Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had this fight with Loudoun and lost. Milk is included. A tiny (half size) water bottle is .75 cents extra. Its bull$shit. But they wouldn't budge. So my daughter buys lunch with no drink and when she gets thirsty walks across the cafeteria to the water fountain. She has a bottle of water in the classroom, but doesn't feel like carrying it to lunch.

So stupid. You know the milk costs more than the water bottle I can buy at Costco for 4 cents.

It is stupid, you're right, but you should send in an extra smaller water or have your daughter bring lunch from home. In FCPS you are actually required to take the milk. You aren't allowed to buy a lunch without a drink. THAT is stupid. And incredibly wasteful. Nothing irritates me more than knowing about all of the waste that happens in public schools while they complain about the budget and ask for more of the taxpayers money.

I am a parent who put vegetables on my child's plate for years before he ate them consistently. I didn't consider that waste. I considered it an investment in healthy eating and expanding his palate. And it worked, but itbwasba long game.

I teach in the city, and I consider my students to be worth the same investment.

Yeah, that's not the same thing at all though. You're the parent. The school isn't going to get kids to drink milk and eat foods they don't like just because they require it to complete a lunch purchase. I also give my kid vegetables and fruit with every meal, and he likes all of them except eggplant and tomatoes, but eating at school and at home are two different things. It is wasteful what they do in fcps. The amount of perfectly good food and unopened milks in the trash every day is the evidence. If you deny that then you aren't being honest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had this fight with Loudoun and lost. Milk is included. A tiny (half size) water bottle is .75 cents extra. Its bull$shit. But they wouldn't budge. So my daughter buys lunch with no drink and when she gets thirsty walks across the cafeteria to the water fountain. She has a bottle of water in the classroom, but doesn't feel like carrying it to lunch.

So stupid. You know the milk costs more than the water bottle I can buy at Costco for 4 cents.

It is stupid, you're right, but you should send in an extra smaller water or have your daughter bring lunch from home. In FCPS you are actually required to take the milk. You aren't allowed to buy a lunch without a drink. THAT is stupid. And incredibly wasteful. Nothing irritates me more than knowing about all of the waste that happens in public schools while they complain about the budget and ask for more of the taxpayers money.

I am a parent who put vegetables on my child's plate for years before he ate them consistently. I didn't consider that waste. I considered it an investment in healthy eating and expanding his palate. And it worked, but itbwasba long game.

I teach in the city, and I consider my students to be worth the same investment.

Anonymous wrote:I had this fight with Loudoun and lost. Milk is included. A tiny (half size) water bottle is .75 cents extra. Its bull$shit. But they wouldn't budge. So my daughter buys lunch with no drink and when she gets thirsty walks across the cafeteria to the water fountain. She has a bottle of water in the classroom, but doesn't feel like carrying it to lunch.

So stupid. You know the milk costs more than the water bottle I can buy at Costco for 4 cents.

It is stupid, you're right, but you should send in an extra smaller water or have your daughter bring lunch from home. In FCPS you are actually required to take the milk. You aren't allowed to buy a lunch without a drink. THAT is stupid. And incredibly wasteful. Nothing irritates me more than knowing about all of the waste that happens in public schools while they complain about the budget and ask for more of the taxpayers money.

I had this fight with Loudoun and lost. Milk is included. A tiny (half size) water bottle is .75 cents extra. Its bull$shit. But they wouldn't budge. So my daughter buys lunch with no drink and when she gets thirsty walks across the cafeteria to the water fountain. She has a bottle of water in the classroom, but doesn't feel like carrying it to lunch.

So stupid. You know the milk costs more than the water bottle I can buy at Costco for 4 cents.

I send my kid to school every day with a water bottle. He has to drink it or explain to me why didn't. That's not something that he wants to do, so he usually drinks as much as he can. I send it because he has cerebral palsy and gets headaches, so a lack of hydration can make his muscles tighter and allow more headaches to occur. Plus, I don't really want him sharing water fountains.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate that they sell plastic bottles of water. So wasteful. They should just have large coolers full of water and cups.

they have water fountains... so really, just the cups would be needed

Our school has neat water fountains that will auto-fill water bottles. And kids are strongly encouraged to bring in water bottles to fill.

Could you just ask your child to bring his own water bottle to lunch instead of buying it? My kids take their water bottles to school every day and sometime refill them if needed.

Anonymous wrote:I hate that they sell plastic bottles of water. So wasteful. They should just have large coolers full of water and cups.

they have water fountains... so really, just the cups would be needed

I hate that they sell plastic bottles of water. So wasteful. They should just have large coolers full of water and cups.

You have to pay extra for the water. Milk is included in the meal price. My kid does not like milk so he brings a water bottle to lunch instead.

Anonymous wrote:So much waste in school lunches. They require kids to take stuff, even though it will end up in the trash.

Yep. They have to take 2 vegetables and 1 fruit. Like the fruit better and want to take 2 fruits and 1 vegetable? No can do.

So much waste in school lunches. They require kids to take stuff, even though it will end up in the trash.

Water isn't included because it doesn't have any nutritional value. It's ridiculous, because a lot of kids won't drink milk so it gets thrown out. But that's the rationale.

Google "choose my plate" and you will see what public school cafeteria employees are required to make sure each purchased lunch includes. Kids are also required to get at least 1 vegetable and 1 fruit. They are allowed to purchase additional portions of lunch items as long as their parents are paying for it (FARM recipients do not get additional items free or reduced prices). Items such as water, cookies, pretzels etc are sold a la carte.

My child attends a FCPS ES and buys lunch about 25% of the school days. I have noticed he is also buying a bottle of water. Are the students not allowed to choose water in lieu of milk?

I perused the FCPS nutri slice (or whatever it's now called) menu information and didn't see water listed as an option. Is the thought that students can get water from a water fountain? That seems really silly to expect it true, and has me wondering why students can BUY bottles of water.

I plan to follow-up with the Office of Food and Nutrition Services but thought I'd check here first for others' thoughts.