The National School Lunch Policy

[giblets]

Again, why such a large fraction of american parents fail to teach their children healthy eating habbits and to have enough exercice is beyond me.

I don't know, but throwing away fruits and vegetables that some brats refused to eat is a CATASTROPHE.

Does this law make it illegal for students to pack lunches? Is it really impossible for athletes with special needs to get the extra calories?

If the ****heads refuse to eat their veggies then they deserve to go hungry. I hate teens.

[DinoDoc]

Either way, when my kid goes to school he's bringing his lunch, no question, every day. It will be nutritious and good tasting, and he'll want to eat it.* He's already off to a good start - at 1 he eats whatever we eat, every day for every meal, including all sorts of ethnic food. Gorged himself on some yummy chicken curry (the real Indian kind, not the **** british people eat) last Saturday

*Subject to terms and conditions, and the vagaries of kids' moods.

Not if you live in Chicago or in any other district that follows their lead:

Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home
To encourage healthful eating, Chicago school doesn't allow kids to bring lunches or certain snacks from home — and some parents, and many students, aren't fans of the policy

Fernando Dominguez cut the figure of a young revolutionary leader during a recent lunch period at his elementary school.

"Who thinks the lunch is not good enough?" the seventh-grader shouted to his lunch mates in Spanish and English.
Dozens of hands flew in the air and fellow students shouted along: "We should bring our own lunch! We should bring our own lunch! We should bring our own lunch!"

Fernando waved his hand over the crowd and asked a visiting reporter: "Do you see the situation?"

At his public school, Little Village Academy on Chicago's West Side, students are not allowed to pack lunches from home. Unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria.

Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.

"Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school," Carmona said. "It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke. But with allergies and any medical issue, of course, we would make an exception."

Carmona said she created the policy six years ago after watching students bring "bottles of soda and flaming hot chips" on field trips for their lunch. Although she would not name any other schools that employ such practices, she said it was fairly common.

A Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman said she could not say how many schools prohibit packed lunches and that decision is left to the judgment of the principals.

"While there is no formal policy, principals use common sense judgment based on their individual school environments," Monique Bond wrote in an email. "In this case, this principal is encouraging the healthier choices and attempting to make an impact that extends beyond the classroom."

Any school that bans homemade lunches also puts more money in the pockets of the district's food provider, Chartwells-Thompson. The federal government pays the district for each free or reduced-price lunch taken, and the caterer receives a set fee from the district per lunch.

At Little Village, most students must take the meals served in the cafeteria or go hungry or both. During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten. Though CPS has improved the nutritional quality of its meals this year, it also has seen a drop-off in meal participation among students, many of whom say the food tastes bad.

"Some of the kids don't like the food they give at our school for lunch or breakfast," said Little Village parent Erica Martinez. "So it would be a good idea if they could bring their lunch so they could at least eat something."

"(My grandson) is really picky about what he eats," said Anna Torrez, who was picking up the boy from school. "I think they should be able to bring their lunch. Other schools let them. But at this school, they don't."

But parent Miguel Medina said he thinks the "no home lunch policy" is a good one. "The school food is very healthy," he said, "and when they bring the food from home, there is no control over the food."

At Claremont Academy Elementary School on the South Side, officials allow packed lunches but confiscate any snacks loaded with sugar or salt. (They often are returned after school.) Principal Rebecca Stinson said that though students may not like it, she has yet to hear a parent complain.

"The kids may have money or earn money and (buy junk food) without their parents' knowledge," Stinson said, adding that most parents expect that the school will look out for their children.

Such discussions over school lunches and healthy eating echo a larger national debate about the role government should play in individual food choices.

"This is such a fundamental infringement on parental responsibility," said J. Justin Wilson, a senior researcher at the Washington-based Center for Consumer Freedom, which is partially funded by the food industry.

[Wezil]

The level that is trying to take over our lives.

I fell your pain *snicker* but it is problematic to tell the people paying for it that they can't dictate what's being served (stupid as the rules sound).

[pchang]

My kid's school has outsourced its lunch program to 3rd parties. At first it was Revolution Foods. Now it is Choicelunch. Both are supposed to be healthy and after looking through the menus, they are for the most part. However, both are fairly expensive. While they do use fresh fruits and vegetables, we primarily shop at farmer's markets at home and my son complains that their fruits and vegetables are not that high quality (fruits are unripe and vegetables are a bit on the old side). He eats them, but he is often hungry again when he comes home. This is mostly because he doesn't order the larger lunches because he doesn't think they taste that good. On the other hand, my son is spoiled when it comes to eating. The foie gras ban in CA has actually affected him. I may have to take him on a trip out of state to get some in the near future.

[snoopy369]

Not if you live in Chicago or in any other district that follows their lead:

Erm, that is "Chicago School", not "Chicago Schools". Nice troll, though.

[snoopy369]

If the voters of those school districts think it is a problem, they can vote to change it. I'd rather keep these sorts of decisions as close to the parents as possible, and that means leaving it in the hands of local and state government, in addition to the 10th amendment reasons to keep it out of the hands of the feds.

Yeah, sorry HC but the feds are providing these lunches in the first place. I think it's entirely reasonable for them to have guidelines requiring such food to be provided in a nutritious and palatable fashion. These rules are idiotic, of course, but a more flexible instruction (perhaps requiring districts have their menus approved by some functionary that is paid $150k a year to read lunch menus? Nutritionists need jobs in this economy too) would be acceptable in my book.

Of course they could just defund school lunches entirely, and let the local districts fund their own meals, but I doubt that's going to happen.

[snoopy369]

My kid's school has outsourced its lunch program to 3rd parties. At first it was Revolution Foods. Now it is Choicelunch. Both are supposed to be healthy and after looking through the menus, they are for the most part. However, both are fairly expensive. While they do use fresh fruits and vegetables, we primarily shop at farmer's markets at home and my son complains that their fruits and vegetables are not that high quality (fruits are unripe and vegetables are a bit on the old side). He eats them, but he is often hungry again when he comes home. This is mostly because he doesn't order the larger lunches because he doesn't think they taste that good. On the other hand, my son is spoiled when it comes to eating. The foie gras ban in CA has actually affected him. I may have to take him on a trip out of state to get some in the near future.

I don't need Whole Foods to cater the school lunch. I just want somebody to make fresh food every day. It doesn't have to be much more expensive than what they're doing now, especially when you do consider waste. Stir fry, for example, can have all sorts of yummy vegetables in it, tastes good, and doesn't have to be unhealthy at all - and is easy to do in large quantities. And I don't mind if they have pizza once a month or whatever - that's totally cool with me. Just make it at the school. Heck, bring Jaime Oliver to Chicago and give him a month...see if he can do better than he did in VA.

[pchang]

Jaime Oliver failed in VA because the school lunch personnel did not have the training and expertise to produce lunch locally in a timely manner from unprocessed ingredients. It was too labor intensive for them and was unsustainable for them. I suspect the same thing will happen in Chicago too.

[regexcellent]

Why not just let kids eat what they want? It's not my problem if someone else gets fat; that's his life choice and it's up to him.

[DinoDoc]

Erm, that is "Chicago School", not "Chicago Schools". Nice troll, though.

It is a CPS policy that allows it, snoops.

[snoopy369]

pchang - This is true, but Chicago has a much larger and more organized school system. They should be able to implement something like what he wants, assuming they have the will and the Union doesn't block it.

reg - the point is the food that _is being provided_ is not acceptable. Public school food, particularly in the inner cities, is basically like eating at McDonalds every day for lunch. You get 'vegetables' but they're canned ick that nobody wants to eat, and most everything is processed until every last nutrient is converted into fat.

And, unfortunately, it is in a large part your problem if a lot of other people get fat. It costs the country billions in health care costs, lowers productivity, and costs us billions more when you consider that experienced workers are dying early. Add on top of that that these are _children_ who aren't necessarily able to make decisions like 'what should I eat' effectively. I have a couple of young relatives who are really super smart, super active (and thus not overweight), but make _horrid_ eating choices when they're allowed to - because they're kids and 'sugar, fat, salt' is what they want.

[kentonio]

Jaime Oliver failed in VA because the school lunch personnel did not have the training and expertise to produce lunch locally in a timely manner from unprocessed ingredients. It was too labor intensive for them and was unsustainable for them. I suspect the same thing will happen in Chicago too.

Did he fail?

Why not just let kids eat what they want? It's not my problem if someone else gets fat; that's his life choice and it's up to him.

For the same reason we don't give children handguns and then shrug when they shoot each other.

[snoopy369]

It is a CPS policy that allows it, snoops.

While there is no formal policy

Umm, try again?

[DinoDoc]

Umm, try again?

Quote the rest of the sentence.

[pchang]

[QUOTE=kentonio;6155332]Did he fail?

Failed in that immediately after he left, the program was rolled back due to lack of training and funds. Succeeded in that he shamed them into trying to make improvements in the long run.