[riverbottomkidok]

Are Oklahoma school cafeterias doing enough for our children? Tell me your or your kids opinions.

[colleeng47]

And what is it, excactly, that you think the school cafeterias in oklahoma should be doing?

[riverbottomkidok]

Ok. Are we making sure that kids are or aren't eating enough? Are we educating and encouraging our kids to eat nutritious foods instead of the foods from the "fast food era". I read on MSN news that a parent is actually suing their school cafeteria for their child's anorexia problem. And what about obesity? I have teenagers that complain they don't get enough food and that eating in our cafeteria is "so uncool". We have an excellent cafeteria and our kids think it is "COOL" to hang out here. So throw me a bone. What do you have to say?

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by riverbottomkidok

Ok. Are we making sure that kids are or aren't eating enough? Are we educating and encouraging our kids to eat nutritious foods instead of the foods from the "fast food era". I read on MSN news that a parent is actually suing their school cafeteria for their child's anorexia problem. And what about obesity? I have teenagers that complain they don't get enough food and that eating in our cafeteria is "so uncool". We have an excellent cafeteria and our kids think it is "COOL" to hang out here. So throw me a bone. What do you have to say?

My daughter is a senior at Mustang High School. To be perfectly honest with you, I have never considered that part of her education as something to be too concerned about. I try to make sure she has enough healthy food at home, and I doubt VERY much if ANY child's anorexia has to do with the school cafeteria. Some people will sue for any reason.

I have never heard my daughter say anything about the cafeteria one way or the other. I usually hear about who she eats lunch with, what they said, and so forth. Sometimes she skips lunch altogether if she's had a substanial breakfast. School lunches account for 5 out of the 21+ meals a week that kids eat. And then only for 9-10 months a year. I think more kids are obese thanks to McD's and others of their ilk, as well as lack of exercise, than from the school.

[soonerguy]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

My daughter is a senior at Mustang High School. To be perfectly honest with you, I have never considered that part of her education as something to be too concerned about. I try to make sure she has enough healthy food at home, and I doubt VERY much if ANY child's anorexia has to do with the school cafeteria. Some people will sue for any reason.

I have never heard my daughter say anything about the cafeteria one way or the other. I usually hear about who she eats lunch with, what they said, and so forth. Sometimes she skips lunch altogether if she's had a substanial breakfast. School lunches account for 5 out of the 21+ meals a week that kids eat. And then only for 9-10 months a year. I think more kids are obese thanks to McD's and others of their ilk, as well as lack of exercise, than from the school.

I think the OP has a valid concern. According to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, it is a legal component to a child's education.

No disrespect intended to anyone, but for many, many, (perhaps the majority) of public school students, mealtime at school is not a time to chitchat with friends IF they decide to have lunch that day. Many children don't have responsible parents at home who feed them a substantial breakfast before school and provide healthy snacks and other things to eat.

These kids don't have a choice. They look forward to the lunch served at school because it might be the only hot meal they get that day. They also look forward to the hot breakfast that is served. And the backpacks full of food that schools distribute for the weekend, including food for younger siblings not in school yet. And they look forward to a lunch served at the school all summer long, whether school is in session or not. So for most kids, school lunch is much MORE than 5 meals out of 21, it is more like the majority of meals they eat are at or from the school.

Visit any public school within a two mile radius of downtown OKC and you will see what I mean.

The law tells us we have to feed them. The problem is that it doesn't tell us what to feed them.

And here is where my concern comes in: Most school lunches that I see in the schools I visit are no better than McDonald's. I think schools have played a part in the rising obesity epidemic. The heavy meals the school serve are full of fat and carbs with little protein and hardly no fresh vegetables or fruit. When they do serve half an apple, they rub it in jello powder. When I break down and eat a school meal (which is usually either chicken or steak nuggets, corndogs, pizza, sandwiches, or hamburgers), it settles like a rock in my stomach and I'm fighting off the urge to nap the rest of the afternoon. Breakfasts are 90% packaged--packaged breakfast burrito, packaged donut, etc.

Long gone are the wonderful school meals I remember growing up on.

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by soonerguy

I think the OP has a valid concern. According to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, it is a legal component to a child's education.

No disrespect intended to anyone, but for many, many, (perhaps the majority) of public school students, mealtime at school is not a time to chitchat with friends IF they decide to have lunch that day. Many children don't have responsible parents at home who feed them a substantial breakfast before school and provide healthy snacks and other things to eat.

These kids don't have a choice. They look forward to the lunch served at school because it might be the only hot meal they get that day. They also look forward to the hot breakfast that is served. And the backpacks full of food that schools distribute for the weekend, including food for younger siblings not in school yet. And they look forward to a lunch served at the school all summer long, whether school is in session or not. So for most kids, school lunch is much MORE than 5 meals out of 21, it is more like the majority of meals they eat are at or from the school.

Visit any public school within a two mile radius of downtown OKC and you will see what I mean.

The law tells us we have to feed them. The problem is that it doesn't tell us what to feed them.

And here is where my concern comes in: Most school lunches that I see in the schools I visit are no better than McDonald's. I think schools have played a part in the rising obesity epidemic. The heavy meals the school serve are full of fat and carbs with little protein and hardly no fresh vegetables or fruit. When they do serve half an apple, they rub it in jello powder. When I break down and eat a school meal (which is usually either chicken or steak nuggets, corndogs, pizza, sandwiches, or hamburgers), it settles like a rock in my stomach and I'm fighting off the urge to nap the rest of the afternoon. Breakfasts are 90% packaged--packaged breakfast burrito, packaged donut, etc.

Long gone are the wonderful school meals I remember growing up on.

I dispute this. I agree that for SOME students it's more than 5 out of 21 meals a week, but having taught in schools in both NJ and OK, I have seen no evidence that MOST of the students rely on the school to feed them the majority of their meals.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by soonerguy

I think the OP has a valid concern. According to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, it is a legal component to a child's education.

Was that the same act that decided a tablespoon of ketchup counted as one vegetable serving? Or did that one come later?

[soonerguy]

Originally Posted by karibear

Was that the same act that decided a tablespoon of ketchup counted as one vegetable serving? Or did that one come later?

I don't know. All I know is that legally food must be available to the students. I know this by having dealt with cafeteria ladies who wrongly told students they couldn't eat because they didn't have the few cents charged to pay for the meals. Try dealing with an angry parent who depends on that meal and their child comes home hungry.

And I do know that if it weren't for that food, many, many children would go hungry.

However, the nutritional value of the food offered, IMO, is next to nothing.

Drop into a Title I school sometime.

[soonerguy]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

I dispute this. I agree that for SOME students it's more than 5 out of 21 meals a week, but having taught in schools in both NJ and OK, I have seen no evidence that MOST of the students rely on the school to feed them the majority of their meals.

Maybe not most of the students you see, but most of the students I see and deal with rely on food provided by the school. Breakfast and lunch alone equal 10 meals out of 21, not to mention the food that goes home on the weekends. This is common in OKC and similar districts. Title I schools with 90%-100% free or reduced lunch populations. Thousands of kids on OKC for sure, and any other city you pick off the map. I agree it probably wouldn't be as obvious in suburbia.

Although one very affluent suburban high school I once visited had done away with the cafeteria. In its place were a Taco Bell, a Wendy's, and a couple other fast food outlets.

Addressing the issues raised by the OP, the bottom line is that many hundreds of thousands of kids in this country rely largely on a source of food that is more unhealthy than it is healthy. Can this lead to obesity and other health problems? I think so.

[karibear]

Whatever happened to the commodity foods the feds stockpiled some years ago? I know there used to be a lot, and I do mean a LOT, of it. Plus there were tons of MREs that were given to a lot of secial service agencies for redistribution after the Gulf War. Seems like that kind of thing would be useful now.