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What do you think?

PAPYRUS3
PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
in Debate Club
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These are typical lunches I see on my students consume everyday.

Curious if you are concerned or not at all?
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Replies

  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited September 2021
    No real nutrition there. It doesn’t surprise me. The average American eats a lot of “junk” food. I would be concerned about the amount of processed food and added sugar.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,886 Member
    To bad you can't make the parents watch "Jamie's School Dinners" (lunch here in the US.)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie's_School_Dinners
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    I think it's a reflection of the food culture that these kids are finding at home. My son went to the States to live with my brother and his family for 3 months. The way they eat was completely different from Italy. I cook everyday. They just told him to open the frig and help himself. He wanted fruits and vegetables but was too embarrassed to ask.
  • Onedaywriter
    Onedaywriter Posts: 324 Member
    edited September 2021
    Wow. It surprises me. Basically sugar, fat and white flour in different forms. Where is the “real” food?
    There is none. Not one item providing decent protein (even the yogurt drink has only 5 grams), maybe 1 or 2 grams of fiber (mainly the granola bar) and the volume is crazy. The Cheetos bag is 320 calories! This is not a single serve- more like 3 servings.
    Thanks for sharing this. I guess it is the norm but I didn’t know it was really like this. Wow!
    Yes. It concerns me!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    It sure doesn't look like my lunchbox when I went to grade and middle school and brought my lunch from home. Typical was ONE sandwich made with tuna or egg salad or cold cuts. Then there was a fruit--apple, banana, orange or pear and maybe a cookie. To drink --milk in a thermos. This would have been in the 60's.

    In high school we had a hot lunch program, and it was a well balanced meal.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    edited September 2021
    Leaving aside ethics of taking and posting these pictures aside for a moment (because if there's not a story here I am unaware of YIKES), my gradschool lunch (in the 80s) was typically a sandwich (at that age mayo/lettuce/kraft sliced cheese on white bread), some carrots (with ranch), an apple or orange, a small bag of chips, some kind of snack cake, and a soda.

    So. Pretty devoid of nutrients, too. And almost no protein.

    My school lunches were typically tacos, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, or pizza - though usually some canned veg or fruit , a roll and a cookie with (chocolate) milk.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    The US government ruled that ketchup is a vegetable. Ridiculous.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited September 2021
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    The US government ruled that ketchup is a vegetable. Ridiculous.

    More detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup_as_a_vegetable

    https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/article/21/1/17/116213/Ketchup-as-a-VegetableCondiments-and-the-Politics

    Related, since this is about school lunch, here are the CPS (a low-income school district) lunch and breakfast requirements for school-provided meals: https://www.cps.edu/services-and-supports/school-meals-and-nutrition/cps-nutrition-guidelines/

    Here's the most recent K-8 menu. IMO, sure it seems to be attempting to appeal to kids, but there are real veg and fruit options, and I think trying to incorporate those into a menu the kids will eat isn't a bad idea. I don't think these menus are as bad as people often try to claim US school lunches are.

    Personally, back in the '70s and '80s I disliked most of the school lunch options so would normally bring some kind of soup (with veg) in a thermos, some fruit, and a small dessert (I was super picky about bread and most sandwich options so didn't like sandwiches). Occasionally I would bring something like leftover turkey or chicken, maybe a bag of chips, some carrots and/or celery, and a small dessert. I think that was basically fine, even now.

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