Anonymous wrote:A good example perhaps is how they used to (pre-Covid) offer “orange chicken” which my child informed me is jist the same chicken tenders as “chicken tender” day but served with rice and there is an orange sauce. Not knowing NutriSlice had pictures, I ne er looked to confirm if this was true - but it is something I haven’t seen offered so far this year.

The orange chicken was pretty much the same thing as the frozen orange chicken you get in the freezer section of Trader Joe’s. The minestrone is Campbells condensed soup. I agree that these were some of the better things served in the school lunches and I’m not sure why they stopped.

My kids loved the orange chicken and the minestrone. So bummed they are not offered anymore.

Anonymous wrote:A good example perhaps is how they used to (pre-Covid) offer “orange chicken” which my child informed me is jist the same chicken tenders as “chicken tender” day but served with rice and there is an orange sauce. Not knowing NutriSlice had pictures, I ne er looked to confirm if this was true - but it is something I haven’t seen offered so far this year.

DD wouldn't eat chicken tenders in school, but loves their orange chicken, served with brown rice. She tells me that although both are fried chicken, they don't taste the same. No idea if that's true. Anyway, it's not served anymore, so we pack lunch every day of the week, instead of having one day off a month.

Anonymous wrote:Can they really not come up with meals that are better than what they are serving? I wouldn’t be surprised if prison food is on the same level as school lunches.

Exactly the same but smaller portions, and students are doing time.

A good example perhaps is how they used to (pre-Covid) offer “orange chicken” which my child informed me is jist the same chicken tenders as “chicken tender” day but served with rice and there is an orange sauce. Not knowing NutriSlice had pictures, I ne er looked to confirm if this was true - but it is something I haven’t seen offered so far this year.

Anonymous wrote:I mean, I think you start to stray a bit into a different area when you get into what I think can be summed up as…when you always give kids a “kids menu” of chicken nuggets, pizza, etc (whatever usual suspects so to speak) you are training kids that those are the foods they should eat and like. It’s not like kids are all just born that way. Again though that is a much bigger picture (but maybe one that needs to be considered) than what schools offer.

It’s not a switch that can be flipped but I’d love to imagine lids instead being trained to eat real (less processed) food and schools being a part of that pictures.

Even little things - it’s always chicken nuggets ir tenders or patties. Never just plain, real chicken.

In past years, there were other options. FYI

One of my kids learned to like minestrone soup, which used to be in the school lunches. It seems to be gone now. As are some of the other better options.

Anonymous wrote:I mean, I think you start to stray a bit into a different area when you get into what I think can be summed up as…when you always give kids a “kids menu” of chicken nuggets, pizza, etc (whatever usual suspects so to speak) you are training kids that those are the foods they should eat and like. It’s not like kids are all just born that way. Again though that is a much bigger picture (but maybe one that needs to be considered) than what schools offer.

It’s not a switch that can be flipped but I’d love to imagine lids instead being trained to eat real (less processed) food and schools being a part of that pictures.

Even little things - it’s always chicken nuggets ir tenders or patties. Never just plain, real chicken.

NP. It does seem like this year's (and last year) school lunches are a bit different, a bit worse, than before. So I wonder if all these complaints are specifically talking about this year's school lunches or just "general school lunches".

In general, the FCPS school lunches are not sugary or salty or bad. Over-processed, yes, mostly, but reasonable kid fare. But there used to be more interesting options and mostly that's gone this year.

Anonymous wrote:I mean, I think you start to stray a bit into a different area when you get into what I think can be summed up as…when you always give kids a “kids menu” of chicken nuggets, pizza, etc (whatever usual suspects so to speak) you are training kids that those are the foods they should eat and like. It’s not like kids are all just born that way. Again though that is a much bigger picture (but maybe one that needs to be considered) than what schools offer.

It’s not a switch that can be flipped but I’d love to imagine lids instead being trained to eat real (less processed) food and schools being a part of that pictures.

Even little things - it’s always chicken nuggets ir tenders or patties. Never just plain, real chicken.

This.

I mean, I think you start to stray a bit into a different area when you get into what I think can be summed up as…when you always give kids a “kids menu” of chicken nuggets, pizza, etc (whatever usual suspects so to speak) you are training kids that those are the foods they should eat and like. It’s not like kids are all just born that way. Again though that is a much bigger picture (but maybe one that needs to be considered) than what schools offer.

It’s not a switch that can be flipped but I’d love to imagine lids instead being trained to eat real (less processed) food and schools being a part of that pictures.

Even little things - it’s always chicken nuggets ir tenders or patties. Never just plain, real chicken.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School lunch in the past wasn’t great, but somehow they’ve managed to make it even worse. This is pathetic!
Our school tells us not to send in fast food because they want the kids to eat healthy, but what they are serving isn’t any better. My kids would sometimes buy school lunch, but now don’t want to. It makes me sad to think that for many kids this is their only option of having a warm meal every day.

Speak for yourself. My kids love buying the lunches this year! They also love breakfast! I have to limit them to twice a week for health reasons, but they get so excited when it’s time to buy.

You can limit them for health reasons, but many families rely on this food. Do my kids love fatty, salty and/or sugary foods? Yes, they do. Are those meals that promote well being? No. They have no place in schools.

So what’s weird about the school lunches is they are largely NOT fatty, salty, and sugary. They are made to look like those foods, but are largely disgusting , tasteless, imitations. The macros are not horrible but kids would be better off eating fresh, whole, foods instead of processed garbage.

Experiments with this, however, have shown that many kids won’t eat it if it doesn’t look like processed food. It’s a shame. My kid will eat off the salad bar and prefers meat that looks like it came off of an animal, but that’s because it’s how we eat at home. The school lunch situation could be improved to be sure, but the nutrition is adequate to serve the needs of kids that aren’t getting adequate nutrition outside of school.

I’d be fine with rice, beans and cheese, with some raw vegetables and fruit every day. Most kids wouldn’t be. I’m not really sure what people expect school food to look like.

DP.