The other thing people have to understand is it can often be cheaper to just feed everyone than it is to keep track of eligibility and administer the programs, seek out payment for unpaid balances, and give placeholder lunches to kids. The reality is a lot of food also gets thrown away at the end of the day as well. Those things come with costs as well.

Making it blanket free cuts down on administrative costs. And isn't UT better to spend money on feeding kids rather than setting up an apparatus NOT to feed kids?

Anonymous wrote:I can't keep track of the issue here. Is it that we're spending money to feed all kids, even the ones who can afford to pay for lunch?

Or that the food quality isn't great?

Or that kids in Bethesda pack their lunches?

Or that junk food is ok, when eaten by middle-class kids, as long as it tastes good?

Anonymous wrote:Is this nationwide? I thought it was announced in the spring. But then I got an email from school district re lunch costs.

Yes, nationwide:
https://edsource.org/2021/usda-extends-free-meals-through-next-school-year/653335

Is this nationwide? I thought it was announced in the spring. But then I got an email from school district re lunch costs.

I can't keep track of the issue here. Is it that we're spending money to feed all kids, even the ones who can afford to pay for lunch?

Or that the food quality isn't great?

Or that kids in Bethesda pack their lunches?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Food has gotten incredibly expensive. I do not know how people on a budget are making it work. It is especially shameful because the supply chain issues are mostly resolved; food companies and grocery stores are now testing how high thry can set prices and still have customers.

I think it is great that the schools are feeding kids no questions asked, with prices so high I am sure some people are doing without and would be going hungry otherwise.

You buy cheaper foods, you shop at Aldi's, Lidl, Walmart, for example. Lots of ways.

Cool advice bro

If you are familiar with school food, you should know it's a few steps down from those places. I think the crates the supplies come in don't Grade A but fit for human cosumption.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just read this. Is it true? Every kid at every school? Seems expensive.

It’s true. You are not allowed to question is on this board. Just pay your taxes to feed the kids from Bethesda living in their $2 million homes, while you slave away at your middle class job and rent an apartment in Aspen Hill.

Except here you are, questioning it! Seems like you've mistaken people disagreeing with you for being silenced.

+1

Personally, I think it's great. Not all kids will eat the free meals, but offering it to everyone removes the stigma. Hungry kids don't learn well, and not all hungry kids are poor. I can't bring myself to get remotely worked up about feeding kids, whether or not they "deserve" or "need" it.

+1 I would consider this an excellent expenditure no matter how you frame it. Kids getting fed and cafeteria workers having jobs, yes please. My kids get the lunches (and sometimes breakfast) and they always find something they like. And there is always a vegetable and a fruit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, plenty of “Bethesda moms” are not using the free lunches. Parents in Montgomery County who are able to buy healthy, nutritious meals are not sending their kids to free food sites to get low quality breakfasts and lunches. It’s great the food is available to people without other options, but no one with other options is using it for convenience. Whole Foods delivers for free.

Sure, that's why 95% of my kids' knowledge of junk food comes from the packed lunches of their middle-class classmates.

Yeah, a big eyeroll at the idea that MC/UMC parents don't feed their kids junk food, too. My kid comes home and tells me about kinds of snacks and chips I've never heard of.

But those things taste good to kids. The school-made lunches do not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If they weren’t buying the school lunch before, they probably didn’t start now because it dropped from $2.35 to free. It’s crappy food. I taught in a W feeder for 6 years. Almost 80% of the students brought a lunch from home. The majority of those who bought any food from the cafeteria did so a la carte so they might add milk or fries to the food packed from home. They weren’t eating cheese dippers or the spicy chicken patty. The FARMs kids ate those so it was very easy to tell who was poor if they ate school lunch every day.

How did you know who was a "FARMs kid"?

We all can access that data now because looking at subgroups is required by our SIPs and SLOs.

I had to pull it up, but here is one example of wording from last year’s SIP:

“Hispanic males who receive FARMS will increase proficiency in reading”

Unfortunately, every teacher except for math is now considered a reading teacher. To make sure that the teachers can track the progress of this targeted subgroup and offer extra support, we all have to log into a program and pull up our rosters. Then you check some criteria and the program generates a list of all the students who meet those. It is interesting to do. Once I forgot to check Hispanic and learned that one of my white male students received FARMS. However, the family seemed affluent based on the home address and the boy’s clothing. Turned out they were living with grandparents. Both parents had mental health and substance abuse issues so they didn’t work and got disability. With that his parents’ income was so low that he qualified. He didn’t eat the school meals though. I think the family filled out the application because that status also waived fees for a lot of things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, plenty of “Bethesda moms” are not using the free lunches. Parents in Montgomery County who are able to buy healthy, nutritious meals are not sending their kids to free food sites to get low quality breakfasts and lunches. It’s great the food is available to people without other options, but no one with other options is using it for convenience. Whole Foods delivers for free.

Sure, that's why 95% of my kids' knowledge of junk food comes from the packed lunches of their middle-class classmates.

Yeah, a big eyeroll at the idea that MC/UMC parents don't feed their kids junk food, too. My kid comes home and tells me about kinds of snacks and chips I've never heard of.

Anonymous wrote:I just read this. Is it true? Every kid at every school? Seems expensive.

Compared to what?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just read this. Is it true? Every kid at every school? Seems expensive.

It’s true. You are not allowed to question is on this board. Just pay your taxes to feed the kids from Bethesda living in their $2 million homes, while you slave away at your middle class job and rent an apartment in Aspen Hill.

Except here you are, questioning it! Seems like you've mistaken people disagreeing with you for being silenced.

+1

Personally, I think it's great. Not all kids will eat the free meals, but offering it to everyone removes the stigma. Hungry kids don't learn well, and not all hungry kids are poor. I can't bring myself to get remotely worked up about feeding kids, whether or not they "deserve" or "need" it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If they weren’t buying the school lunch before, they probably didn’t start now because it dropped from $2.35 to free. It’s crappy food. I taught in a W feeder for 6 years. Almost 80% of the students brought a lunch from home. The majority of those who bought any food from the cafeteria did so a la carte so they might add milk or fries to the food packed from home. They weren’t eating cheese dippers or the spicy chicken patty. The FARMs kids ate those so it was very easy to tell who was poor if they ate school lunch every day.

How did you know who was a "FARMs kid"?

We all can access that data now because looking at subgroups is required by our SIPs and SLOs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just read this. Is it true? Every kid at every school? Seems expensive.

It’s true. You are not allowed to question is on this board. Just pay your taxes to feed the kids from Bethesda living in their $2 million homes, while you slave away at your middle class job and rent an apartment in Aspen Hill.

Sorry to disappoint, but the kids in Bethesda living in $2 million homes don’t want the free lunch. They bring their own.

Which Bethesda school do you work in the lunchroom of? Because otherwise there's no way for you to know that.

I’m a different poster and I agree. I had lunch room as my teacher duty for years. I’ve watched Bethesda students bring gorgeous lunches from home and throw away $6 in untouched organic produce because they were full. (I am not ashamed of how many times I have retrieved unbitten apples or full baggies of berries from the trash can to eat myself later.) They do not touch the school meal entrees which are both unhealthy and taste bad.

Anonymous wrote:

No, plenty of “Bethesda moms” are not using the free lunches. Parents in Montgomery County who are able to buy healthy, nutritious meals are not sending their kids to free food sites to get low quality breakfasts and lunches. It’s great the food is available to people without other options, but no one with other options is using it for convenience. Whole Foods delivers for free.

Sure, that's why 95% of my kids' knowledge of junk food comes from the packed lunches of their middle-class classmates.