No wonder our kids grow up to make bad food choices...

sloneczka · January 2012

That's NOT an excuse for the schools to provide students with crappy, nutritionally empty lunches. Many kids' parents are unable to afford to provide their children with wholesome lunches to take to school. Educate yourself, do not assume everyone is in the lucky position to provide meals for their children everyday. This is living in a bubble and ignoring the circumstance of many Americans less fortunate than us. I am an advocate for school-lunch reform, healthy does not need to be expensive. Please do the research and learn not everyone is privileged enough to make good choices.

sjtreely · January 2012

I've taught in public schools for 26 years. There have been many changes in education over those years - especially in the cafeteria.

Of course you could go in a get pictures that look like the ones posted. However, if you haven't been in a school in the last 5 years, I'd encourage you to do so. This much I know is true ....

My school corporation EVERY day offers salad. EVERY day fresh fruit is offered. EVERY day there are two entrees so children have choices. EVERY day there is low fat milk offered.

Schools are making huge strides in their efforts to provide healthier lunches for students.

When you see chips from a bag or a other packaged/processed food on the tray, most likely it was an "extra" purchase not included in the government approved school lunch. This is one way schools help off-set a deficit in funding.

However, with all that being said ... you still can't make kids eat food they don't want. If they haven't been exposed to healthy food on a regular basis, it's difficult at best to have them start choosing better choices when in school.

cakeums · January 2012

I wanted to add, my daughter's school lunches (though I have not seen them in person) sometimes sound good on paper. Grilled chicken breast, brown rice, mixed vegetables, apple, fruit cup, what have you. Then they have days like brunch day (French toast sticks, syrup, fresh fruit), stuffed crust pizza day, popcorn chicken day. They do always include whole-grain breads, brown rice, etc. so at least they're not using white flour...I do make her lunch the majority of the time though.

ninerbuff · January 2012

It's ironic the bashers on school lunches are blaming the schools. Practically all school lunch programs are tied to federal government programs. Most bashers don't want government interference, but when it comes to school lunches it's different. The programs dole out what the schools should serve. And this is at a reduced cost for many students. Most schools don't get to pick the foods that are distributed. Give the schools a break. If they are on the program, the lunches are meeting the guidelines set up by the FDA.

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mammafrog · January 2012

Yes it is the parents responsibility BUT also the schools. Government money should NOT go to feeding kids junk. My daughter only goes 1/2 day (pre-k) so I am familiar with breakfast. Her school offers things like yogurt, breakfast muffin (english muffin., ham, egg) fruits, and such and always a option for cereal. Next year we change schools and I looked their menu. One day was strawberry poptart, blueberry poptart, or coco puffs. WTF!?! Some kids only eat at school so it should provide nutritional value. Take vending machines out and only offer mainly healthy foods and they will eat it.

Elizabeth_C34 · January 2012

In our school, we had good food, but kids would bring in junk from the fast food joints around the school.

Unfortunately, this really starts at home with the parents and what they feed kids in the house.

FearAnLoathing · January 2012

I know my kids school gets money from the lunces because I worked in the lunch room,and its the parents responsiblity above ANYONE ELSES to teach their young children about how to eat right. And if the only meal these kids are getting all day is from school what happens in the summer they starve?also i would like to know how kids become obese if they are only eating once a day?

Jeff92se · January 2012

Fresh and nutrittional lunches cost more money. More cost = more taxes.

Everyone willing to have their taxes raised to support this?

cakeums · January 2012

School lunches are hardly a money-making enterprise. It's not like they're making profits and pocketing it out of corporate greed. Come on. Sure, it is a parent's responsibility to teach their kids to eat properly, but the lack of education about nutrition in our country is so ingrained that many people in low socio-economic groups honestly do not know a thing about good nutrition. So why do the kids have to suffer for that? Will they all eat healthy in school if the option is given? Of course not. But at least give them a chance.

As for what these kids eat in the summer, I couldn't tell you. My guess is that they don't eat much. To a parent in the cycle of poverty (meaning they are in poverty, have come from poverty, and their children are at high risk of living in poverty as adults as well), a school lunch in a district without the funds to provide healthier option is just as good as sending their kid to school with a PB&J...for all I know those kids are just eating a sandwich a day during the summer months. However, the fact is that some kids only get to eat at school. If you don't believe that, I don't really know which direction to point you in with documented research. I'm sure someone here could help you with that though.

sjtreely · January 2012

@ FearAnLoathin ... unfortunately, many children do go hungry over the weekends and during the summer months.

There are some programs to help get food to children when they're not in school. The Backpack Program provides children with a backpack of food for the weekend. It's filled on Friday and they take it home. It's returned the following school day to be refilled the next weekend.

During the summer, there are site-based programs in which children (those 18 and under) can go to and get breakfast and/or lunch. The only restriction is they must eat the food on the site provided. These programs are grant funded and found in low-income areas. Not all, but some areas. Children need not be on F/R lunch status to qualify ... all they have to do is walk, ride a bike, or somehow get to the site. No questions asked. This service is provided via the public schools (although I don't doubt there are other groups who make this available in their communities). Because it's a grant and supported by the federal government, it has rules and regulations it must follow as well as nutritional guidelines.

kensky · January 2012

Slow Food movement people came into my son's (public) school and put in some raised beds with the kids helping. They are now growing, cooking and eating wholesome food. It can be done.

cakeums · January 2012

As far as obesity goes, I have lived off things like pasta, ramen noodles, and PB&J and gotten fat. Ramen is cheap (you can get 3 packs of Top Ramen for $1) and loaded in calories, fat, sodium, etc.

camy_chick · January 2012

wow, USAs food looks GROSS after seeing all the other foods served around the world. theirs all look fresh, and not fried, greasy.........the schools need to learn it's cheaper to actually MAKE the food instead of buying processed!

bahacca · January 2012

ITA with those stating that some kids only get school lunch. For the person who asked if the kids starve in the summer, some of them do go hungry and others qualify for state funded day care where, again, free lunch is provided.
Did anyone here watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution a few years ago? He went into a school district and changed the offerings to fresh ingredients WITHOUT increasing the budget!
I make my daughter's lunches because I don't like the offerings. She has BEGGED me to get school lunch like her friends, so I told her 1x a month she can get it. Tomorrow is her first day-a turkey corn dog, cinnamon apple sauce, orange juice and milk. I treat it as a TREAT for her to get this lunch. Today I packed her a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, a Cutie(clementine), cheddar cheese, cherimoya(a fruit-which she said all of her friends told her it was "gross food", but she told them "No it's not. It's fruit and it tastes GOOD!")and WATER to drink. And it cost me a heck of a lot less than $2.50 to make that than what her lunch will cost me tomorrow.
The truth is that until parents and kids fight a battle and tell the districts that the food is unacceptable and that changes need to be made and here is what we suggest you do inside your guidelines and budget, they will not change. Kids will eat pizza, tater tots and corn dogs so long as they are offered. I feel badly for those who are at the mercy of the school lunch program. I'm sure a lot of them feel like "we are getting it for free, so how can we complain?" I know I'd feel like that if I were in their position.

FearAnLoathing · January 2012

I didnt say i didnt believe it,but when does it become the parents reponsibilty to learn nutrition for there kids.The library is always free. And I dont see how school lunches can lead to obesity if these are the only food some kids eat all day. My son in his 16 years has been in 11 diffrent schools every single one had healthy items on the lunch menu and the free lunches. If parents are ignorant about nutrition which i find hard to belive now days because nutritional knowledge is everywhere then its up to them as adults to educate themselves.

ugh way more typos than normal for me ,I hate phone posting

zeeeb · January 2012

i don't know about the legitimacy of those pics.

i've seen what UK schools eat according to Jamie Oliver, and it's not that I'm pretty sure.

I'm glad things have changed in australian schools. I make my kids' lunches mostly, and they only buy lunch every now and then, but there are still healthy options for them to choose from.

cakeums · January 2012

So...you expect a 5 year old, 8 year old, even a 10 or 12 year old to learn all about nutrition, when many adults can't even figure it out? I think my brain just exploded.

ETA: Plus you just said a couple of posts back that it's nobody but the parents' responsibility to teach their young children! Wow.

coyoteo · January 2012

The schools here have to abide by pretty strict nutritional guidelines that include fruits and vegetable and I haven't seen anything like most of those meals at our local schools. Perhaps the rules for school cafeterias vary by state? Either way, I think it's the parents job to teach nutrition, not the schools. If I saw something I didn't think my child should eat on the menu....I would send them food I did approve of for lunch. Just my thoughts....

cakeums · January 2012

And if you don't believe that someone in the U.S. could not understand about proper nutrition, maybe you should expand your knowledge base a bit and study social economics and its effect on education.

Anderia · January 2012

Do you truly believe that kids don't starve? It's not a surprise or anything new. Who knows what these families do during the summer... I'm sure they may go to soup kitchens, beg, borrow, scrouge around...some kids may eat 2 slices of bread a day...parents starve so their kids eat...this is real life...

PaleoPath4Lyfe · January 2012

This is true. It is the parents responsibility to provide nutritious lunches to their children.

FearAnLoathing · January 2012

No I expect their parents to teach them,because its not that hard to learn. Like I said there are lighbrarys everywhere and you can not turn on a tv now days with out hearing about nutrition and whats good and whats bad. I have yet to meet anyone in my 35 years on this planet that thought pizza an chili dogs are good for you.That is a cop out. And for the record I did not say it was nobodys responsibiltiy but the parents,I SAID ITS THE PARENTS FIRST. And let me also say that every single neice and nephew,my son and me all learned about proper nutrition in school. My son knew at 7 whats good and bad for him because I taught him. I do not believe at all that in this day and age people dont have the basic nurtrion knowledge to know whats good for them and pass that on to their kids,they just dont care too. I still belive that the cause of obiestiy in this country is laziness,and bad examples we are passing to our children. For an adult to say I eat bad because that is the way i was raised is a cop out,and school can push the healthy menus till the end of time and kids will go by what they learn and eat at home so yes once again the blame falls on the parents.

Beezil · January 2012

Love this!

FearAnLoathing · January 2012

where did I say kids dont starve? But I would like to know how school lunches are playing a role in obesity if its the only meal some kids are eating in a day?

Cassi1990 · January 2012

This. My daughter starts school this coming school year and I'll be making her lunch each and every day! (:

cakeums · January 2012

I am confused - first you said it was the parents' responsibility, then you asked when it became the parents' responsibility to learn good nutrition for their kids, then you went back to saying it was the parents' responsibility first. Maybe your kid does know good nutrition (my 5 year old can tell you whether an apple or a bag of chips is healthier, but that's not to say she would choose the apple given the choice) but again - many kids do not know. Furthermore, young children lack something essential to eating well on their own volition: self-control. It takes time for them to develop the self-control to say no to that bag of chips and eat the apple. Some adults don't have this self-control, and they have reached the full potential of their basic cognitive development!

Maybe the cause of your weight was laziness in your case, and for many others as well, but it is not always about being lazy. I know many very active people who are obese. They make poor food choices. Some are educated but cannot afford healthy foods, some are not so educated and don't see the benefit of making a "fun" food like a burger at home over getting it McDonald's. Some people don't know how to control their portion size. We didn't all get fat the same way.

ETA: Again, how can you say in the same breath that we are passing bad examples to our children, but that we cannot blame the way we eat on how we were raised? I am done scrambling my brain over this.

determined2lose89 · January 2012

My Children will have a healthy home made lunch every school day of their life. You've got to start right from when they can eat solid food.

FearAnLoathing · January 2012

I didnt say we did,but whos responsbilty is it when someone chooses McDonalds over cooking at home,and you can eat healthy cheap ask many of the mebers on this site who do it ALL the time. I can get a huge bag of frozen veggies for cheaper than a family sized bag of chips. Yes it is the parents responsibilty,and yeah i would like to know when people will stop expecting the rest of the world to handle the responsibily that first should fall to the parents. The cause of my weight gain was not laziness,but yes it is laziness when someone chooses Mcdonalds daily it is laziness for people not to learn basic self control. We are the cause of our obisety rates first and foremost not mcdonalds not school lunches

ilookthetype · January 2012

I went to Mennonite school, we had AWESOME food, however, it was homemade MENNONITE food, they cook like Paula Deen. It was delicious, they also had alternatives and salad bars, I'm beyond grateful to have gone to school where I did. It's not the school's fault, the gov't really is in charge of it, and it's federalized, maybe if the SCHOOLS could make the choices they'd have better food for the masses.

However, kids eat 1 meal at school and 2 at home, I think parents are still pretty obviously responsible.

cakeums · January 2012

I agree that we control our own food choices, for sure. It is a common misconception though that eating healthily is more expensive - just look at the thread that popped up tonight about someone feeling like she needed to buy all organic to eat healthily.

No wonder our kids grow up to make bad food choices...

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