School menu ridiculousness

my school cafeteria sells healthy stuff ^^
Like heck yeah. Small baguettes (the brown ones cost less too) and theres a list with things they put on it, most of it is healthy too. They sell cereal with milk, they sell fruit...
More of that stuff and all. As for drinks it's less amazing but theres good stuff too..
The baddest thing they sell i guess are things in the vending machines and pizza on tuesdays. Besides that its just all muffins and baguettes with fatter stuff on it. and its so good i just ASDFGHJKL

This proves my point.

Which one?

The one in which I state that focus for school improvement needs to remain on education not food service. I don't want to pick on you because you're just a young girl. I'm just saying that I care far more about the intellect of future generations than I do about the crap they will be eating in school.

National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
School Nutrition a Remedy

By Gordon W. Gunderson

Nutrition, Behavior, and Learning
Malnutrition a National Problem
School Lunch Program a Remedy
Nutrition, Behavior, and Learning

The school lunch program has continued to grow as an accepted part of the total educational program. Though it was considered by some administrators and teachers as a government program for "getting rid of surplus commodities" a decade or more ago, it has come to be recognized as a valuable tool in the learning process. Teachers, principals and administrators can tell the difference.

"Seventeen out of my 36 children are either not getting any lunch or an adequate one. I see definite personality changes when a child doesn't get lunch.” 49

"Since getting free lunch she has shown a marked improvement in attitude. Last year she was a major discipline problem.” 50

"Children that don't eat are very had to discipline.” 51

In January 28, 1971, letter from a Green Bay, Wisconsin elementary principal states in part: "I believe this to be one of the finest programs initiated at the school for the following reasons: Attendance has improved by approximately 3/4-day per student. The majority of the children have shown a good increase in weight (some 10-12 pounds). Children are now receiving an on-going education in meal planning and nutrition, as well as invaluable experience in observation. The attitude of parents toward Federal programs has shown good growth because they are directly involved. This has also created a better home-school relationship."

In a New York City study of 50 malnourished children aged 2 to 9, it was found after improving their nutritional level over a one to three-and-one-half year period, that their IQ's rose by an average of 18 points. No such change occurred in a well-nourished control group. 52

These are but a few of the typical testimonials stating in simple language the correlation between adequate nutrition and behavior and ability to learn in school.

The day-to-day observation of teachers and administrators of the relationship between inadequate nutrition and behavior and ability to learn is substantiated by scientific studies. Twenty Cape Town, South Africa, children were studied for 11 years, beginning in 1955.-The study was based on the hypothesis "that the ill effects of under-nutrition are determined by (1) Its occurrence during the period of maximum growth and (2) the duration of under-nutrition relative to the total per1,od of growth. . . Evidence is cumulative and impressive that severe under-nutrition during the first 2 years of life, when brain growth is most active, results in a permanent reduction of brain size and restricted intellectual development.” 53

In Chile, 14 infants were treated at a hospital for severe protein malnutrition. These children were discharged from the hospital after a long period of treatment, and thereafter followed up through visits to the outpatient department. They were given a special allotment of milk each month as a special food supplement, as were the other pre-school children in the families. At ages 3 to 6 years they were considered adequately nourished and their nutritional condition normal. In IQ tests (Binet) they averaged 62; none was above 76.

The results of the physical and psychological tests led researchers to conclude that brain damage in infancy is permanent at least up to the sixth year of life, despite improving nutritional condition. In his testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, Dr. Arnold Schaefer, Director of the National Nutrition Survey, stated, "The evidence points toward the fact that malnourished children are more difficult to teach and that they have a lower mental score. The risk of retarded neurological and mental development is such that it cannot be tolerated or ignored." Dr. Schaefer stated further, "When the children were in a boarding school and given the proper food, proper health care and proper education, the high prevalence of some of our biochemical findings disappeared. However, the key problem with preschool children who exhibit growth retardation is that it is doubtful whether they will catch up.” 54

Malnutrition a National Problem

It would be erroneous to conclude that only people who live at or below the poverty level suffer from malnutrition, and hence are susceptible to underdevelopment physically and mentally. According to the food consumption survey conducted by USDA's Agricultural Research Service in 1965, over one-third of the households with incomes of $10,000 or more did not have diets that met all recommended levels of all the nutrients to provide a good diet, and nine percent of the families in this income bracket actually had diets rated as "poor." As the family income declined, so did the diet rating. At an income level of $3,000 or less, 36 percent of the households had diets rated as poor.” 55

Food likes and dislikes, food fads, ethnic backgrounds, habits, and income all influence the dietary patterns of rich and poor alike. It is therefore evident that to supply merely an abundance of food to combat malnutrition would be only a partial attack upon a complex problem. "It has long been known that if a food supplement is to be successful in nourishing a malnourished population, it must be acceptable to the people for whom it is intended. Changing food fads and habits even in malnourished populations is extremely difficult. Therefore, nutrition education is of the utmost importance to any nutrition program whether in the United States or in other countries.” 56

School Lunch Program a Remedy

The National School Lunch Program offers several approaches to solving the malnourishment problem:

The nutritive content of the meal (known as the "Type A") must meet at least a\ third of the child's nutritional requirements for the day, containing all of the elements essential to a balanced meal.

Through Federal, State and local support, the price of the meal is within the ability of most of the children to pay.

By Federal regulation, children who are unable to pay the full price of the meal must be provided a lunch free of charge or at a reduced price.

The menu pattern is devised to give extensive latitude to the local schools in planning the meals from day to day; yet the pattern will provide the full nutritional requirements when adhered to with a wide variety of foods to choose from.

Even though local food habits and patterns are observed in menu planning, the program provides an excellent opportunity for introducing foods which the children are not accustomed to eating at home and which will broaden their range of selection to help insure an adequate and balanced diet.

The day-to-day participation in the program develops good food habits which will carry on through adulthood and into the community.

Properly coordinated with classroom work, the lunchroom can be a laboratory for actual experience in the principles of nutrition, sanitation, safety, personal hygiene, food service management, courtesies and social graces, budgeting, accounting, food storage and handling, food preservation, delivery systems, and many other subjects of importance to society.

49 Jean Fairfax, Chairman. Committee on School Lunch Participation, Their Daily Bread, Atlanta, Ga., McNelley-Rudd Printing Service, Inc., p. 19.
50 Ibid., p. 15.
51 Ibid., p. 17.
52 The School District of Philadelphia, Food for Thought, October 1, 1970.
53 Undernutrition During Infancy, and Subsequent Brain Growth and Intellectual Development from Malnutrition, Learning and Behavior. Edited by Nevin S. Scrimshaw and John E. Gordon, M.I.T. Pres, Cambridge, Mass., 1968, pp. 279-287.
54 Hearings Before the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. U.S. Senate, Monday, April 27, 1970, pp. 784-786.
55 ARS 62-17. January, 1968, Dietary Levels of Households in the United States, Spring 1966, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, pp.. 8 and 9.
56 Delbert H. Dayton, Early Malnutrition and Human Development, Children, November-December 1969.

I find it a pitty when women pop out 4 or 5 babies knowing that they can't afford to take care of them. Everybody has an opinion.

It must be nice to know exactly what's going to happen in your life and in the world's economy for the next 18-21 years and not have to worry about your financial situation changing.

Speaking of which, can someone please return my crystal ball? I really need that before the next big Powerball drawing.

That wasn't the point. It had nothing to do with the future, and all to do with the present. A person knows whether or not they can afford a child when making the decision to have one. I waited 4 years post marriage because we knew we weren't financially stable enough yet. Others on the other hand, don't care and go ahead anyway. That was the point.

I know that. It was a joke.

Some people miss the finite art of sarcasm.

Or, some people are just awful at it.

Calm down naysayers. I didn’t say anything about punishing children or forcing children to go hungry. I said that I believe parents, not schools, are the ones responsible for feeding their children.

Insinuating that someone is somehow living in privilege because they actually feed their kids is what is utterly ridiculous; and a smack in the face to a lot of poor parents who struggle to make ends meet and still live up to their parental responsibilities. Millions of people living in poverty also take the responsibility to feed their kids every meal, every day. To imply that those families are somehow advantaged because they don’t agree with or want a particular social democracy program shows ignorance. As does the assumption that all the poor hungry kids are actually attending public schools anyway.

Having a differing opinion of social responsibility doesn’t make one “privileged” or “ridiculous.” It simply means that people see social responsibility differently. Some people think it is the schools/taxpayers’ responsibility to feed kids and some people think it is the parents’ responsibility to feed kids.

Meh. Whatever. People have differing opinions.

I agree that it is the parents responsibility to provide adequate food and care for their children.

But when those parents cannot or will not provide food and care, I refuse to let that child suffer. I will pay my taxes so that child can eat, because no child should be punished for adult decisions that they cannot control.

I didn't read the 11 pages, sorry! But yeah a lot of people get free lunch, so when it's junk, and they eat it twice a day... that's a lot of calories that even playing outside isn't going to make up for.

I mean I'm all for teaching kids moderation and heck my kids get McDonald's once a week, but one of the job of schools is to teach kids' good life habits, and they're not exactly showing a good example if all there is to eat is junk. I guess if they only put a bit of the junk and give a lot of veggies and fruit with it though, it doesn't bother me one bit (although yes there's the issue that a lot of kids won't eat the healthy food and just stay hungry otherwise too).

I know my kids' school menu is pretty healthy, just too expensive to justify it.

It's supposed to be a lot of calories, because a lot of kids who are on the free lunch program won't get a chance to eat again after they leave school.

The average high school lunch had 800 calories in my district. When I was a new teacher I was shocked by that number, but the school told me it's intentional because 80% of our students qualified for free/reduced lunch and the school was trying to make sure kids were getting enough calories.

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.

Very true! I WISH my son ate more fruits and veggies....they say lead by example...well, it doesn't exactly work that way sometimes I eat fruits and always offer them, but he'll either not even give it a chance or he'll try it and hate it! He's really big on textures and how things look.

I'm not sure how old your son is, but mine are 7 and 10 and about 2 years ago we radically changed our diet and theirs. I do not allow anything with high fructose corn syrup in our house and I greatly restrict our processed food. I'm not perfect, but my kids were eating dino nuggets and cheese itzs like they were going out of style. They FREAKED when I eliminated it all. I explained how bad it was for them and since I knew that now, I couldn't give them that type of food because I care about their health. I then involved them in the process of picking out new foods. Kids can and will change their diets if we as parents model it and are firm. I had the pickiest of picky and it would have been so much easier to fall back into the same unhealthy route, but we didn't. My kids have now drank wheatgrass and eat quinoa.

Anyway, it is possible to turn a picky eater into a healthy one.

I hear a lot of attack on the school system's lunch menu, but I guarantee that if a kid has a weight problem, it ain't just the school lunch that's the whole issue.
I'm gonna bet that all the overweight people complaining aren't eating as good as they think they are........................or they wouldn't be overweight that carries over to their kid.
Don't hold the school responsible for what you kid eats, that's the parents job. Don't like the menu, then make lunch for them.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

THIS IS THE BEST POST!!

Personally, I’m opposed to school lunches altogether. I don’t believe it is the education system/taxpayer responsibility to feed the publicly schooled children.
I see the feeding of offspring as a responsibility one undertakes when they become a parent. If parents pack their kiddos lunches, they can put whatever they want in the lunch box.