them home for later.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Food has gotten incredibly expensive. I do not know how people on a budget are making it work. It is especially shameful because the supply chain issues are mostly resolved; food companies and grocery stores are now testing how high thry can set prices and still have customers.

I think it is great that the schools are feeding kids no questions asked, with prices so high I am sure some people are doing without and would be going hungry otherwise.

You buy cheaper foods, you shop at Aldi's, Lidl, Walmart, for example. Lots of ways.

Is there a Walmart anywhere near Montgomery county? Seems pretty pennywise in pound foolish to drive all the way out to DC or Laurel (assuming you have a car)

There is a Walmart in Germantown.

That’s really convenient for the poor and carless residents of Aspen Hill. Maybe just a four hour round trip bus ride in the hopes of saving $5 on whatever groceries you can haul on public transportation with 2-3 kids in tow. Or were you suggesting that the poor move to Germantown for proximity to the Walmart?

Actually, you'd jump on the ICC from Aspen Hill. We were supposed to get a Walmart in Aspen Hill but all the rich folks protested it and so now we are getting a Kaiser. It really sucks as the Kmart closed so the only place to go is Target in Wheaton and its pretty pricy. But, in Aspen Hill, if you know the area, which you don't, there is an Aldi's and Lidl. Both much cheaper than the Safeway and Giant there. There are also multiple Korean and Asian markets that have cheaper produce. And, Walmart delivers to certain areas now. I cannot order fresh food but when I order some stuff like cereal and paper goods, it gets delivered by a driver within two days for free.

You need a car and money for tolls to do that. When I first lived in MoCo in the late 90s, I was a low income single mom without a car. Grocery shopping meant whatever I could walk home from Shoppers or safely manage on a crowded bus from Safeway. People treat you horribly when you get on a bus with kids and lots of grocery bags as if they can’t see you are struggling to survive. The idea that I could just jump in a car to go from Aspen Hill to Germantown to grocery shop? It was as likely as jetting to Paris to shop the fall fashions.

Thankfully Walmart delivers some stuff now. We could have had one but people protested it. I hope they will put one in where the Kmart was.

I live in Aspen Hill and am glad people protested the Walmart. Crappy pay, crappy jobs and a crappy company. No thanks.

You clearly don't know Walmart. They are one of the higher paying jobs vs. the small shops and offer benefits. You may not need affordable but most in Aspen Hill do. We know several people who have had very good careers at Walmart. You are fortunate you don't need a job like that but many do, especially in that area. It would be a lot of jobs and given transportation as the other person stated, that is a local job.

LOL! You know NOTHING about me. I have worked for tons of retail companies and Walmart is one of the worst. My SIL worked for them. I’ll take a Costco or Trader Joe’s any day over Walmart.

Have you worked for Walmart, or are you just spouting off random nonsense you read on some pro-Walmart blog?

No, Walmart is not the answer to anyone’s problems in Aspen Hill or elsewhere.

Isn’t there a Kmart in aspen hill anyway?

No, it closed a while ago. And, it was very expensive, far more expensive than Walmart or Target.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the school lunches really that bad? Guess I had hoped being MoCo that it would be better. Have a rising kindergartener and liked not having to send lunch for preschool, but they served a pretty healthy lunch. Hopes I could at least let DS get the school lunch a couple days per week. Haven’t seen menus.

The free lunch is bad. Imagine a sandwich on squishy bread the next day.

Idk. I grew up poor and not picky and I still don’t mind squishy bread. Or refrigerated bread. I had a roommate who whine that keeping bread in the fridge made it not taste “fresh”. Um I can’t discern that? I toast it anyway.

It not about the freshness of the bread...it is about how soggy it gets after sitting pre made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the school lunches really that bad? Guess I had hoped being MoCo that it would be better. Have a rising kindergartener and liked not having to send lunch for preschool, but they served a pretty healthy lunch. Hopes I could at least let DS get the school lunch a couple days per week. Haven’t seen menus.

The free lunch is bad. Imagine a sandwich on squishy bread the next day.

Idk. I grew up poor and not picky and I still don’t mind squishy bread. Or refrigerated bread. I had a roommate who whine that keeping bread in the fridge made it not taste “fresh”. Um I can’t discern that? I toast it anyway.

It not about the freshness of the bread...it is about how soggy it gets after sitting pre made.

You really expect 1-2 people to make fresh sandwiches every day? Its all through a central kitchen. The cafeteria at best heats things up and serves it. Don't like it, send your own sandwich. You aren't going to get gourmet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Complain to the federal government not to MCPS:

https://schoolnutrition.org/uploadedFiles/About_School_Meals/What_We_Do/Nutrition-Standards-for-School-Meals.pdf

Did you know Howard County had salad bars pre Covid and currently has a pre order menu for a custom grab meal? My nephew can choose a deli line where some one makes a sandwich up for him even during Covid. It's not just the federal government.

[Anonymous]

Will mcps be able to go 'free for all' again?

[Anonymous]

This is for Title I schools and has been for years. All kids eat free at Title I schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will mcps be able to go 'free for all' again?

The free meals were provided with COVID funds, when schools reopened after the shutdown. Those days are long gone. The budget is so tight now that there's no way that could happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Making sure that kids aren’t hungry so they can participate and engage is a worthwhile goal. I can only imagine the free food is cheaper than uneducated adults.

Free and reduced price lunches already exist, along with SNAP, the EITC, and many other welfare and food related programs, not to mention food banks that give out peanut butter by the buckets. Who exactly are the hungry kids? The ones whose parents traded their SNAP for cash? No, because they are automatically eligible for free lunch. So, we should be paying for richer kids to throw out their food?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is for Title I schools and has been for years. All kids eat free at Title I schools.

I’m not sure what the threshold is but it’s more than Title I, some Focus schools as well. But I don’t think all. I only know because it applied to our ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Food has gotten incredibly expensive. I do not know how people on a budget are making it work. It is especially shameful because the supply chain issues are mostly resolved; food companies and grocery stores are now testing how high thry can set prices and still have customers.

I think it is great that the schools are feeding kids no questions asked, with prices so high I am sure some people are doing without and would be going hungry otherwise.

You buy cheaper foods, you shop at Aldi's, Lidl, Walmart, for example. Lots of ways.

Tell that to the 19,000+ MCPS students living in poverty.

35% of MCPS students qualify for FARMs.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I just read this. Is it true? Every kid at every school? Seems expensive.

It’s true. You are not allowed to question is on this board. Just pay your taxes to feed the kids from Bethesda living in their $2 million homes, while you slave away at your middle class job and rent an apartment in Aspen Hill.

Sorry to disappoint, but the kids in Bethesda living in $2 million homes don’t want the free lunch. They bring their own.

Which Bethesda school do you work in the lunchroom of? Because otherwise there's no way for you to know that.

I know that because my kids have been in those schools for years now. Pyle Middle School barely had a cafeteria staff (i think one part-time person) a few years ago because they are assigned based on how many meals are made each day. So cut the attitude. I know more than you do about what goes on in my community that you likely don’t live in. And stop blaming Bethesda and Potomac for all your problems. I’m not saying my tax dollars shouldn’t help support you, so you shouldn’t be so resentful of my kid getting something either. If you want to play that game though, you should support getting rid of the county school system and letting each town fund their own. Let’s see how you like that.

Neither Bethesda nor Potomac is a town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Making sure that kids aren’t hungry so they can participate and engage is a worthwhile goal. I can only imagine the free food is cheaper than uneducated adults.

Free and reduced price lunches already exist, along with SNAP, the EITC, and many other welfare and food related programs, not to mention food banks that give out peanut butter by the buckets. Who exactly are the hungry kids? The ones whose parents traded their SNAP for cash? No, because they are automatically eligible for free lunch. So, we should be paying for richer kids to throw out their food?

If you've ever taught in a school you know some kids are hungry. Shame on you for not caring and for assuming their parents must be using their SNAP money for cash -- and especially shame on you for thinking these hungry kids deserve to pay the price if that is true. You suck. I'm glad I'm not you.

[Anonymous]

Kids are not getting the proper nutrition, unfortunately. They may be getting food that a lot of times goes to waste.