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my older brother packed our lunches sometimes.. problem was he took all the peppercorn outta the bologna and put it on my samitch... I traded for somethin at skool.... Hey whats with this obesity and needy bullSheit anyways$ I think tis a farce
It certainly is a farce but who is at the bottom of it all? Michelle knows that we have too many just plain fat kids but she wants to attack the problem from the standpoint of food rather than physical exercise for kids. She is not wrong but the USDA has gone too far because they have the power to do so.
Guidelines never bothered me, I choose to ignore things and do what I want for the most part. My kids ate what they wanted and if they didn't like school food they took home food. It's been that way forever. If it were up to me there would be no school food program and if there had to be it would be limited to a handful of things.
We complain when schools and/or "the government" get too involved with things and we complain when they don't get involved enough. School is for learning, feed your own children, everything else is a safety net.
Many people can afford to feed their own children but I bet you would be surprised at the number of kids who get one cooked meal each day and it is at the school. The safety net you talk about can easily be seen by seeing the story the one woman told on one of my links about the kid who walked into classes and went to sleep. When she asked an "old head" about the kid the man said that he sleeps everywhere but the only food he gets is at school. Community people tried to give his mother money to feed him with and found out she was spending that "extra" money on electronic games.
Do you remember the little girl who the school took food from because her home supplied lunch didn't qualify under USDA rules last spring? I thought everybody knew about that one from TV alone. I can promise you that if too many people try to go the brown bag route they will find that happening. This year the rules are much different than in the past.
It seems that bringing lunches from home is allowed. You might want to read your own link.
I know what that woman said and I also remember the little girl who had most of her sack lunch taken away from her last spring. I bet you heard about that kid too.
My wife talked to one of our teachers who had been in meetings and school started last week and what she said indicated that the federal money will dry up once they see too much supplementary sack lunch used. I guess maybe more people will learn what is actually going on as more kids get started to school this year. Your kids have started school by now, haven't they?
Yep, this kid needs calories, in any form. He is most certainly not overweight for his height. He will burn it off easily. As a general rule, one needs 15 times their body weight in calories just to maintain their existing weight. At 205 pounds this kid needs at least 3,075 calories per day. If he is like I was, he will not be able to put on enough weight no matter how much he eats. At age 18 I joined the Marine Corps and they put about 20 pounds of muscle on me, but even then I only weighed 195 pounds, on a very high carbohydrate diet. It was not until I turned 28 that my metabolism finally slowed down enough that I put on some weight and filled out.
You just reminded me of what the military can do for a man. While in basic training (9 wks) I lost an inch around the waist and gained 15 pounds. I was still skinny after that. Now after I got in a school and in an on my butt all the time job I gained over 20 pounds in 2 years. It was pretty good eating though but with little physical exercise which I needed in the early 20s.
Schools provide meals for hundreds of kids a day. Customizing those meals for each child is just not feasible.
If your child has special requirements, pack their lunch.
You tell the USDA about those different needs. They don't seem to understand now.
No school program can force a child to eat school lunch. All children can bring their own lunches. I worked in a school, I would not feed my dog a school lunch. I see the school lunch program as a safety for families too poor to feed their kids. It will provide food, not meant to be a sole source of food.
I think you need to read up on the USDA rules about school meals. After you do that maybe you need to learn a bit more about federal money given to the states to be distributed to schools for things like this. No federal money comes without strings and we are learning this more and more every year these days.
I taught for 28 years and as I have said most of the meals I got were outstanding and so plentiful that some of we adults had to cut back on what we ate. However, that was up to 1986 and things have changed a pile since then. I know that no federal money is distributed without strings and I am pretty sure that once people start too much brown bagging they will find their kids getting those bags searched. I think you may find that the strings are being tightened these days and most people won't like it.
I think you need to read up on the USDA rules about school meals. After you do that maybe you need to learn a bit more about federal money given to the states to be distributed to schools for things like this. No federal money comes without strings and we are learning this more and more every year these days.
I taught for 28 years and as I have said most of the meals I got were outstanding and so plentiful that some of we adults had to cut back on what we ate. However, that was up to 1986 and things have changed a pile since then. I know that no federal money is distributed without strings and I am pretty sure that once people start too much brown bagging they will find their kids getting those bags searched. I think you may find that the strings are being tightened these days and most people won't like it.
Unfortunately, I think you need to read up on the USDA rules about school meals. Schools must OFFER the healthy meals to students, and provide free meals to students under 130% of the poverty line....but they are not required to only serve school meals and outlaw home-packed meals.
As long as that's the only school meal offered, they meet the requirments. Nothing in there states that they can't allow children to bring their own lunch. Basically this only stops schools from selling Dominos Pizza on Fridays and things like that.
These rules surely do apply, this year. Maybe you should go to the school and check this year's menus since it is all different than last year. You have been there this year, haven't you?
You were saying that packed lunches weren't allowed. The menu is different, but nothing prohibits parents from packing lunch.
If school systems don't want to follow USDA school lunch guidelines, don't take the federal money.
If parents don't want their kids eating school lunches, feed them yourself.
If you don't think little Johnny is getting enough to eat at school, feed him more when he gets home. He won't starve between 12 and 3 PM.
If the school lunch is your child's primary source of nourishment, you've got bigger things to worry about than USDA guidelines.
If you think school lunches are bad today, you should've gone to school with me back in the 1950's. Our menu never varied: Pinto beans, collard greens and cornbread....4 days a week. Hamburgers on Friday. Guess what? None of us starved to death.
I am not sure you are up on the rules these days. I know that your lunches in the 50s sound good to me but I do wonder what the classrooms must have smelled like on those afternoons you talk about.
I think you need to read my links to see that those mothers have kids who participate in sports programs year round and since they are all rural have to work once they get home. School is out and then the sports practices start and those kids sure as hell don't get home at 3:15. What kind of food will they fill up on when they run for home? I bet it won't be broccoli, carrots and the like. They want food and fast and that is no way for them to be spending the afternoon. Have you given any thought to the fact that obesity in kids may not be strictly because of the food they eat?
I think the USDA would be ahead to outlaw cell phones all day and anything else that interferes with kids getting physical exercise. I guess too much physical exercise would burn up that little the USDA wants them to be fed so maybe they should remain sitting all day.
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