School Food Contract Hearing - Sodexho Magic = horsemeat and more of the same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have children at Yu Ying. They don't like the lunch, but the vanilla milk is supposedly good. If DCPS did nothing else but supply healthy milk to the 60% or so students in poverty that would be a step up.

You think vanilla milk is healthy?! It's filled with sugar. That's not healthy.

Hey Mom:

Watch out ! Children need sugars and lots of carbohydrates calories, daily. Sugar is unhealthy only for overweight kids. For normal kids, vanilla milk is extremely healthy (as long as the milk used is good quality milk) . Actually sugared milk or sugared yogurt are our recommended snacks for mid-afternoon snacks for school-age kids, as they digestion time is longer than carb-only snacks (thus providing for a longer lasting satiation), they provide calcium and proteins, animal fats for brain/neuro development and a shot of carb energy kid need for the rest of their day.

Let me restate it: sugar-added milk and yogurts are very healthy food for normal kids (non-overweight, non milk intolerant/allergic).

In my NW family medicine practice, in the most recent years and following guidelines from our main campus medical school hospital and national best-practice guidelines, we have experienced a shift in focus from child obesity/overweight monitoring to child under/malnutrition, which affects an increasingly high number of high SES families. Parents imposing vegetarian diets on toddlers (which can be fine only if calcium and iron supplements are provided, together with food protein counts) , non-breast feeding moms feeding (severely underweight) babies with organic goat and soy milk instead of the "evil Nestle" formula, underweight kids due to lack of age-appropriate fat and sugar intake. We see parents literally depriving kids of carbos and sugars. 8 year old kids with eating disorders induced by years of quinoa and kale meals. Some months ago I had a 7 year old patient girl who erupted in tears during a routine exam, telling us that during the previous weekend she had a glass of coke , and she was freaking out she might die because coke corrodes the stomach "dad showed me the video of coke corroding a coin!.." .

Again, child under/malnutrition is a phenomenon that the medical community is looking at with growing concerns in well-off communities , as parents seems to turn to their kids (instead of on themselves) in their need to follow to marketing-induced and non-scientific based trends on what is healthy food and what is not healthy food.

So if we want to have a useful and healthy debate on our kids school-provided meals , let's frame it in the right context:

- Hormones and antibiotics in meat and dairies are very unhealthy. In particular antibiotics in livestock are proven contributors to the development of resistant strains of bacteria, which are a hazard not only for our kids, but also for the society at large. Antibiotics-free or at least "green-meat" (lower antibiotics and only from a small determined set of molecules) should have been Priority #1 for DCPS. We see instead that no attention has been placed on this aspect. Worse, the Sodexo contract is worse than Chartwell's in this respect. This very alarming and a shame for the public school system of our nation's capital , at a time when many school districts are turning to antibiotic-free chicken and meats (eg, New York, Chicago, LA, a large sub-district in Miami, etc ). Even McDonalds recently committed to antibiotics-free poultry! Bottom line: a morning stop at Mc Donalds for a grilled chicken sandwich for school lunch can provide for a healthier meal for your kid than Sodexo's meats. T

- Pesticides in vegetable and fruit can be bad. But this really depends on the vegetable type. Very bad on carrots and strawberries for instance. Not a big concern for oranges and bananas or legumes. Plus, there's no scientifically proven nutritive superiority of organic vegetables vs standard vegetables. I have no problems with my kids having non-organic vegetables at school (though, I have to admit, at home we buy organics for high pesticide vegetables such as carrots, strawberries, grapes).

- Sugared milk and yogurts are very healthy for elementary and middle school students . Let's move the debate away from this aspect. Whole milk is very healthy too , and ES and MS kids dramatically need that fat for a healthy neuro-development (and BTW whole milk is on average only 4% fat , and much more tasty than 1% reduced fat milk). Fat is removed from milk through solvents, and this process lowers the vitamin load in milk (so vitamins A and D are then re-added to the milk, artificially).

- Sodas, high fat strong and sour dressing (ketchup, mayo, ranch) are unsuited ingredients to healthy school diets, due to very low nutritional properties relative to their calories from sugars and fats, and generate addiction to strong, artificial and processed tastes and smells.

- Processed foods , compared to simple foods, are on average unhealthier, for several reasons I have no time to list (the UK NHS made several studies on this issue some years ago, several are available online).

In sum: in my (professional) view, the biggest problem with the Sodexo contract lies in allowing meats and dairies from livestock treated with growth hormones and antibiotics. This poses a proven long-term health hazard to the kids, and to the society at large. This marks a setback compared to the Chartwells contract . This is outrageous , especially at a time where several US districts are banning these foods from school tables. And we should never stop pointing fingers against DCPS on this aspect until this is changed.

Er, no. High sugar foods affect the brain in ways that increase craving and lead to hyper behavior. And there is entirely too much sugar in the typical person's -- even if normal weight -- diet these days. Look at the recent reports by the WHO and the CDC. Plain old milk is just fine. Milk, whole grains or nuts, fruit -- that makes a good afternoon snack.

Sure, sugared milk beats Twinkies, but that's a horribly low standard.

No dear, read your manuals, the sugar in a vanilla milk drank by a normal ES kid at noon , has already been metabolized and burned by 5 pm, much earlier if the kid had an active recess time playing tag or soccer . I am sorry for him if your kid is having nuts ( which are certainly good for hus brain and digestive system) to support his recess playing time. I am sorry, that's not good for him.

Ask your pediatrician, don't do yourself . And keep in mind I am talking about vanilla milk , not Sprite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have children at Yu Ying. They don't like the lunch, but the vanilla milk is supposedly good. If DCPS did nothing else but supply healthy milk to the 60% or so students in poverty that would be a step up.

You think vanilla milk is healthy?! It's filled with sugar. That's not healthy.

Hey Mom:

Watch out ! Children need sugars and lots of carbohydrates calories, daily. Sugar is unhealthy only for overweight kids. For normal kids, vanilla milk is extremely healthy (as long as the milk used is good quality milk) . Actually sugared milk or sugared yogurt are our recommended snacks for mid-afternoon snacks for school-age kids, as they digestion time is longer than carb-only snacks (thus providing for a longer lasting satiation), they provide calcium and proteins, animal fats for brain/neuro development and a shot of carb energy kid need for the rest of their day.

Let me restate it: sugar-added milk and yogurts are very healthy food for normal kids (non-overweight, non milk intolerant/allergic).

In my NW family medicine practice, in the most recent years and following guidelines from our main campus medical school hospital and national best-practice guidelines, we have experienced a shift in focus from child obesity/overweight monitoring to child under/malnutrition, which affects an increasingly high number of high SES families. Parents imposing vegetarian diets on toddlers (which can be fine only if calcium and iron supplements are provided, together with food protein counts) , non-breast feeding moms feeding (severely underweight) babies with organic goat and soy milk instead of the "evil Nestle" formula, underweight kids due to lack of age-appropriate fat and sugar intake. We see parents literally depriving kids of carbos and sugars. 8 year old kids with eating disorders induced by years of quinoa and kale meals. Some months ago I had a 7 year old patient girl who erupted in tears during a routine exam, telling us that during the previous weekend she had a glass of coke , and she was freaking out she might die because coke corrodes the stomach "dad showed me the video of coke corroding a coin!.." .

Again, child under/malnutrition is a phenomenon that the medical community is looking at with growing concerns in well-off communities , as parents seems to turn to their kids (instead of on themselves) in their need to follow to marketing-induced and non-scientific based trends on what is healthy food and what is not healthy food.

So if we want to have a useful and healthy debate on our kids school-provided meals , let's frame it in the right context:

- Hormones and antibiotics in meat and dairies are very unhealthy. In particular antibiotics in livestock are proven contributors to the development of resistant strains of bacteria, which are a hazard not only for our kids, but also for the society at large. Antibiotics-free or at least "green-meat" (lower antibiotics and only from a small determined set of molecules) should have been Priority #1 for DCPS. We see instead that no attention has been placed on this aspect. Worse, the Sodexo contract is worse than Chartwell's in this respect. This very alarming and a shame for the public school system of our nation's capital , at a time when many school districts are turning to antibiotic-free chicken and meats (eg, New York, Chicago, LA, a large sub-district in Miami, etc ). Even McDonalds recently committed to antibiotics-free poultry! Bottom line: a morning stop at Mc Donalds for a grilled chicken sandwich for school lunch can provide for a healthier meal for your kid than Sodexo's meats. T

- Pesticides in vegetable and fruit can be bad. But this really depends on the vegetable type. Very bad on carrots and strawberries for instance. Not a big concern for oranges and bananas or legumes. Plus, there's no scientifically proven nutritive superiority of organic vegetables vs standard vegetables. I have no problems with my kids having non-organic vegetables at school (though, I have to admit, at home we buy organics for high pesticide vegetables such as carrots, strawberries, grapes).

- Sugared milk and yogurts are very healthy for elementary and middle school students . Let's move the debate away from this aspect. Whole milk is very healthy too , and ES and MS kids dramatically need that fat for a healthy neuro-development (and BTW whole milk is on average only 4% fat , and much more tasty than 1% reduced fat milk). Fat is removed from milk through solvents, and this process lowers the vitamin load in milk (so vitamins A and D are then re-added to the milk, artificially).

- Sodas, high fat strong and sour dressing (ketchup, mayo, ranch) are unsuited ingredients to healthy school diets, due to very low nutritional properties relative to their calories from sugars and fats, and generate addiction to strong, artificial and processed tastes and smells.

- Processed foods , compared to simple foods, are on average unhealthier, for several reasons I have no time to list (the UK NHS made several studies on this issue some years ago, several are available online).

In sum: in my (professional) view, the biggest problem with the Sodexo contract lies in allowing meats and dairies from livestock treated with growth hormones and antibiotics. This poses a proven long-term health hazard to the kids, and to the society at large. This marks a setback compared to the Chartwells contract . This is outrageous , especially at a time where several US districts are banning these foods from school tables. And we should never stop pointing fingers against DCPS on this aspect until this is changed.

Er, no. High sugar foods affect the brain in ways that increase craving and lead to hyper behavior. And there is entirely too much sugar in the typical person's -- even if normal weight -- diet these days. Look at the recent reports by the WHO and the CDC. Plain old milk is just fine. Milk, whole grains or nuts, fruit -- that makes a good afternoon snack.

Sure, sugared milk beats Twinkies, but that's a horribly low standard.

No dear, read your manuals, the sugar in a vanilla milk drank by a normal ES kid at noon , has already been metabolized and burned by 5 pm, much earlier if the kid had an active recess time playing tag or soccer . I am sorry for him if your kid is having nuts ( which are certainly good for hus brain and digestive system) to support his recess playing time. I am sorry, that's not good for him.

Ask your pediatrician, don't do yourself . And keep in mind I am talking about vanilla milk , not Sprite.

Energy from sugars is available in support of muscle metabolism within 10 minutes from ingestion. Energy from fats ( and nuts) won't be available to your kid before 3-4 hours or more . Don't sugar starve your ES kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have children at Yu Ying. They don't like the lunch, but the vanilla milk is supposedly good. If DCPS did nothing else but supply healthy milk to the 60% or so students in poverty that would be a step up.

You think vanilla milk is healthy?! It's filled with sugar. That's not healthy.

Hey Mom:

Watch out ! Children need sugars and lots of carbohydrates calories, daily. Sugar is unhealthy only for overweight kids. For normal kids, vanilla milk is extremely healthy (as long as the milk used is good quality milk) . Actually sugared milk or sugared yogurt are our recommended snacks for mid-afternoon snacks for school-age kids, as they digestion time is longer than carb-only snacks (thus providing for a longer lasting satiation), they provide calcium and proteins, animal fats for brain/neuro development and a shot of carb energy kid need for the rest of their day.

Let me restate it: sugar-added milk and yogurts are very healthy food for normal kids (non-overweight, non milk intolerant/allergic).

In my NW family medicine practice, in the most recent years and following guidelines from our main campus medical school hospital and national best-practice guidelines, we have experienced a shift in focus from child obesity/overweight monitoring to child under/malnutrition, which affects an increasingly high number of high SES families. Parents imposing vegetarian diets on toddlers (which can be fine only if calcium and iron supplements are provided, together with food protein counts) , non-breast feeding moms feeding (severely underweight) babies with organic goat and soy milk instead of the "evil Nestle" formula, underweight kids due to lack of age-appropriate fat and sugar intake. We see parents literally depriving kids of carbos and sugars. 8 year old kids with eating disorders induced by years of quinoa and kale meals. Some months ago I had a 7 year old patient girl who erupted in tears during a routine exam, telling us that during the previous weekend she had a glass of coke , and she was freaking out she might die because coke corrodes the stomach "dad showed me the video of coke corroding a coin!.." .

Again, child under/malnutrition is a phenomenon that the medical community is looking at with growing concerns in well-off communities , as parents seems to turn to their kids (instead of on themselves) in their need to follow to marketing-induced and non-scientific based trends on what is healthy food and what is not healthy food.

So if we want to have a useful and healthy debate on our kids school-provided meals , let's frame it in the right context:

- Hormones and antibiotics in meat and dairies are very unhealthy. In particular antibiotics in livestock are proven contributors to the development of resistant strains of bacteria, which are a hazard not only for our kids, but also for the society at large. Antibiotics-free or at least "green-meat" (lower antibiotics and only from a small determined set of molecules) should have been Priority #1 for DCPS. We see instead that no attention has been placed on this aspect. Worse, the Sodexo contract is worse than Chartwell's in this respect. This very alarming and a shame for the public school system of our nation's capital , at a time when many school districts are turning to antibiotic-free chicken and meats (eg, New York, Chicago, LA, a large sub-district in Miami, etc ). Even McDonalds recently committed to antibiotics-free poultry! Bottom line: a morning stop at Mc Donalds for a grilled chicken sandwich for school lunch can provide for a healthier meal for your kid than Sodexo's meats. T

- Pesticides in vegetable and fruit can be bad. But this really depends on the vegetable type. Very bad on carrots and strawberries for instance. Not a big concern for oranges and bananas or legumes. Plus, there's no scientifically proven nutritive superiority of organic vegetables vs standard vegetables. I have no problems with my kids having non-organic vegetables at school (though, I have to admit, at home we buy organics for high pesticide vegetables such as carrots, strawberries, grapes).

- Sugared milk and yogurts are very healthy for elementary and middle school students . Let's move the debate away from this aspect. Whole milk is very healthy too , and ES and MS kids dramatically need that fat for a healthy neuro-development (and BTW whole milk is on average only 4% fat , and much more tasty than 1% reduced fat milk). Fat is removed from milk through solvents, and this process lowers the vitamin load in milk (so vitamins A and D are then re-added to the milk, artificially).

- Sodas, high fat strong and sour dressing (ketchup, mayo, ranch) are unsuited ingredients to healthy school diets, due to very low nutritional properties relative to their calories from sugars and fats, and generate addiction to strong, artificial and processed tastes and smells.

- Processed foods , compared to simple foods, are on average unhealthier, for several reasons I have no time to list (the UK NHS made several studies on this issue some years ago, several are available online).

In sum: in my (professional) view, the biggest problem with the Sodexo contract lies in allowing meats and dairies from livestock treated with growth hormones and antibiotics. This poses a proven long-term health hazard to the kids, and to the society at large. This marks a setback compared to the Chartwells contract . This is outrageous , especially at a time where several US districts are banning these foods from school tables. And we should never stop pointing fingers against DCPS on this aspect until this is changed.

Er, no. High sugar foods affect the brain in ways that increase craving and lead to hyper behavior. And there is entirely too much sugar in the typical person's -- even if normal weight -- diet these days. Look at the recent reports by the WHO and the CDC. Plain old milk is just fine. Milk, whole grains or nuts, fruit -- that makes a good afternoon snack.

Sure, sugared milk beats Twinkies, but that's a horribly low standard.

No dear, read your manuals, the sugar in a vanilla milk drank by a normal ES kid at noon , has already been metabolized and burned by 5 pm, much earlier if the kid had an active recess time playing tag or soccer . I am sorry for him if your kid is having nuts ( which are certainly good for hus brain and digestive system) to support his recess playing time. I am sorry, that's not good for him.

Ask your pediatrician, don't do yourself . And keep in mind I am talking about vanilla milk , not Sprite.

Do you help feel superior when you call other adults "dear"?

It doesn't matter if the sugar is burned by 5pm; it's still not needed and has adverse affects on the brain.

A kid can get plenty of natural sugar, carbs, protein, fats, and all sorts of nutrients by eating a variety of regular foods. It doesn't need to be kale, and it certainly should minimize added sugars.

Kids should drink milk; kids should eat carbs and fruits with natural sugars. If you are adding sugar to the milk to get kids to drink it, you have a bigger dietary problem. And, no, I absolutely would not go to a periatrician who recommends adding sugar to naturally-sweet drinks.

[Anonymous]

..and the vanilla sugar milk (trucked in from Midwest) arrives in concentrate form to which you need to add an equal portion of water.

How many schools do you think are filtering the DC tap water source going into their Fairlife milk machine?

[Anonymous]

dear, I do not want a debate biased by ignorance and prejudice. I said that vanilla milk is good as long as the milk is of good quality. The added sugar is beneficial to kids . You cite the WHO study, get back to it and see the recommended sugar for Elementary school (up to 4 full tea spoons a day) , vanilla milk contains 1/8 of that and is not good , rather very good for you kid (unless he's overweight or milk intolerant) . A pediatrician who recommends you to deprive you kid of sugars is looking after you as a client, not to your kid well- being. I suggest you pay a visit to a non- fee per visit facility (Georgetown , GW) and hear from them about sugars, it will hop you andr kid.
As parents let's stay focused and lobby for important things, antibiotic and hormone free meats. Of course, no sodas or chips, but vanilla or chocolate milk ( good quality if not organic) Welcome , at least for ES and MS .
Aon important

[Anonymous]

Anyone who advocates for adding processed sugars to anyone's diet, and of course a child's diet at the very least, is an absolute ignoramus. Of course, the ignoramus doesn't know she's an ignoramus, or else she wouldn't be an ignoramus.

[Anonymous]

I really don't like the idea of hormone-infused meat in DCPS lunches. We know that puberty is happening at earlier ages in recent years, although I don't think we know conclusively why.

We also know that AA girls typically begin puberty at earlier ages than their non-AA counterparts (for reasons including higher rates of overweight/obesity but also environmental factors like family stress). Early puberty is in turn linked with a higher subsequent risk of psychosocial problems.

It is so disappointing that they're allowing meat w/hormones in DCPS lunches, given this background. Even absent a definite link between meat w/hormones and early puberty, this relaxing of dietary standards makes me leery enough that we'll begin preparing meals at home this fall for my rising K girl. I wish her classmates at her predominantly AA school would all be able to avoid school meals as well. With about 1/3 FARMS families, however, some of them don't have a choice.

A little off-topic, but jeez--makes me think that this sort of thing is how the die is cast in terms of increasing inequality and unequal outcomes by race/SES at later ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't like the idea of hormone-infused meat in DCPS lunches. We know that puberty is happening at earlier ages in recent years, although I don't think we know conclusively why.

We also know that AA girls typically begin puberty at earlier ages than their non-AA counterparts (for reasons including higher rates of overweight/obesity but also environmental factors like family stress). Early puberty is in turn linked with a higher subsequent risk of psychosocial problems.

It is so disappointing that they're allowing meat w/hormones in DCPS lunches, given this background. Even absent a definite link between meat w/hormones and early puberty, this relaxing of dietary standards makes me leery enough that we'll begin preparing meals at home this fall for my rising K girl. I wish her classmates at her predominantly AA school would all be able to avoid school meals as well. With about 1/3 FARMS families, however, some of them don't have a choice.

A little off-topic, but jeez--makes me think that this sort of thing is how the die is cast in terms of increasing inequality and unequal outcomes by race/SES at later ages.

PP again. Back on topic. Does anyone know what can be done at this point? It seems the Sodexho contract is for one year, so perhaps there can be an effort to push for a new vendor for 2017? I'm guessing it's too late for the vendor to change for the upcoming school year.

[Anonymous]

What do you think were in your school lunches when you were growing up? Back in the day, they counted ketchup as getting your veggie quota for the day. This is not new. People have been battling school lunches for eons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:dear, I do not want a debate biased by ignorance and prejudice. I said that vanilla milk is good as long as the milk is of good quality. The added sugar is beneficial to kids . You cite the WHO study, get back to it and see the recommended sugar for Elementary school (up to 4 full tea spoons a day) , vanilla milk contains 1/8 of that and is not good , rather very good for you kid (unless he's overweight or milk intolerant) . A pediatrician who recommends you to deprive you kid of sugars is looking after you as a client, not to your kid well- being. I suggest you pay a visit to a non- fee per visit facility (Georgetown , GW) and hear from them about sugars, it will hop you andr kid.
As parents let's stay focused and lobby for important things, antibiotic and hormone free meats. Of course, no sodas or chips, but vanilla or chocolate milk ( good quality if not organic) Welcome , at least for ES and MS .
Aon important

My children are excellent eaters and in excellent health. Thank you, nonetheless, for the misguided suggestion of "help."

Nobody here is talking about depriving kids of sugar, your hyperbole aside. It is insane, however, to argue that the typical DC kid needs more sugar. The WHO study notes that most people get way more sugar than the WHO allowance, and that less than their allowance would probably be better. You seriously think a significant amount of DCPS's daily consumers are eating too little added-sugar?!

And for all your typing, you have yet to explain why milk with sugar-added is a better choice than regular, naturally-sweet milk.

But back to the point, the Sodexo contract allows all sorts of unhealthy foods, lacks reasonable standards, permits abusive busiess practices, and didn't get due vetting by our councilmembers. Meanwhile, some DCPS contract negotiator is probably living well now....

[Anonymous]

I'm concerned about the crazy vanilla lady dominating the conversation. The collective freak-out over healthy carbs is only driving otherwise normal girls into eating disorders. There are underweight elementary school girls who are afraid to eat because so much attention is being paid to fat. (Nevermind that dietary fat doesn't automatically equal body fat.)

When active, healthy, and thin children are afraid to eat because calories have become so demonized then we're doing something wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm concerned about the crazy vanilla lady dominating the conversation. The collective freak-out over healthy carbs is only driving otherwise normal girls into eating disorders. There are underweight elementary school girls who are afraid to eat because so much attention is being paid to fat. (Nevermind that dietary fat doesn't automatically equal body fat.)

When active, healthy, and thin children are afraid to eat because calories have become so demonized then we're doing something wrong.

This. My teenage son and his cousin spend time in the mirror looking at their body fat and are reluctant to eat enough to support their growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't like the idea of hormone-infused meat in DCPS lunches. We know that puberty is happening at earlier ages in recent years, although I don't think we know conclusively why.

We also know that AA girls typically begin puberty at earlier ages than their non-AA counterparts (for reasons including higher rates of overweight/obesity but also environmental factors like family stress). Early puberty is in turn linked with a higher subsequent risk of psychosocial problems.

It is so disappointing that they're allowing meat w/hormones in DCPS lunches, given this background. Even absent a definite link between meat w/hormones and early puberty, this relaxing of dietary standards makes me leery enough that we'll begin preparing meals at home this fall for my rising K girl. I wish her classmates at her predominantly AA school would all be able to avoid school meals as well. With about 1/3 FARMS families, however, some of them don't have a choice.

A little off-topic, but jeez--makes me think that this sort of thing is how the die is cast in terms of increasing inequality and unequal outcomes by race/SES at later ages.

PP again. Back on topic. Does anyone know what can be done at this point? It seems the Sodexho contract is for one year, so perhaps there can be an effort to push for a new vendor for 2017? I'm guessing it's too late for the vendor to change for the upcoming school year.

DCPS does not have to exercise the option years in this contract. However, absent significant pushback and lobbying, they will almost certainly do so. Council members Cheh, Silverman, and Allen voted against the contract, so in so far as anything can be done, it would probably start with them. Cheh in particularly is strongly in favor of bringing food service back in-house, and all expressed dismay that DCPS did not pursue smaller vendors, as Council specifically instructed last fall. You could also register your displeasure with DCPS, but who knows if they will listen.