Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"For many students, L.A. Unified's trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop. Earlier this year, the district got rid of chocolate and strawberry milk, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, nachos and other food high in fat, sugar and sodium. Instead, district chefs concocted such healthful alternatives as vegetarian curries and tamales, quinoa salads and pad Thai noodles. There's just one problem: Many of the meals are being rejected en masse. Participation in the school lunch program has dropped by thousands of students. Principals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away. At many campuses, an underground market for chips, candy, fast-food burgers and other taboo fare is thriving."
I once kiddingly predicted in these forums that the local drug dealer would drop the drugs and replace them with snack food, bottles of soda, salt and trans fats if the government and Mrs Obama, Mayor Bloomberg and the other Big Lib Nannys kept telling us what to eat. Looks like I might have been right
Quinoa salad? Thai noodles? Tamales? I could just imagine the expression on our kids' (at my school) faces if we served them that, even in the ala carte areas. It's healthy, granted - but they'd pass on it because they'd find it...WEIRD. Why can't those schools serve fat free chocolate and strawberry milk? We do. We serve familiar foods the kids like (like chicken nuggets), we just follow the mandates for fat allowances, and plan the lunches accordingly.
Quinoa salad? Thai noodles? Tamales? I could just imagine the expression on our kids' (at my school) faces if we served them that, even in the ala carte areas. It's healthy, granted - but they'd pass on it because they'd find it...WEIRD. Why can't those schools serve fat free chocolate and strawberry milk? We do. We serve familiar foods the kids like (like chicken nuggets), we just follow the mandates for fat allowances, and plan the lunches accordingly.
Yeah. Chicken's pretty healthy. Maybe if we stopped deep-frying everything, used healthier cuts of meat, offered alternatives to greasy foods. I find the vegetarian diet to be an--interesting--choice for the school to make, as in, why the hell did they go with that.
Yeah. Chicken's pretty healthy. Maybe if we stopped deep-frying everything, used healthier cuts of meat, offered alternatives to greasy foods. I find the vegetarian diet to be an--interesting--choice for the school to make, as in, why the hell did they go with that.
Yeah, our cafeteria got rid of its deep frier a couple of years ago. Everything is baked or steamed. A glazed unbreaded chicken patty sandwich on a school baked whole wheat roll, with lettuce, pickle, and tomato, is a popular lunch with the kids I cook for. I can imagine the confusion on their faces if they were handed a tamale (like I was the first time I saw one). I've never tasted curry either, so I couldn't be sure if the kids here would like it or not. We serve rice pilaf, and I know a lot of the kids do not care for it.
I can't imagine anyone being confused by a tamale But they are standard around here.
I do remember being confused the first time I saw a bean burrito from Taco Bell 40 years ago or so. My dad, use to crunch corn taco shells, thought the flour tortilla was raw and tried to bake it to crisp it up. Then we all poked it with our forks trying to figure it out. True story.
it is none of the goverments business. let the local school boards make their own decisions.
That would be too simple.
Still, though, we've come a long way from the pinto beans, collard greens and cornbread we had in the lunch room 4 days a week back in the 50's. Friday was hamburger day.
My boss, our district cafeteria supervisor, takes a lot of pride in our cafeteria (I work in the jr./sr. high school) - with the food, service, etc. She reminds us that we should think of it as a restaurant, and those kids are our customers, and the customer is always right. We are to always be nice and accommodating to them, within reason, when we serve them. That is why she carefully plans the menus, to make sure the kids have foods they enjoy, but within the dietary mandates. She explained the procedure to us one day at morning break (about figuring the units of fat, etc.) - it is a daunting task.
I will now expect to see outrage from conservatives who say that this new rule takes away the freedom to serve crap to school children.
I don;t have a problem with serving healthy meals but the first question is will the kids eat it? They can serve it but that doesn't mean it will get eaten.
The issue I have as an example is when the principal basically chastised my nephew for bringing to school and eating a cupcake at lunch.. ohh the horror.
From the article:
Quote:
In addition, the menus will pay attention to portion sizes to make sure children receive calories appropriate to their age,
How is that supposed to work? Don't most kids and people have different calories needs? Kind of a funny story involved with this. A relative of mine had a kid that was huge for his age. Not fat, just tall and bulky. He used to have to get two lunches.
Still, though, we've come a long way from the pinto beans, collard greens and cornbread we had in the lunch room 4 days a week back in the 50's. Friday was hamburger day.
yeah maybe, but having pinto beans, collard greens and cornbread taste better and are better for you than that burger on friday.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
But they are standard around here. 
