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All the waste in my school in Britain went to feeding pigs, as for out of date produce in the shops it was either reduced or went to the homeless/food banks.
Nothing was wasted. Indeed British prisons often have farms for this precise reason.
We still do see a great deal of fresh fruit wasted. When kids don't opt for salad or a vegetable, they are required to take a piece of fruit on their tray. They take it, but often won't eat it, and it gets pitched into the trash. Dozens and dozens of fresh apples, oranges and bananas are thrown away every day. A co-worker raises pigs on her farm (this is a rural area), and asked if she could retrieve the apples from the trash to feed her livestock. This was denied, due to health code violations.
There were instances when kids took pictures of the lunch to post on facebook...with near empty trays (just the entree and potato or rice). If they'd taken the available fruit and salad from the salad bar, their trays would have been heaped. Our salad bar offers sliced cucumbers, garbanzo beans, baby carrots, peppers, celery, cherry tomatoes, chopped hardboiled egg, diced ham and turkey, onions, etc. chopped fresh every day. Even on occasion the government sends us blueberries and strawberries. We have to ration those a bit, so it serves the entire school (we feed grades 7 through 12 in our building and also prepare food for the elementary school and an offsite charter school).
The kids have an option of getting their a la carte chicken sandwich, pizza, burger, etc. as part of a mandated school lunch. A chicken sandwich or burger costs $2.00 itself...if they add milk and fruit/salad, they get the whole meal for the price of a school lunch (which is slightly cheaper than just the sandwich alone would have been). A pretty good deal, if you ask me.
You have serious issues with healthy school lunches? Who in their right mind would be opposed to that?
Do you work for the soda and junk food industry?
Better go back and re-read my comments. My response about Michelle was a result of a post that accused conservatives of hating Michelle because she was black. I'm a conservative and don't have any hatred for black people.
Now, onto the lunches. The idea to put healthy food in front of kids is a good one. However if too high of a percentage of the food is being wasted, now it's not such a good idea. Got it?
"In fact, these flexibilities make school lunches less healthy and cater to the interests of businesses that see heftier profits in mass-producing fattier, sweeter and saltier foods."
The parents should be feeding the kids, why is it the schools problem or in reality, my problem?
We still do see a great deal of fresh fruit wasted. When kids don't opt for salad or a vegetable, they are required to take a piece of fruit on their tray. They take it, but often won't eat it, and it gets pitched into the trash. Dozens and dozens of fresh apples, oranges and bananas are thrown away every day. A co-worker raises pigs on her farm (this is a rural area), and asked if she could retrieve the apples from the trash to feed her livestock. This was denied, due to health code violations.
We used to have a seperate container for food waste for the pigs, and I don't see how fruit can be a health violation. Perhaps feeding the pigs pork or certain meat would be a violation butl vegetables and fruits would make good pig feed.
In terms of the kids leaving the fruit, that's fair enough, however what the adminidstration plans on doing is increasing sugar and salt in to school meals and I am not sure what this has to do with kids leaving fruit.
A lot of countries are cutting rates of sugar and salt in all foods and drinks, and taxing these items, in terms of fizzy drinks there is already a tax in the UK and many companies have changed their recipes as a result.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs. Skeffington
There were instances when kids took pictures of the lunch to post on facebook...with near empty trays (just the entree and potato or rice). If they'd taken the available fruit and salad from the salad bar, their trays would have been heaped. Our salad bar offers sliced cucumbers, garbanzo beans, baby carrots, peppers, celery, cherry tomatoes, chopped hardboiled egg, diced ham and turkey, onions, etc. chopped fresh every day. Even on occasion the government sends us blueberries and strawberries. We have to ration those a bit, so it serves the entire school (we feed grades 7 through 12 in our building and also prepare food for the elementary school and an offsite charter school).
The kids have an option of getting their a la carte chicken sandwich, pizza, burger, etc. as part of a mandated school lunch. A chicken sandwich or burger costs $2.00 itself...if they add milk and fruit/salad, they get the whole meal for the price of a school lunch (which is slightly cheaper than just the sandwich alone would have been). A pretty good deal, if you ask me.
It all depends on how the food is made, you can make a much healthy chicken sandwich or pizza, using less sugar and salt, rather than increasing levels, which is what the current administration is planning.
Diet is important, especially in relation to children, although it's only part of the equation, which should include more sport and exercise, and more education in relation to healthy eating. Many American schools have very good sports facilities and there is no excuse for the current childhood obesity rates in some parts of the US and other parts of the world.
The banning of dispensing machines in relation to sugary snacks and drinks in schools is also a step in the right direction.
Many schools are cutting back or eliminating PE and recess.
This has been a trend among many schools for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is cost cutting. Schools are already over burdened with high student to teacher ratios, all sorts of illegal aliens kids causing additional overcrowding, unruly kids disrupting others that want to learn, etc.
One of the most absurd reasons I have heard why PE is axed, is how kids feelings can be hurt because they are not athletic or body shaming worries.
Needless to say if a kid is overweight, PE might help to get them on the right track. There have always been kids who are too fat or skinny, but to stop kids from getting exercise over a kid being poked fun at occasionally, is beyond absurd.
Then again my things have changed with traditional school things, and what food is available (or not available). Banning PB&J over the possibility a kid might have an allergy to peanuts seems nuts (pun intended).
How many of you remember kids having the paramedics work on them only to find out they walked by another kid eating peanut butter?
I remember when schools had the morning comment from the principle, the Pledge of Allegiance, PE, teacher shaming of kids who acted out in class, corporal punishment for the very unruly, most kids eating together and sharing food, and announcements at the end of the day regarding upcoming school events (which teams and competitions the school was to be involved with), etc.
All that helped to foster a sense of family/kinship with your fellow students/school. Some kids didn't get much of that at home, so at least they saw how life can be, and be better prepared when they became young adults.
So I do not fault the previous 1st Lady for trying to make an improvement in school lunches, just like I do not fault the current 1st Lady for trying to reduce cyber-bullying. That is a new phenomenon which needs to be addressed.
Don't get me wrong, as you cannot and should not try to micromanage kids all the time.
But at least the kids that got picked on only endured it for certain times per day, not 24/7/365. I imagine that is something that over time could screw a kid up without ever having a break from it. So Melania is on the right track in my view.
We have an obesity problem in our country with adults and kids. This causes our healthcare rates to increase. Sorry, we shouldn’t cater to what kids want to eat in schools. If they don’t like it, then don’t eat it.
Well, they're not eating it. They're throwing it out. And if you really looked at some of the crapulence they'd been serving at schools, you'd see why.
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