School menu ridiculousness

mindiv

It's no wonder we're raising generations of obese children, considering what they're getting in public school. My little one will be in a school-run daycare next week, and she's eating solid foods now. One of the options is to let her get her breakfast and lunch free from the cafeteria, but after looking at the menu options, we'll spend our own money and send her real food.

Keep in mind this menu is produced by arguably the "best" cafeteria in our region, and most of the other schools around here COPY this menu for their students.

Breakfast daily options: Cinnamon roll/cheese stick, assorted Pop Tarts, Graham Snackers or blueberry or banana nut muffins. Daily hot options are a sausage roll, breakfast pizza, French toast link with syrup, pancake on a stick with syrup and a waffle with syrup and a sausage patty.

Lunch options...
Chili dog or cheesy stix (cheese bread) with marinara; chicken nuggets or PBJ; pepperoni pizza or a chalupa; corn dog or "fish strips" (WTF is that anyway); nachos or stuffed dippers with sauce; cheese pizza or meatball sub; and my PERSONAL favorite "main dish" options: mac and cheese with a roll or a corn dog.

Oh, and the lunch options are served with assorted milks, fresh fruits, veggies AND desserts.

If this is what our government says is healthy and acceptable for kids to eat, we're doomed.

Cheeky_0102

that's rediculous.

elliepearsonn

oh my goodness. That is not even real food, it's actually shocking...a lot of processed food!

lindsayk324

Holy wow. I don't have kids and it's been a looong time since I was eating in a school cafeteria, but wow. That's ridiculous.

With bringing food from home, I hope your kid is able to resist the peer pressure to be "cool" and eat what everyone else is eating! I still struggle when everyone around me is eating yummy things and then you pull out your yogurt or chicken or fruit and veg and the group goes "Hahahaha why eat that rabbit food?! Have some pizza/wings/cake like us, it won't kill you!"

Or.. I dunno, is it still not "cool" to eat healthy things? I have no idea There's a growing percentage of us that try to eat realistic portion sizes of wholesome food, so maybe it's cool to eat not-outrageously now?

mindiv

It's all processed. There's nothing freshly prepared.

One year they had PBJ Uncrustables (frozen toaster treats) as a LUNCH option.

They say it's healthy because nothing is fried. And they never list the vegetable options...so I figure French Fries fit into the "healthy" category more often than not.

themommie

So sad. They are constently trying to blame parents for the obesity problem and in some cases it is but the schools dont help. At mt daughter school they have cut back the pe anf they bring in donuts for the kids 1x a week and reward them constantly with choices of soda, candy and chips.....grrrrr

RGv2

SailorKnightWing

Schools have to feed a lot of children for pennies because they get no budget. It's more economical to bring in prepared foods and heat them than to buy everything fresh and pay the cooks more for all the extra time they need to make it.

I brought my own lunch to school every day because the cafeteria food was TERRIBLE. If nothing else, save your kid's tastebuds and send a sandwich.

mindiv

I'm at war with my husband over feeding our little girl. I don't want her to be so sheltered from "junk food" that she binges on it in secret or when she's away from us when she gets older, but I don't see how it's necessary. He, his mother and his brother constantly try to feed her sweets and desserts and potato chips. It makes me incredibly upset when I see him giving her drinks of soda. She's ONE for goodness sakes...let her teeth grow IN before you start trying to rot them out!

bcattoes

That doesn't surprise me at all. And I'll bet if you tried to get it changed, there would be plenty of parents that objected and thought it was fine.

MeganMcK11

Wow. That almost seems like a joke. Or like a school lunch from when I was young back in the early 90s.

I'd send my child with food also.

jr235

By the time I got to highschool I was packing my own lunch.

As a younger kid I'm not sure how I would have felt about having a packed lunch, peer pressure and all. By highschool I just didn't care. I don't remember getting any crap about it. We only got 15 minutes for lunch anyways. Thats barely enough time to eat the lunches.

If you have the money absolutely send your kid to lunch with a school. That menu is atrocious.

MeganMcK11

I'm at war with my husband over feeding our little girl. I don't want her to be so sheltered from "junk food" that she binges on it in secret or when she's away from us when she gets older, but I don't see how it's necessary. He, his mother and his brother constantly try to feed her sweets and desserts and potato chips. It makes me incredibly upset when I see him giving her drinks of soda. She's ONE for goodness sakes...let her teeth grow IN before you start trying to rot them out!

Yeah, 1 year seems young to be introducing soda.

Hopefully you can find a way to help your husband understand where you're coming from.

ArtemisRuns

Kids don't know how to eat healthy. When they offer apples for fresh fruit, most of the apples end up in the waste bin. True story.

cwolfman13

Not really shocking...sounds pretty close to what the cafeteria food was like when I was a kid...and that was over 35 years ago...and pretty much why my parents sent me with a sack lunch most days. I don't think cafeteria food has ever been tops in nutrition...it's cafeteria food.

mindiv

Kids don't know how to eat healthy. When they offer apples for fresh fruit, most of the apples end up in the waste bin. True story.

This is unfortunately absolutely true. I was a picky kid growing up so I took a lunch nearly every day. I figure my little girl might, too, the way things are going...

ren_ascent

It's no wonder we're raising generations of obese children, considering what they're getting in public school. My little one will be in a school-run daycare next week, and she's eating solid foods now. One of the options is to let her get her breakfast and lunch free from the cafeteria, but after looking at the menu options, we'll spend our own money and send her real food.

Keep in mind this menu is produced by arguably the "best" cafeteria in our region, and most of the other schools around here COPY this menu for their students.

Breakfast daily options: Cinnamon roll/cheese stick, assorted Pop Tarts, Graham Snackers or blueberry or banana nut muffins. Daily hot options are a sausage roll, breakfast pizza, French toast link with syrup, pancake on a stick with syrup and a waffle with syrup and a sausage patty.

Lunch options...
Chili dog or cheesy stix (cheese bread) with marinara; chicken nuggets or PBJ; pepperoni pizza or a chalupa; corn dog or "fish strips" (WTF is that anyway); nachos or stuffed dippers with sauce; cheese pizza or meatball sub; and my PERSONAL favorite "main dish" options: mac and cheese with a roll or a corn dog.

Oh, and the lunch options are served with assorted milks, fresh fruits, veggies AND desserts.

If this is what our government says is healthy and acceptable for kids to eat, we're doomed.

As far as I can tell that's not within govt regulations. My sons school caters and the caterer has to meet those government decreed standards. Lunch has to include 2 choices of veggies, 2 choices of fruits, a protein and a grain with milk, juice or water. No junk whatsoever. Wonder if you can report them.

EmilyOfTheSun

I'm at war with my husband over feeding our little girl. I don't want her to be so sheltered from "junk food" that she binges on it in secret or when she's away from us when she gets older

Let her have the school food for a couple days a week and you send her with lunch on the other days. Make her go play outside instead of tv/video games 24-7. Problem solved!

ze_hombre

There are some decent choices in the menu but you would have to teach the child how to pick out the good from the bad. Kids are notoriously picky eaters and the vast majority of parents in this country would rather feed them something savory and processed than deal with a whiny kid.

CaeliGirl11

Oh wow, and I thought my daycare was bad. I have to regularly alter my daughter's menu and send substitutes for things like corndogs and pizza sticks...and poptarts and frenchfries. I'm sorry but my about-to-be 2 year old does not need to be eating this stuff...
I was hoping it would get better when she entered state-run school but I'm thinking that I'll be packing her lunch for the rest of her 16 years of school. It really is sad that those kids who do not have parents who either have as much time as we do or who care as much as we do (because some parents do care just as much but just don't have time) cannot get a healthy meal no matter what...nothing on that list besides the side of veggies and fruit seemed actually healthy. yikes!

ren_ascent

Kids don't know how to eat healthy. When they offer apples for fresh fruit, most of the apples end up in the waste bin. True story.

This is unfortunately absolutely true. I was a picky kid growing up so I took a lunch nearly every day. I figure my little girl might, too, the way things are going...

My daughters chew toy when she was teething was an apple. Good habits start VERY young.

Maggie_Pie1

If this is what our government says is healthy and acceptable for kids to eat, we're doomed.

I wouldn't blame the government completely. Anytime Michelle Obama's program is mentioned, you get so many parents that cry about how governement is taking the choice away from parents and we're headed to a nanny state, etc. There is a lot of opposition towards schools getting rid of junk food, for some reason.

Then the other problem is, of course, as already mentioned, money. It might be cheaper and within the schools budget to feed kids the junk then the healthy options.

I think the government should provide only healthy options ,and if parents want to make the choice to give their kids junk, then they have to buy it for them and give it to them. If it costs us more in taxes, then so be it. We'll get that money back tenfold in years when our kids aren't suffering with healthy problems

coopersmom2006

Yep. My son in in elementary school and I can also verify that the foods are crap. He brings his lunch!

arl1286

I started packing my lunch about two weeks into kindergarten and kept it up until I graduated. One year in the dining hall in college and I'm back to bringing my lunch with me to campus.

MzManiak

It's no wonder we're raising generations of obese children, considering what they're getting in public school.

Yes, it's the school's fault. :huh:
Never mind that the parents don't teach kids healthy choices, healthy eating habits, or how to listen to their body's natural hunger & full cues. Never mind that the parents allow their kids to sit and play xbox for 5 hours a day... Nope... we are all obese because we eat one crappy meal per day.

SaberEsPoder

Schools have to feed a lot of children for pennies because they get no budget. It's more economical to bring in prepared foods and heat them than to buy everything fresh and pay the cooks more for all the extra time they need to make it.

I brought my own lunch to school every day because the cafeteria food was TERRIBLE. If nothing else, save your kid's tastebuds and send a sandwich.

As a teacher, I can tell you that this is pretty standard across the board. This poster makes a GREAT point about schools not getting high budgets, and their last consideration would be food. Careful with school lunches...even if they SAY they have fruits and vegetables available, I've gone up there and often it is either over- or severely under-ripe to the point of being inedible. The "fresh" vegetables are canned and taste horrible, but salt has been banned from our caf so you can't even make it somewhat palatable. Even the salads are prepackaged wilted iceberg lettuce with huge ranch packets. School nutrition got rewritten about 5 or 10 years ago so now KETCHUP and pizza sauce counts as a fruit/vegetable serving. It's nuts.

Maybe you could do what my dad did for us...he made us pack our own lunches, but we got to have hot lunch once per week. We would look at the schedule and pick which day we wanted, and he would only give us only enough money for lunch with a milk. I thought he was being stingy with money, but am just now realizing he was probably trying to steer us away from the crappy food options. It is nearly impossible to eat healthily in school cafeterias unfortunately. I think your decision to bring food is better in the long run. Best of luck

ngressman

Apparently they aren't following the new program. Our school just announced that greek yogurt (4 ounces ) will be an entree, served with 1/2 cup fruit and milk. How is that going to fill a kid up? Can't there be an in between. Don't want my kids eating junk, but they still need calories and something of substance.

deannakittygirl

Unfortunately the reason for this is mostly budget. the majority of todays children also eat meals similar to this at home so even if the schools gave them healthy options it would go to waste! Its sad. They still should have fresh fruit yogurts and salad options made available.

FerretBuellerr

I'm at war with my husband over feeding our little girl. I don't want her to be so sheltered from "junk food" that she binges on it in secret or when she's away from us when she gets older, but I don't see how it's necessary. He, his mother and his brother constantly try to feed her sweets and desserts and potato chips. It makes me incredibly upset when I see him giving her drinks of soda. She's ONE for goodness sakes...let her teeth grow IN before you start trying to rot them out!

I feel the same for my future children - do I not let them ever have sweets and risk them binging too much on them later in life like I have? My boyfriend/future father to my children has a HUGE sweet tooth (he makes is own caramel every few weeks and slathers it all over toast :laugh: ) so I fear we will get into the same argument, but he's very supportive of my weight loss and is in good shape himself (ex-military man).

That being said, one is BY FAR WAYYYYYYY TOO YOUNG to be having stuff like that constantly! Don't quote me on it, but I think it's actually detrimental to her health to have foods like that introduced and made a frequent part of their diet that young :frown: Perhaps a serious talk with your husband about it is in order - childhood obesity is far too common, and what he and his family are doing may turn into a problem a few years from now.

I hope all goes well in your situation and the war ends soon!

LemonLizard

Sounds really similar to what the cafeterias I grew up with served. We often had mini pancakes, cheese sticks/mozzarella, everyday there was pizza, churros, and that was just in elementary school. We could always get chips and junk food, and gummi's and such.

In middle school we had an ice cream bar, where we could pick from maybe 10 different ice cream treats. Also had that in high school, but at least in high school we had sandwiches and soups that we could choose from. College cafeteria last year had some good things, but the delicious tasting bad things always win over for those like me without the willpower.

Kids are often picky eaters though, so I would imagine many schools will serve them what they know that they'll eat, despite it not being the healthiest option. Simplest thing would be to pack their lunch, or have them learn to pack their lunch though that also entails a trust system, knowing that they may or may not pick healthy things to pack their lunch with.

Even if they do pack it healthy, or had healthy options in the cafeteria, there's no guarantee they'll eat what they're served. I remember throwing out apples and different fruits as a kid, couldn't stand the taste.

nomeejerome