The National School Lunch Policy

[C0ckney]

although maybe they should be. school lunches are a national secuurity issue. if all kids become too fat, none of them will be able to join the army and the terrorists will win or something.

[Zevico]

although maybe they should be. school lunches are a national secuurity issue. if all kids become too fat, none of them will be able to join the army and the terrorists will win or something.

You laugh, but this is an actual justification for this nonsense. Oerdin quoted the Act last we discussed this and that was one of the justifications. School lunch is supposedly a national security issue meriting a federal response.

[Guynemer]

IANAP, but I disagree. Feeding kids 'healthy' food they don't like is much of the problem. Healthy food doesn't have to taste bad. Feeding kids food they like AND is healthy
should be the single goal of the school lunch program. There's no need to disregard their tastes - otherwise you're heading into OzzyKP's anger zone, and IMO for a reasonable reason.

Had to look up IANAP.

Yes, it would be lovely if they were served good tasting, healthy food. That would require more money, and more training of kitchen staff; moreover, it would require the children to actually, you know, try the damned food, which they (generally) won't. Being children, they are going to whine about it.

Adults, being adults, are going to whine even more.

[Jon Miller]

Considering the strong evidence that intellectual and physical capabilities (and health/life expectancy) throughout life are heavily impacted by proper nutrition in the first ~18 years of life, it is obvious to me that it is in the national (security) interest for school kids to eat decently.

Just like it is in the national interest for everyone to be able to read/do simple math/etc. (obvious)

Even African/etc nations know this.

JM

[dannubis]

Had to look up IANAP.

Yes, it would be lovely if they were served good tasting, healthy food. That would require more money, and more training of kitchen staff; moreover, it would require the children to actually, you know, try the damned food, which they (generally) won't. Being children, they are going to whine about it.

Adults, being adults, are going to whine even more.

So wine and bread for us all !!!!

[Wezil]

If parents could be trusted to make decisions that were always best for their children the world would be a very different place. Unfortunately a huge number of parents are stupid, lazy and generally **** at parenting. Why exactly should their children have their lives totally ruined because their mum and dad are pathetic parents?

I suspect this is the reason a national lunch program was deemed necessary in the first place.

[kentonio]

Yep.

[giblets]

Federally elected officials are congressmen, senators, the president. They have better things to do, is my point.

You know that Congress passes hundreds of bills, right? And they have different congressional committees to handle different things? They haven't ignored national security.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I can recognize my own kind, Imran.

[snoopy369]

Sorry, but kids brought up on any sort of food will enjoy properly prepared food. They won't enjoy canned green beans, because -nobody- does. They'll enjoy roasted vegetables. They'll enjoy stirfry. Honestly part of the problem is undoubtedly people _avoiding_ salt. Salt is a perfectly useful ingredient that should be used, in moderation. Normal amounts of salt added to freshly prepared food are entirely reasonable.

And it doesn't have to be substantially more expensive - that's what Jaime's program was intended to show. Maybe somewhat more, but not substantially.

On another note, maybe somebody can tell Michelle that she doesn't need to do this anymore?

http://io9.com/5938949/two-competing-theories-as-to-why-americans-have-stopped-gaining-weight

[Imran Siddiqui]

As Guy pointed out, no governement project ever works perfectly as planned. It's just the nature of governance. You already have people going ape **** about all the stuff the federal government is currently doing (with money it is giving out, mind). I think that mandating that lunch staff can prepare food properly isn't going to work for them .

[Guynemer]

Sorry, but kids brought up on any sort of food will enjoy properly prepared food.

I'm not disagreeing with you. The problem is getting them to TRY IT. Many of these kids simply refuse to eat vegetables. Flat out, refuse. You can boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew, doesn't matter.

[Lorizael]

I'm not disagreeing with you. The problem is getting them to TRY IT. Many of these kids simply refuse to eat vegetables. Flat out, refuse. You can boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew, doesn't matter.

All they want is tasty rabbitses.

[kentonio]

I think that mandating that lunch staff can prepare food properly isn't going to work for them .

The school district where Jamie Oliver did his show now produce food properly using real ingredients. Maybe the lesson is that schools CAN do these things if someone bothers to expect it of them and support them?

[Krill]

The federal government, entrusted with the future of hundreds of millions of people, is now concerning itself with the contents of a child's lunch box.

This has to be a troll.

Please tell me it's a troll.