How healthy is food in WofP DCPS elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just asked my 6-year old about school lunch.He said that sometimes it's good,no chips ever,crispy fries sometimes, and "i"m the only one who does hot lunch all the time"(the only one in class out of 27 kids). "I don't like it all the time".
Wants me to take him off of lunch as we are speaking.
Not going to happen( fakes cry), but I will add an apple and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as requested.He is a growing boy and in school from 9 to 6 pm.

You're allowed PB? Lucky you. I thought it was permanently outlawed everywhere. I even overheard a parent telling another "I wish they'd just ban peanut butter." Seriously, a nanny-stater if ever there was one.

To be clear, she didn't mean just ban it in schools. She adamantly meant ban it outright and make it illegal, everywhere, to everyone, period. PB is the new crack.

[Anonymous]

I have 4 kids in two different DCPS schools and they rarely eat the hot lunch. I tried it once and thought is was disgusting-- I had the chicken tacos. Horrible and really hard to mess up! In the classroom where I ate there were only 3 kids who got the hot lunch.

We are a generally healthy eating group. My kids love my homemade bento boxes which are easy and taste 1000xs better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any advice on Revolution Foods. This is a popular vendor. Is the food good?

The food is nasty. Thank goodness we transfer out to a school that cooks their food onsite.

Totally disagree! They have come to our DC's school and given out parent samples at back-to-school night. I've heard sometimes the teachers get them because they're good, healthy, cheap, easy. Seriously, check out their food, they actually deliver what they promise (unlike the Janney example above). Easily the best food provider in the area.

To another point, I'm curious about schools that cook onsite. Do they still have lunch ladies and mystery meat and overcooked green slime?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that anyone who refers to perfectly good (not great, but fine) food as "gross" and "nasty" is a picky eater, and you are passing that attitude on to your kids.

And those who brag about their kids begging them to send "broccoli for dessert" and "an assortment of veggies" is just a pretentious snob.

Have you actually seen the DCPS lunches?? I'm the poster who called it "gross cafeteria food".
I agree, the menus sound FANTASTIC. But the reality is quite different. I volunteered in the classroom at our WOTP school at least 20 times last year. It simply does not live up to the promise on the menu.
18 times out of 20 the fruit was an orange. Not what is advertised.
Really, I challenge you to drop in at lunch at school and see what is served.

Yes, I have. I really, really have been at school and have seen the lunches. They were perfectly acceptable. Clearly we have different standards for the quality of chicken hot dogs. And you know what? An orange is a fruit and it's healthy. My kid doesn't care if she gets the same fruit everyday. I do not cater to her every desire at home and I don't expect the school cafeteria to either.

We get it. You think the food is "nasty." Please just feed your child his/her 100% organic whole grain free range food and leave the rest of us alone.

Reason #78 I am glad my kid doesn't go to Janney.

[Anonymous]

My school has used both Chartwells and Revolution food. I think those are the two major vendors for cafeteria food, there's some schools that might work with DC Central Kitchen.

Both them follow pretty healthy guidelines in that they don't serve any fried foods or junk. Revolution food serves more carbs and huge portions, (their menu Charwells tends to have more canned fruit but do serve fresh vegetables as a snack.

In both cases a lot of food gets wasted which is pretty sad especially in a community that is very food insecure. I know of one teacher who will sneak leftovers out to soup kitchens or missions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Packing a lunch is such a total hassle. My DD was at a charter with organic hot lunch and I was so surprised to see kids with lunchbags. On a field trip I paid attention to what the other kids were bringing in those bags - nothing healthier than what the school provides, and in fact a lot more processed foods. Weird.

We might be at the same school. In any event if you saw one of my children with a "home lunch" (as they call it) it's because they prefer a home lunch. I make salads and other dishes that Revolution doesn't, they like having input in their lunch, and I sometimes write notes. They like opening their personal lunch and it makes them feel special. I really don't see what's weird about that.

I swear kids are spolied brats these days. Allergies aside, whatever happened to if you don't eat, you'll starve? Not literally, but if we cater to our little kids stubborn eating habits, we are going to continue to raise sissy kids.

I remember cafeteria lunches from when I was little, and homemade lunches were always vastly superior and vastly preferred. It didn't make us spoiled brats then, and it doesn't now. Your problem is that you feeling guilty over not wanting to pack a healthy lunch with variety every day, and instead of being honest with yourself, you rationalize it as good parenting. Unfortunately other people don't always validate your decisions, so you react with hostility. Feed your child what you like, but own your decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Packing a lunch is such a total hassle. My DD was at a charter with organic hot lunch and I was so surprised to see kids with lunchbags. On a field trip I paid attention to what the other kids were bringing in those bags - nothing healthier than what the school provides, and in fact a lot more processed foods. Weird.

We might be at the same school. In any event if you saw one of my children with a "home lunch" (as they call it) it's because they prefer a home lunch. I make salads and other dishes that Revolution doesn't, they like having input in their lunch, and I sometimes write notes. They like opening their personal lunch and it makes them feel special. I really don't see what's weird about that.

I swear kids are spolied brats these days. Allergies aside, whatever happened to if you don't eat, you'll starve? Not literally, but if we cater to our little kids stubborn eating habits, we are going to continue to raise sissy kids.

I remember cafeteria lunches from when I was little, and homemade lunches were always vastly superior and vastly preferred. It didn't make us spoiled brats then, and it doesn't now. Your problem is that you feeling guilty over not wanting to pack a healthy lunch with variety every day, and instead of being honest with yourself, you rationalize it as good parenting. Unfortunately other people don't always validate your decisions, so you react with hostility. Feed your child what you like, but own your decisions.

Not the PP, but I don't feel an ounce of guilt for not packing my kid's lunch everyday. We look at the menu each week and she gets to pick 1 or 2 days for home lunch based on the options. She is learning to make choices and to compromise. It works for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any advice on Revolution Foods. This is a popular vendor. Is the food good?

The food is nasty. Thank goodness we transfer out to a school that cooks their food onsite.

Totally disagree! They have come to our DC's school and given out parent samples at back-to-school night. I've heard sometimes the teachers get them because they're good, healthy, cheap, easy. Seriously, check out their food, they actually deliver what they promise (unlike the Janney example above). Easily the best food provider in the area.

To another point, I'm curious about schools that cook onsite. Do they still have lunch ladies and mystery meat and overcooked green slime?

No mystery meat nor slime-Stokes

[Anonymous]

I have no idea what the school lunches look like - my kids bring their lunch, and they report that the vast majority of their peers do too. And, they report back what the other kids eat and it sounds like mostly sandwiches or leftovers with a side of veggies and/or fruit. I'm sure there are some Oreos and chocolate milk, but according to my kids there are few kids that bring tons of junk food for lunch.

[Anonymous]

East of River kids just pout mumbo sauce all over their food and wash it down with kool-aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that anyone who refers to perfectly good (not great, but fine) food as "gross" and "nasty" is a picky eater, and you are passing that attitude on to your kids.

And those who brag about their kids begging them to send "broccoli for dessert" and "an assortment of veggies" is just a pretentious snob.

Have you actually seen the DCPS lunches?? I'm the poster who called it "gross cafeteria food".
I agree, the menus sound FANTASTIC. But the reality is quite different. I volunteered in the classroom at our WOTP school at least 20 times last year. It simply does not live up to the promise on the menu.
18 times out of 20 the fruit was an orange. Not what is advertised.
Really, I challenge you to drop in at lunch at school and see what is served.

Yes, I have. I really, really have been at school and have seen the lunches. They were perfectly acceptable. Clearly we have different standards for the quality of chicken hot dogs. And you know what? An orange is a fruit and it's healthy. My kid doesn't care if she gets the same fruit everyday. I do not cater to her every desire at home and I don't expect the school cafeteria to either.

We get it. You think the food is "nasty." Please just feed your child his/her 100% organic whole grain free range food and leave the rest of us alone.

Reason #78 I am glad my kid doesn't go to Janney.

Janney mom here--the problem with the oranges day in and day out isn't that they're not healthy--it's that 4-7 year olds (and beyond) can't peel oranges and if even if they can, they can't under the time constraints of school lunch. I noticed the oranges primarily because they were all thrown out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that anyone who refers to perfectly good (not great, but fine) food as "gross" and "nasty" is a picky eater, and you are passing that attitude on to your kids.

And those who brag about their kids begging them to send "broccoli for dessert" and "an assortment of veggies" is just a pretentious snob.

Have you actually seen the DCPS lunches?? I'm the poster who called it "gross cafeteria food".
I agree, the menus sound FANTASTIC. But the reality is quite different. I volunteered in the classroom at our WOTP school at least 20 times last year. It simply does not live up to the promise on the menu.
18 times out of 20 the fruit was an orange. Not what is advertised.
Really, I challenge you to drop in at lunch at school and see what is served.

Yes, I have. I really, really have been at school and have seen the lunches. They were perfectly acceptable. Clearly we have different standards for the quality of chicken hot dogs. And you know what? An orange is a fruit and it's healthy. My kid doesn't care if she gets the same fruit everyday. I do not cater to her every desire at home and I don't expect the school cafeteria to either.

We get it. You think the food is "nasty." Please just feed your child his/her 100% organic whole grain free range food and leave the rest of us alone.

Reason #78 I am glad my kid doesn't go to Janney.

Janney mom here--the problem with the oranges day in and day out isn't that they're not healthy--it's that 4-7 year olds (and beyond) can't peel oranges and if even if they can, they can't under the time constraints of school lunch. I noticed the oranges primarily because they were all thrown out.

I will give you 4 year old, but if your 5-7 yr old can't peel his own orange (sn asides), that's a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like that you qualified it with "west of the Park."

Yeah, eff any of those kids EotP, they can eat their chips and I won't care as long as snowflake doesn't have to watch.

I wonder if my EOTP kid can eat out of the trash of the WOTP kids fancy lunch. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that anyone who refers to perfectly good (not great, but fine) food as "gross" and "nasty" is a picky eater, and you are passing that attitude on to your kids.

And those who brag about their kids begging them to send "broccoli for dessert" and "an assortment of veggies" is just a pretentious snob.

Have you actually seen the DCPS lunches?? I'm the poster who called it "gross cafeteria food".
I agree, the menus sound FANTASTIC. But the reality is quite different. I volunteered in the classroom at our WOTP school at least 20 times last year. It simply does not live up to the promise on the menu.
18 times out of 20 the fruit was an orange. Not what is advertised.
Really, I challenge you to drop in at lunch at school and see what is served.

Yes, I have. I really, really have been at school and have seen the lunches. They were perfectly acceptable. Clearly we have different standards for the quality of chicken hot dogs. And you know what? An orange is a fruit and it's healthy. My kid doesn't care if she gets the same fruit everyday. I do not cater to her every desire at home and I don't expect the school cafeteria to either.

We get it. You think the food is "nasty." Please just feed your child his/her 100% organic whole grain free range food and leave the rest of us alone.

Reason #78 I am glad my kid doesn't go to Janney.

Janney mom here--the problem with the oranges day in and day out isn't that they're not healthy--it's that 4-7 year olds (and beyond) can't peel oranges and if even if they can, they can't under the time constraints of school lunch. I noticed the oranges primarily because they were all thrown out.

That's what happens to your rich Ward 3 kids, I bet you a poor kid can peal the fuck out of an orange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that anyone who refers to perfectly good (not great, but fine) food as "gross" and "nasty" is a picky eater, and you are passing that attitude on to your kids.

And those who brag about their kids begging them to send "broccoli for dessert" and "an assortment of veggies" is just a pretentious snob.

Have you actually seen the DCPS lunches?? I'm the poster who called it "gross cafeteria food".
I agree, the menus sound FANTASTIC. But the reality is quite different. I volunteered in the classroom at our WOTP school at least 20 times last year. It simply does not live up to the promise on the menu.
18 times out of 20 the fruit was an orange. Not what is advertised.
Really, I challenge you to drop in at lunch at school and see what is served.

Yes, I have. I really, really have been at school and have seen the lunches. They were perfectly acceptable. Clearly we have different standards for the quality of chicken hot dogs. And you know what? An orange is a fruit and it's healthy. My kid doesn't care if she gets the same fruit everyday. I do not cater to her every desire at home and I don't expect the school cafeteria to either.

We get it. You think the food is "nasty." Please just feed your child his/her 100% organic whole grain free range food and leave the rest of us alone.

Reason #78 I am glad my kid doesn't go to Janney.

Janney mom here--the problem with the oranges day in and day out isn't that they're not healthy--it's that 4-7 year olds (and beyond) can't peel oranges and if even if they can, they can't under the time constraints of school lunch. I noticed the oranges primarily because they were all thrown out.

That's what happens to your rich Ward 3 kids, I bet you a poor kid can peal the fuck out of an orange.

lol, awesome (but it's "peel")