Public School Lunch

ahigg396
ahigg396 Posts: 100 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hola,

So, lots of you know that I am a high school teacher in an area where there are a lot of "have nots". You know, the kids who show up to school dirty and wearing the same clothes they wore yesterday.

Many of you also have children in public schools and are aware of the recent changes that are being made to lunchroom food. Federal guidelines now stipulate that lunchroom meals must be fewer than 600 calories in high schools, in an effort to cut down on childhood obesity rates and teach young people about healthy eating. I get it and commend the effort.

BUT--I have kids who only get one meal per day, and this is it. When they leave on Friday afternoons, they might not eat again until lunch on Monday. They have been complaining about being hungry and it breaks my heart that their lunch portions have gotten smaller and less-filling.

Sorry for venting...just wanted to talk about it. What's your opinion?
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Replies

  • leeann0517
    leeann0517 Posts: 74 Member
    I read that the lunch had to be less than 850 calories. Where did you get 600 from? In addition, the meals have gotten healthier. My guess is that your students aren't eating everything given to them with lunch (veggies, fruit, milk) and that's why they're hungry.
  • CincinnatiDEIFan
    CincinnatiDEIFan Posts: 188 Member
    Here in my county in Florida there is FREE (for all kids) breakfast. In Ohio where I am from...if you get free or reduced lunch you get FREE breakfast. Is this an option for those your worried about?
  • MeMyCatsandI
    MeMyCatsandI Posts: 704 Member
    Maybe you could try to organize food drives or see if you can get a food bank involved? How about writing to the local newspapers or media about it?
  • Dark_Roast
    Dark_Roast Posts: 17,689 Member
    All of the students in my county get free breakfasts, they even offer this in the summertime! We don't have the reduced calorie thing here yet, unless the lunches have always been low cal. My kids won't eat the lunches, they pack their own.
  • angela1700
    angela1700 Posts: 31 Member
    Encourage your school to team up with local churches and feed the children. I teach at a Title 1 public school in Florida. We face the same challenges. Catholic charities helps our school by supplying school supply backpacks, shoes, and setting kids up with free glasses for those who needs them. Feed the children, our huge grocery store chain publix, and our local food bank has helped us to get a food backpack and entire food pantry in our school. There are so many ways to get help for these kids, you just need to know where to look.
  • ahigg396
    ahigg396 Posts: 100 Member
    I read that the lunch had to be less than 850 calories. Where did you get 600 from? In addition, the meals have gotten healthier. My guess is that your students aren't eating everything given to them with lunch (veggies, fruit, milk) and that's why they're hungry.

    You're right! 600 for lower-level schools and 750-850 for high school. My bad!

    Either way, though, I'd imagine that even if they were eating every last drop, they'd still be hungry. Lunch is at 10:20 a.m. an school gets out at 3:15. 850 cals per day is not enough for anyone, unfortunately. :(
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Wow. That's a tough take on things, isn't it.

    Sigh.
  • perdie7
    perdie7 Posts: 266 Member
    It's not that they won't eat it, it's simply not enough for growing kids. My son is in high school, and on the cross country team. I figured is calorie intake, by age, weight and activity level, 3500 a day 600 for lunch is not enough.
  • KATRENAJ
    KATRENAJ Posts: 318 Member
    I think this is outrageous. But I do think they are trying to help with the obesity. Poor people have a problem with obesity because they often have to eat such high starch meals. I liked the comment that said to start some kind of outside assistance for these kids. Letting them take home dried fruits and hearty granola bars would help. The community must be made aware of this
  • FabMrFox
    FabMrFox Posts: 259 Member
    I think the effort should have been on making the kids more active - ie gym class etc rather than less food(healthier is fine)
  • algebravoodoo
    algebravoodoo Posts: 776 Member
    I read that the lunch had to be less than 850 calories. Where did you get 600 from? In addition, the meals have gotten healthier. My guess is that your students aren't eating everything given to them with lunch (veggies, fruit, milk) and that's why they're hungry.

    If her kids are anything like the kids at my school, the ones who are truly living with hunger, they are eating anything and everything placed before them. A hungry stomach needs no sauce. I have a couple in my class that scarf down their allotment and stare longingly, waiting to see who is not going to finish his/her tray. These are the ones I keep snack items like granola bars and peanut butter with apple slices tucked in a drawer for. It is heartbreaking.

    And not all of the meals have gotten healthier, despite the new guidelines. In what world is a tray with spaghetti, corn and french fries considered a balanced meal?
  • CincinnatiDEIFan
    CincinnatiDEIFan Posts: 188 Member
    All this...but there ARE kids in South West Ohio who are in schools where levies failed that have had even GYM class taken away!!!

    Insane!
  • rikisue206
    rikisue206 Posts: 99 Member
    I am a parent who goes to school on a weekly basis to have lunch with my children. I am happy about the changes as some of the things that were being served were just pure junk! I have seen our school make changes in their lunch over the past 5 years, without the new hoopla, and am stoked about it! They have also removed "desert" items, but on a monthly basis.

    While there I do observe that most children do not eat all of their lunch and that is their choice. The school even requires the children to stay at the table for a period of time before they can leave. This has helped so that the kids don't skip eating just to play.

    I am also they type of parent who requires her children to eat 1 veggie, 1 fruit, and alternate between Chocolate Milk, White Milk, and Juice. That way they are not always eating the junk! I ask my children daily what they eat and even spot check them at lunch when I am at the school helping out. I do work and go to school myself, but my children’s health and well being are very important to me, so I have made this one of my high priorities!

    I have also heard that the kids doing sports will be given a higher Cal. meal, just because they do burn more than the kids that choose not to be active.

    I think, like with all things, you can not please everyone and it really just depends on how you deal with the situation!

    BTW, I LOVE eating school lunch!!
  • leeann0517
    leeann0517 Posts: 74 Member
    It's not that they won't eat it, it's simply not enough for growing kids. My son is in high school, and on the cross country team. I figured is calorie intake, by age, weight and activity level, 3500 a day 600 for lunch is not enough.

    then he should bring his own lunch. or supplement the school lunch with items from home.
  • funkyspunky872
    funkyspunky872 Posts: 866 Member
    I read that the lunch had to be less than 850 calories. Where did you get 600 from? In addition, the meals have gotten healthier. My guess is that your students aren't eating everything given to them with lunch (veggies, fruit, milk) and that's why they're hungry.

    They're hungry because they only eat one meal a day. Can you not read?
  • ahigg396
    ahigg396 Posts: 100 Member
    It's not that they won't eat it, it's simply not enough for growing kids. My son is in high school, and on the cross country team. I figured is calorie intake, by age, weight and activity level, 3500 a day 600 for lunch is not enough.

    then he should bring his own lunch. or supplement the school lunch with items from home.

    I think you missed the point of this post. The kids that are going hungry are the ones who can't bring food from home....they don't eat at home.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    my wife piloted a breakfast in the classroom program. It was then 2 meals a day.
    One of the teachers complained because it cut somewhat into their time, and the program ended for the school.

    I'd say try to start a breakfast program. It was at the beginning of the day and food was brought to the room in a cart. Yogurt, cereal fruit and a milk... got to have a milk, you know dairy lobby and all.
  • Machdude
    Machdude Posts: 136 Member
    I love how the government defines catsup as a "vegetable" in school lunches..................really? We need to get them out of our life and look out for our own.
  • bigblue92710
    bigblue92710 Posts: 12 Member
    Not sure if this program is federally or locally mandated but if it is locally mandated can you petition to get it repealed? I know healthy food is good and all, but if I was in the kids' shoes and literally starving I would want the most caloric bang for my buck.
  • algebravoodoo
    algebravoodoo Posts: 776 Member
    It's not that they won't eat it, it's simply not enough for growing kids. My son is in high school, and on the cross country team. I figured is calorie intake, by age, weight and activity level, 3500 a day 600 for lunch is not enough.

    then he should bring his own lunch. or supplement the school lunch with items from home.

    See, that is the issue for a number of these kids. For whatever reason, there is little or no food at home to supplement with. The ones who can, do. I don't want to turn this into a "those rotten parents" or an anti-food stamp rant. The kids who are suffering usually do not have a choice in the matter. It is enough to break my heart somedays and I am not even a bleeding-heart liberal. Just a parent and a teacher who gets to try to help them cope.
  • leeann0517
    leeann0517 Posts: 74 Member
    I love how the government defines catsup as a "vegetable" in school lunches..................really? We need to get them out of our life and look out for our own.

    no they don't.

    and what about the kids whose parents don't look out for them and don't feed them?
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    I agree with trying to lobby the local school board to get a breakfast program going. When I was in school they provided breakfast before school for everyone who wanted it. If you paid full price for lunch you could pay full price for breakfast, and if you had free or reduced lunch, you had free or reduced breakfast. Or those who ate breakfast at home or didn't want breakfast just hung out in the gym until school started. It was a nice program. I ate breakfast at school often because the bus ride always made me sick, so without that breakfast I basically had nothing in my stomach until lunchtime.

    If the school district isn't on board, talk to your local churches. In the area where I went to high school, they had a breakfast program going on for a while, year-round. It was pretty major, and there were a LOT of kids who needed to eat there.
  • blink1021
    blink1021 Posts: 1,115 Member
    I was just talking about this with my husband today. My son is in elementary school and I worry when he buys lunch if he is getting enough to eat because I have seen the portions. I worry that they are just serving the same food just smaller sizes. I wish that they would change what they serve and give bigger portions. I let my son buy lunch yesterday because he wanted french toast sticks and he came home and told me that they gave 3 sticks, a fruit cup and a sausage patty for $2.05. Add that up calorie wise and it may meet the requirements but I would still be hungry which is why I pack his lunch most of the time. My son does not have to worry about where his food comes from when not at school but for kids who do I worry about. Where we live in NY they offer FREE lunch program for people who qualify and from what I am told the income limit is quite high so it covers a lot more children and those who qualify for FREE or reduced lunches also qualify for the breakfast also. Our program is done through the superintendents office which happens to be located in our high school.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
    I see that you are in Georgia...Georgia is not a mandatory reporting state? I teach and I'm in Ohio, we are mandatory reporters. In my state you actually cannot go all weekend without feeding your child. That is considered abuse. If a kid told me they didn't eat from lunch at school Friday until lunch at school Monday, by law I would have to report that. Even if your state does not require you to do that you might consider it because these kids need to eat. If they qualify for free lunch it's highly likely their parents or guardians are getting food stamps for them. Someone is getting paid but not feeding them.

    600 calories is a solid lunch. But even if the lunch was 2000 calories, that's still not enough to sustain a teenager through an entire weekend.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    This is sad--just sad. I think we shouldn't have to have 1 OR THE OTHER--kids should be able to eat MORE FOOD if they are still hungry. Still the same nutritional quality but allow them another serving/portion and allow them to have a snack for recess/break periods. It's absurd that schools think that 1/4 to 1/3 of a child's daily calorie allotment is enough for 6-8 hours of being at school.
  • leeann0517
    leeann0517 Posts: 74 Member
    It's not that they won't eat it, it's simply not enough for growing kids. My son is in high school, and on the cross country team. I figured is calorie intake, by age, weight and activity level, 3500 a day 600 for lunch is not enough.

    then he should bring his own lunch. or supplement the school lunch with items from home.

    I think you missed the point of this post. The kids that are going hungry are the ones who can't bring food from home....they don't eat at home.

    she said that the lunch for her son, who is on the cross country team isn't enough. first, I doubt the kids whose parents can't afford food can afford to play sports. second, cross country is usually done in high school and the calorie amount in high school is 850, not 600.

    however, why aren't the kids who qualify for free and reduced lunch not getting a free or reduced price breakfast also? seems like that would be the first step to getting more food in them.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    my take on it... the strong survive. the big kids gotta go back to bullying the little kids for lunch money and snacks in order to make it though the day.. i mean what 10 year old can survive on a 600 CALORIE LUNCH!!!
  • algebravoodoo
    algebravoodoo Posts: 776 Member
    I see that you are in Georgia...Georgia is not a mandatory reporting state? I teach and I'm in Ohio, we are mandatory reporters. In my state you actually cannot go all weekend without feeding your child. That is considered abuse. If a kid told me they didn't eat from lunch at school Friday until lunch at school Monday, by law I would have to report that. Even if your state does not require you to do that you might consider it because these kids need to eat. If they qualify for free lunch it's highly likely their parents or guardians are getting food stamps for them. Someone is getting paid but not feeding them.

    600 calories is a solid lunch. But even if the lunch was 2000 calories, that's still not enough to sustain a teenager through an entire weekend.

    I'm in Mississippi (the Delta region) and we are also a reporting state. The social services are so over-worked that unless the kid is visibly suffering from scurvy and rickets, the most that will happen is social worker will show up, look in kitchen, see something that passes for food and leave. Out-numbered and out-gunned, so to speak. The household may get food stamps but for some of these kids, there is just nothing left for them after the adults have taken care of themselves.
    I get angry enough somedays to envision someone being locked in a cage with no food for a few days and see how they like it, but that would do nothing to help the child.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    This breaks my heart! I live in Atlanta but my sister goes to uga and tells me that outside of the university, Athens is such a poverty stricken area. Poor kids. Sorry I don't have much advice other than to say it would break my heart to see that too!
  • snarf432
    snarf432 Posts: 91 Member
    my mom works in a lunch room and is the head cook. She has had a lot of changes and one of the best is that the children HAVE to take a fruit of veg to recieve their 'other food'. They try really hard to balance out what is healthy and what is good for kids and what the kids will actaully eat. It hoenstly is sad that there are so many 'have nots' but that isn't really a good reason to keep the calorie level of school lunches high.
    People who can't feed their kids usually feel horrible about it. And it does break my heart! I'm not trying to sound mean or calouse about this...just realist. I donate money, time items to my local food pantrys and hope that the right people get it.
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