School Lunch - Can We Talk About Improving Nutrition for Kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you start down this path, then you'll end up with a lot of backlash. Schools in Canada are policing the food that people bring from home!!

https://www.cbc.ca/parents/learning/view/lunch-shaming-is-real-and-it-happened-to-my-daughter?fbclid=IwAR23IUqi1x7Sa3Y5KvAUHNT7jKOlOeIs953O_-ACt03o8JwbaRehAVdH96A

The examples in that article are pretty bad and the teachers need to be more flexible. But my previous job was at a school and this one (yes, overweight) child would have a big thermos of mac n cheese every single day. So there should be some basic guidelines.

I volunteered in my kid’s class a lot last year and the stuff people brought for snacks, provided by parents, often wasn’t healthy. Muffins, fruit cups, jello,etc. even the “healthy” stuff was often sweet and laced with sugar, which would have them bouncing off the walls. That being said: I get it. You want your kid to eat, and sometimes you have to give in to the madness. My youngest went through a faze where she would only eat chicken nuggets, so we would either have to let her starve or feed her what she wanted.

Yes, the "healthy" snacks often aren't healthy. Like those gogurt things full of sugar.

[Anonymous]

The problem with the school food during the Michelle Obama push, was that it was bland, blanched and nasty.

The only lesson it gave to food was that "healthy" food was disgusting.

Plus the portions were so small and not appropriate for growing kids. Even at the high school grades, the portions were akin to what one would feed a picky 3 year old or a dieting middle aged mom.

That "healthy" lunch program was so poorly executed, it was laughable. I am saying this as a parent who had kids in a total of 7 different school in 4 different states hitting both coasts, the south and the midwest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We already had a national dialogue--remember Michelle Obama? Let's Move? Big changes in the school lunch program thwarted by the food industry, so badly that pizza is now considered a vegetable?

Plus kids wouldn't eat the food. But to be fair, it sounded like it was not very appealing. Raw vegetables, salads, bland steamed vegetables. Our family eats a ton of vegetables but we cook them in interesting recipes (usually Greek).

Like look at the sample menu you can open here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/002312

I wouldn't want to eat this. Why is there ranch dressing almost every day?

Because kids eat veggies when they have ranch to dip them in. That one makes sense.

Apparently not, since there was a ton of food waste. I don't know any kids (and not many adults) who actively want to eat raw broccoli with or without ranch. It would be better to cook them with herbs and spices. Making a healthy vegetable dish that tastes good isn't that hard.

Why does everyone on this board think that kids don't want to eat vegetables? I think half of the problems are caused by parents who present vegetables as this awful thinks that kids just have to hold their nose and eat. I grew up eating tons of vegetables, my kids eat tons of vegetables. I think it's so weird that other kids don't or their parents made them think veggies taste bad!! My kid eats the veggies and dip first!

[Anonymous]

If you all want changes then you need to vote for people who also want to make those changes. Change isn't going to happen from you whining on the internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom line: If we truly cared about equity, we wouldn't be feeding processed food to kids who have no other options. America can do better.

12:31 I thought I acknowledged in my original post that any food is better than no food. If I didn't, I absolutely meant to.

Another poster wrote "many American kids are brought up thinking they can only eat kid food. And many poor people are only used to junk food. It’s hard to change palates." I don't want to argue whether or not this is true, but palates and eating habits are never going to change if bad habits are reinforced.

I taught in a school in another system--long ago--where the cafeteria ladies actually prepared and cooked the food. The meals were nutritious and delicious. (The exception on the nutritious part would have been the wonderful molasses and butter cookies which were to die for.)
Almost all my students were on free lunch and in those days, teachers did not have duty free lunch--so, I saw what was eaten.

The nutritious vegetables were left on the trays--even by the kids on free lunch. Sorry, but even nutritious food gets thrown away by "hungry" kids. FWIW, most kids on free lunch are not hungry like you think they are. People are under the impression that they never get fed. This is, sadly, true for some kids, but not for all.

People would be amazed at the amount of food that is thrown away in schools--even in those where many are on free lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now that school lunch/breakfast are available to anyone, is there any chance for a national dialogue on improving the nutrition of school feeding programs? I'm completely baffled by parents posting on Facebook how nutritious the food is. It is wonderful the meals include milk and fresh fruit and some vegetables, but the sugar cereal and prepackaged muffins leave me baffled. How is that nutritious? Obviously some food is better than no food if it is a choice between sugar packed "food" and going hungry, but can't we do better as a society, especially for kids who aren't getting fed at home?

They aren’t serving hot meals during the pandemic . They are serving quick grab and go meals that kids can quickly pick up before class starts or during the lunch period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom line: If we truly cared about equity, we wouldn't be feeding processed food to kids who have no other options. America can do better.

12:31 I thought I acknowledged in my original post that any food is better than no food. If I didn't, I absolutely meant to.

Another poster wrote "many American kids are brought up thinking they can only eat kid food. And many poor people are only used to junk food. It’s hard to change palates." I don't want to argue whether or not this is true, but palates and eating habits are never going to change if bad habits are reinforced.

I wrote that and I totally agree with you that things need to change. I think the resistance to change comes from the fact that people think kids are unable to eat anything else other than chicken tenders/pizza/nachos/burgers/Hot Dogs. But yes, we should start somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Rice and beans, with cheese and the occasional salad vegetable would be better than the garbage they feed these kids at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rice and beans, with cheese and the occasional salad vegetable would be better than the garbage they feed these kids at school.

No kid will eat that every day. I would not eat that every day. Yuck. It sounds gross and boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We already had a national dialogue--remember Michelle Obama? Let's Move? Big changes in the school lunch program thwarted by the food industry, so badly that pizza is now considered a vegetable?

Plus kids wouldn't eat the food. But to be fair, it sounded like it was not very appealing. Raw vegetables, salads, bland steamed vegetables. Our family eats a ton of vegetables but we cook them in interesting recipes (usually Greek).

Like look at the sample menu you can open here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/002312

I wouldn't want to eat this. Why is there ranch dressing almost every day?

Because kids eat veggies when they have ranch to dip them in. That one makes sense.

Apparently not, since there was a ton of food waste. I don't know any kids (and not many adults) who actively want to eat raw broccoli with or without ranch. It would be better to cook them with herbs and spices. Making a healthy vegetable dish that tastes good isn't that hard.

Why does everyone on this board think that kids don't want to eat vegetables? I think half of the problems are caused by parents who present vegetables as this awful thinks that kids just have to hold their nose and eat. I grew up eating tons of vegetables, my kids eat tons of vegetables. I think it's so weird that other kids don't or their parents made them think veggies taste bad!! My kid eats the veggies and dip first!

I didn't say kids don't want to eat vegetables. I said they don't want to eat plain raw broccoli with ranch. Do adults even like raw broccoli? Read my last two sentences. I'm literally cooking a meal right now that is mostly vegetables and beans. My family eats essentially vegan two days a week (not today, we had meat for lunch) for religious reasons and that involves a lot of vegetable-based dishes. My child has no problem eating vegetables but she likes them better when they aren't bland.

[Anonymous]

One of my favorite meals is black beans, brown rice, cheese, fresh spinach, and fresh tomatoes. Maybe some green onion if I'm feeling fancy. Nuke until warm and spinach is melted. I go weeks on end eating that for lunch every day.

But I take the point that everyone has different food preferences.

[Anonymous]

I meant spinach is wilted, not melted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with the school food during the Michelle Obama push, was that it was bland, blanched and nasty.

The only lesson it gave to food was that "healthy" food was disgusting.

Plus the portions were so small and not appropriate for growing kids. Even at the high school grades, the portions were akin to what one would feed a picky 3 year old or a dieting middle aged mom.

That "healthy" lunch program was so poorly executed, it was laughable. I am saying this as a parent who had kids in a total of 7 different school in 4 different states hitting both coasts, the south and the midwest.

Flavorful costs money. I remembers years ago a planet money podcast talking about this with food scientists at major manufacturers- it boiled down to cheap ingredients weren’t fresh and had to be masked with salt, fat and sugar to make it palatable. You could do fresh ingredients, but most Americans will balk at the price point. You can have it cheap without using salt sugar and fat, but the result is foul

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rice and beans, with cheese and the occasional salad vegetable would be better than the garbage they feed these kids at school.

No kid will eat that every day. I would not eat that every day. Yuck. It sounds gross and boring.

Yeah they will. Call it chipotle. Boom.

[Anonymous]

We are in mcps. The menu makes it sound better than it actually is. One day it said yogurt with blueberries and when I went in at lunchtime it was Trix sugary blueberry “ flavored” yogurt. Our school also provides free breakfast to everyone.... Cinnabuns once a week..... how is that much sugar a good way to start a school day. It’s craziness.