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

[Anonymous]

LOL. I seem to recall someone famous tried to do something about this in recent years... somehow people got really mad. Crappy school lunches are sacrosanct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not just in NY but in Colorado as well. https://303magazine.com/2017/08/chef-ann-foundation/

It’s entirely possible. Colorado paid for the school lunch program using federal dollars. It didn’t cost extra.

This isn’t any better than what we offer in this area. These are all processes frozen food. That might then be cooked on site but by no means is anything on this menu great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't find vegetables more expensive. Have you taken a look at how cheap beets are? Or cabbages? Why can't schools buy vegetables from wholesale producers and prepare those instead of getting the packaged garbage?

Beets and cabbages??

Vegetables perish quickly. Schools would have to order them more often than frozen, which makes them more expansive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't find vegetables more expensive. Have you taken a look at how cheap beets are? Or cabbages? Why can't schools buy vegetables from wholesale producers and prepare those instead of getting the packaged garbage?

Beets and cabbages??

Vegetables perish quickly. Schools would have to order them more often than frozen, which makes them more expansive.

It just so happens that beets and cabbage are two vegetables with a long shelf life.

But that is what food in schools must be. Cooked on-site from fresh by on-aite personnel whose job is cooking, not reheating like a flight attendent. I'm so sorry that this wasn't the case for you or your children. Many countries, rich and poor, manage to do that. That's how you feed children a nutrition and varied diet, and how you teach them to eat a nutritious and varied diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not just in NY but in Colorado as well. https://303magazine.com/2017/08/chef-ann-foundation/

It’s entirely possible. Colorado paid for the school lunch program using federal dollars. It didn’t cost extra.

Yes with help from a private organization that had sponsors like Whole Foods who donated free food. No one is saying it can’t be done. It just can’t be done cheaply without some sort of help.

Where does it say that they get free food from Whole Foods? Anyways whether we need Whole Foods or not it can be done.

No pp but read the whole article. It talks about how they are able to do it “at cost.” They partnered with a private organization that has relationships with food vendors like Whole Foods, which is mentioned in the article, who subsidize the program with free food, so schools aren’t paying full price for organic salad fixing etc. It can be done, but not for $6 a kid, which is what USDA budgets for school lunches. Michelle Obama’s program failed because ultimately schools couldn’t provide food under the nutritional guidelines for the money they have/had, so they provided what they could, which wasn’t appealing or tasty.

I don’t understand how people don’t get that this is a cost/waste thing. We know that kids need healither foods, but we don’t want to pay more in taxes to ensure that. I couldn’t feed my own kids on $6 a day if I’m buying good, whole, non-processed food. How can a school system? On top of that, they are responsible for feeding larger groups on a tight budget. Food has to be bought in bulk and needs to last for more than a few days. My kid’s school has a salad bar, and he constantly comments that no one eats from it. Whether that’s true or not, who knows, but I can’t imagine how much they have to discard because salad goes bad quickly.

Exactly. Like Middle Eastern PP said, they should focus on hearty, tasty cooked vegetable dishes. What kid wants to eat from a salad bar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't find vegetables more expensive. Have you taken a look at how cheap beets are? Or cabbages? Why can't schools buy vegetables from wholesale producers and prepare those instead of getting the packaged garbage?

Beets and cabbages??

Vegetables perish quickly. Schools would have to order them more often than frozen, which makes them more expansive.

It just so happens that beets and cabbage are two vegetables with a long shelf life.

But that is what food in schools must be. Cooked on-site from fresh by on-aite personnel whose job is cooking, not reheating like a flight attendent. I'm so sorry that this wasn't the case for you or your children. Many countries, rich and poor, manage to do that. That's how you feed children a nutrition and varied diet, and how you teach them to eat a nutritious and varied diet.

Since many of us were raised, at school and at home, on a non-varied diet as children, be reassured that all is not lost. Our kids are fine. They'll grow up to be adults who eat a nutritious and varied diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not just in NY but in Colorado as well. https://303magazine.com/2017/08/chef-ann-foundation/

It’s entirely possible. Colorado paid for the school lunch program using federal dollars. It didn’t cost extra.

Yes with help from a private organization that had sponsors like Whole Foods who donated free food. No one is saying it can’t be done. It just can’t be done cheaply without some sort of help.

Where does it say that they get free food from Whole Foods? Anyways whether we need Whole Foods or not it can be done.

No pp but read the whole article. It talks about how they are able to do it “at cost.” They partnered with a private organization that has relationships with food vendors like Whole Foods, which is mentioned in the article, who subsidize the program with free food, so schools aren’t paying full price for organic salad fixing etc. It can be done, but not for $6 a kid, which is what USDA budgets for school lunches. Michelle Obama’s program failed because ultimately schools couldn’t provide food under the nutritional guidelines for the money they have/had, so they provided what they could, which wasn’t appealing or tasty.

I don’t understand how people don’t get that this is a cost/waste thing. We know that kids need healither foods, but we don’t want to pay more in taxes to ensure that. I couldn’t feed my own kids on $6 a day if I’m buying good, whole, non-processed food. How can a school system? On top of that, they are responsible for feeding larger groups on a tight budget. Food has to be bought in bulk and needs to last for more than a few days. My kid’s school has a salad bar, and he constantly comments that no one eats from it. Whether that’s true or not, who knows, but I can’t imagine how much they have to discard because salad goes bad quickly.

Exactly. Like Middle Eastern PP said, they should focus on hearty, tasty cooked vegetable dishes. What kid wants to eat from a salad bar?

Y'all complain about everything. You complain about overcooked veggies, you complain about undercooked veggies, you complain about raw veggies. You complain about bland veggies and about flavored/spicy veggies.

No wonder you're not in charge of the school lunch rooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't find vegetables more expensive. Have you taken a look at how cheap beets are? Or cabbages? Why can't schools buy vegetables from wholesale producers and prepare those instead of getting the packaged garbage?

Beets and cabbages??

Vegetables perish quickly. Schools would have to order them more often than frozen, which makes them more expansive.

It just so happens that beets and cabbage are two vegetables with a long shelf life.

But that is what food in schools must be. Cooked on-site from fresh by on-aite personnel whose job is cooking, not reheating like a flight attendent. I'm so sorry that this wasn't the case for you or your children. Many countries, rich and poor, manage to do that. That's how you feed children a nutrition and varied diet, and how you teach them to eat a nutritious and varied diet.

+1. I have a preschooler and had no idea that the schools don't even have real kitchens. Wtf??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not just in NY but in Colorado as well. https://303magazine.com/2017/08/chef-ann-foundation/

It’s entirely possible. Colorado paid for the school lunch program using federal dollars. It didn’t cost extra.

Yes with help from a private organization that had sponsors like Whole Foods who donated free food. No one is saying it can’t be done. It just can’t be done cheaply without some sort of help.

Where does it say that they get free food from Whole Foods? Anyways whether we need Whole Foods or not it can be done.

No pp but read the whole article. It talks about how they are able to do it “at cost.” They partnered with a private organization that has relationships with food vendors like Whole Foods, which is mentioned in the article, who subsidize the program with free food, so schools aren’t paying full price for organic salad fixing etc. It can be done, but not for $6 a kid, which is what USDA budgets for school lunches. Michelle Obama’s program failed because ultimately schools couldn’t provide food under the nutritional guidelines for the money they have/had, so they provided what they could, which wasn’t appealing or tasty.

I don’t understand how people don’t get that this is a cost/waste thing. We know that kids need healither foods, but we don’t want to pay more in taxes to ensure that. I couldn’t feed my own kids on $6 a day if I’m buying good, whole, non-processed food. How can a school system? On top of that, they are responsible for feeding larger groups on a tight budget. Food has to be bought in bulk and needs to last for more than a few days. My kid’s school has a salad bar, and he constantly comments that no one eats from it. Whether that’s true or not, who knows, but I can’t imagine how much they have to discard because salad goes bad quickly.

Exactly. Like Middle Eastern PP said, they should focus on hearty, tasty cooked vegetable dishes. What kid wants to eat from a salad bar?

Y'all complain about everything. You complain about overcooked veggies, you complain about undercooked veggies, you complain about raw veggies. You complain about bland veggies and about flavored/spicy veggies.

No wonder you're not in charge of the school lunch rooms.

I'm the PP and I've commented on this thread several times. The only thing I've complained about is raw, bland veggies. I haven't seen anyone complain about spices or overcooked food.

[Anonymous]

I have to say for Grab-and-Go the meals have not been that bad. I like it that they introduce a variety of vegetables. I have HS kids, so I wish they main entre had more calories. Also, my family doesn't drink milk, so that is a waste but I understand this is a deal with the USDA and farmers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't find vegetables more expensive. Have you taken a look at how cheap beets are? Or cabbages? Why can't schools buy vegetables from wholesale producers and prepare those instead of getting the packaged garbage?

Beets and cabbages??

Vegetables perish quickly. Schools would have to order them more often than frozen, which makes them more expansive.

It just so happens that beets and cabbage are two vegetables with a long shelf life.

But that is what food in schools must be. Cooked on-site from fresh by on-aite personnel whose job is cooking, not reheating like a flight attendent. I'm so sorry that this wasn't the case for you or your children. Many countries, rich and poor, manage to do that. That's how you feed children a nutrition and varied diet, and how you teach them to eat a nutritious and varied diet.

I haven’t seen a single person here disagree that school lunch needs to be healthier, but it reeks of privilege to complain without looking at the larger issue. We, as a society, do not provide schools with enough funding to do as suggested. Fresh, healthy food is expensive, despite your personal belief, and a great deal of people who are on strict budgets don’t buy fresh food for that reason. Why spend several dollars on apples when you can get ramen for $1 a bag, which could feed you for several meals? Healthy food is not easily accessible to everyone in this country. If you want it to be accessible to children through public schools, they’ll need to reallocate federal funding to school lunch programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to say for Grab-and-Go the meals have not been that bad. I like it that they introduce a variety of vegetables. I have HS kids, so I wish they main entre had more calories. Also, my family doesn't drink milk, so that is a waste but I understand this is a deal with the USDA and farmers.

We found that they varied from tasty to okay to not-to-my-kids-taste-but-otherwise-good. And they also were similar or identical to lunches that my kids had at school. My kids are ES so the portion sizes were fine but I could see that they would be small for older kids.

[Anonymous]

I happen to love raw vegetables-especially broccoli.
My kids share my dislike of overcooked soggy vegetables. Those of you who think green beans should be olive green make me queasy. If your going to cook them, just barely steam so they still have crunch or no one on my house is eating it at all.

One size doesn’t fit all. There needs to be a variety. And Americans aren’t willing to pay what it costs to provide that variety In a healthy fresh tasty way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not just in NY but in Colorado as well. https://303magazine.com/2017/08/chef-ann-foundation/

It’s entirely possible. Colorado paid for the school lunch program using federal dollars. It didn’t cost extra.

Yes with help from a private organization that had sponsors like Whole Foods who donated free food. No one is saying it can’t be done. It just can’t be done cheaply without some sort of help.

Where does it say that they get free food from Whole Foods? Anyways whether we need Whole Foods or not it can be done.

No pp but read the whole article. It talks about how they are able to do it “at cost.” They partnered with a private organization that has relationships with food vendors like Whole Foods, which is mentioned in the article, who subsidize the program with free food, so schools aren’t paying full price for organic salad fixing etc. It can be done, but not for $6 a kid, which is what USDA budgets for school lunches. Michelle Obama’s program failed because ultimately schools couldn’t provide food under the nutritional guidelines for the money they have/had, so they provided what they could, which wasn’t appealing or tasty.

I don’t understand how people don’t get that this is a cost/waste thing. We know that kids need healither foods, but we don’t want to pay more in taxes to ensure that. I couldn’t feed my own kids on $6 a day if I’m buying good, whole, non-processed food. How can a school system? On top of that, they are responsible for feeding larger groups on a tight budget. Food has to be bought in bulk and needs to last for more than a few days. My kid’s school has a salad bar, and he constantly comments that no one eats from it. Whether that’s true or not, who knows, but I can’t imagine how much they have to discard because salad goes bad quickly.

Exactly. Like Middle Eastern PP said, they should focus on hearty, tasty cooked vegetable dishes. What kid wants to eat from a salad bar?

Y'all complain about everything. You complain about overcooked veggies, you complain about undercooked veggies, you complain about raw veggies. You complain about bland veggies and about flavored/spicy veggies.

No wonder you're not in charge of the school lunch rooms.

I'm the PP and I've commented on this thread several times. The only thing I've complained about is raw, bland veggies. I haven't seen anyone complain about spices or overcooked food.

Schools aren’t restaurants. My kid loves raw vegetables without dressing. I know he’s maybe in the minority, but they can’t appeal to everyone’s personal tastes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I happen to love raw vegetables-especially broccoli.
My kids share my dislike of overcooked soggy vegetables. Those of you who think green beans should be olive green make me queasy. If your going to cook them, just barely steam so they still have crunch or no one on my house is eating it at all.

One size doesn’t fit all. There needs to be a variety. And Americans aren’t willing to pay what it costs to provide that variety In a healthy fresh tasty way.

+100

My kids eat raw veggies as snacks constantly. They don’t like “mushy” vegetables.