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Ani, since you and I no longer have school age kids, you may have missed what's been going on in public school cafeteria's in the last 2 years. If you do some research, you'll see what the problem is.
Mrs. Obama and the federal government have drastically altered the school lunch programs in public schools across the nation.
The program is not going well. At first these changes were just thrust on the kids without any education or explanation in many cases.
Because so many are now in an uproar, Mrs. Obama is championing an educational effort like the one our OP describes.
What they basically did was put the cart before the horse.
Cafeteria workers and managers I know are just livid. Kids are blaming them and I am told, are wasting TONS of food, especially expensive fresh fruit, in protest and because they don't the low calorie choices being served.
Sure, it's a "well-intentioned" program, and I agree we have an obesity problem in our country and need to address it...But like many liberal agendas, this one was just not well thought out or executed.
I thought personal responsibility was a conservative trait. If you're getting subsidized lunches from the government, the food should be healthy. For too long, it's been utter crap.
Those videos were created by a politically active teacher. I find it utterly appalling that she used her students for this - particularly the very young ones.
The opposition to this based in pure political obstructionism. Protest all you like or bring your own darn lunch.
A lunch between 750 and 850 calories is freaking plenty. Over 3 meals and snacks you get about 2550 to 3000 out of meals like that. If you're an athlete, you can bring extra. Again, this using children as a political tool. Look who's picking up the torch on this - Steve King of the Tea Party Caucus Kansas parody video mocks school lunch anti-obesity law efforts - New York Daily News.
Kids might be complaining because they've been overfed for so long they're not used to normal sized meals.
Those are two (or more) different issues - the tracking of fruits & veg eaten, and the new cafeteria lunch restrictions.
I remember very well making charts of the same kinds of things - one was for colors, i.e., how many red foods did you eat each day? How many yellow? etc., teaching both chart-making and nutrition. When my son was in school, I signed a paper noting how much he read each night, 20 minutes, half an hour, etc. I signed it to show the teacher I was involved, and aware. I'm guessing this is the same thing; it's less about keeping tabs on what you eat, and more to show the teacher that you're aware of the assignment and your child didn't just check something off.
I mean, really? With everything teachers have to do in a day, do you honestly think they'd take on monitoring what your family eats? Maybe you could do something like... I dunno, talk to the teacher? Have a conversation?
I would bet the Michelle Obama initiative - which, if those articles are true, IS misguided, kids NEED calories, and the no meat thing is way overstepping - has nothing to do with this simple assignment. Or, if they're related, it's simply an attempt to bring awareness of the amount of fruits & vegetables in your kid's diet. Nutrition has been taught in school for decades. Some of it misleading - that food pyramid had very little to do with nutrition, and everything to do with promoting the agenda of the Cattlemen's Association and the Dairy Board - but part of the curriculum.
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The OP failed to name the school or district. He or she could be in Omaha for all we know.
Schools used to be required to provide nutritious lunches & you always had the option to bring your own. That isn't what the thread is about, though. The form should have come with a letter of explanation. The OP should have called the school instead of posting a politically inflamed post. If the OP didn't get the form until after the office was closed, a call to another parent might have gotten an explanation.
When I was in grade school, in the '50s, we would occasionally take this type of thing home, with a mimeographed note of explanation from the teacher. About 1/2 of the notes got home & our mothers assumed that there was a reason & called the school or other parents. There's a reason for the form. Find out first before getting paranoid
Last edited by southbound_295; 10-06-2012 at 11:49 AM..
Oh, for heaven's sake - the new guidelines don't BAN meat for breakfast, meat is no longer mandatory for breakfast, leaving it up to the school. Grrr. So much misinformation, then panty-twisting over the misinformation... That's not about the OP, I am just so tired of the lies, distortions, and half-truths, and people ranting based on those.
In one article I read, it was stated that an early version of the new government guidelines would have limited French fries and pizzas; those changes were blocked because of pressure from potato growers and frozen-pizza-manufacturers. Somewhere, we've gone very wrong.
Ani, since you and I no longer have school age kids, you may have missed what's been going on in public school cafeteria's in the last 2 years. If you do some research, you'll see what the problem is.
Mrs. Obama and the federal government have drastically altered the school lunch programs in public schools across the nation.
The program is not going well. At first these changes were just thrust on the kids without any education or explanation in many cases.
Because so many are now in an uproar, Mrs. Obama is championing an educational effort like the one our OP describes.
What they basically did was put the cart before the horse.
Cafeteria workers and managers I know are just livid. Kids are blaming them and I am told, are wasting TONS of food, especially expensive fresh fruit, in protest and because they don't the low calorie choices being served.
Sure, it's a "well-intentioned" program, and I agree we have an obesity problem in our country and need to address it...But like many liberal agendas, this one was just not well thought out or executed.
Oh yes, I am fully aware. Have been discussing it with 2 nutritionists, actually. There is so much I could say about how I feel about the program, starting with . . . education is a local issue and the problems we have in our schools today is directly attributable to the federal gov't handing out money like candy in accord with a gazillion regs that schools must comply with. However, what most folks don't understand is . . . a bunch of the regs would not apply if we weren't accepting the money.
Local education is no longer local. That extends to food issues, as well. Subsidzed breakfasts and lunches.
I have gotten into this subject b/f and it didn't go well with the entitlement crowd amongst us . . . so I won't say anymore other than . . . if we want our schools to improve, we will have to get off the Federal teat.
Just wait until they do the "mock voting" at school. They ask the children to pretend they are voting in the presidential election, knowing that most children will vote like they have heard at home. Putting out "feelers" so to speak. I have never liked it and it feels intrusive to me. This year I think I will tell my kids to write in a candidate.
Have to agree with the OP regarding the food project. I have a first grader and a second grader in the public school system. We pack lunches to bring to school and it is nobody's business what we eat at home.
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