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There is nothing in the law that allows for packed lunches to be taken away and the law has provisions for children with eating problems. I went and looked. This was ridiculous and may have been made up entirely by the website folks. Otherwise it was a single incident where someone misinterpreted the law.
I think some of the confusion stems from the differences between preschools, and other schools (elementary etc.). In the states I have lived in, food inspections are done by state inspectors who are required to give reports about licensed child care centers and preschools. Inspectors in my state are required to periodically visit each licensed center or preschool and file reports that are available online. The schools have to comply with the rules to keep their licensing. Since violation reports also are publicly available, the centers generally want to avoid any problems.
The school where my kids now attend has a licensed preschool attached to it. This preschool actually has a different menu than the elementary school because it needs to offer both fruits and vegetables everyday to meet licensing requirements. The elementary school does not do this. (though it probably should!).
Some of these state inspectors are very picky, and I have seen teachers and administrators get nervous about inspections. Because of this, I did run into some problems as I stated in a previous post when I tried to deal with my daughter's milk allergy when she was younger.
The inspector did not take away the lunch they repacked it and sent it home with the preschooler that is why the mother asked what happened. The inspector is supposed to supplement if he/she sees there is something missing from their lunch. This is not an isolated incident many states have this law and they do give children lunches and then charge the parents for it since the parents did not supply the right food to the child.
My question is what if the inspector gives a child a food they allergic to? does the inspector go and pull medical records to check? liability?
Another question is does that inspector then wait to see if the child eats the whole meal? I hate to say it I put a piece of lettuce on my childrens' sandwhich but it always comes back in the container with the cucumbers that are cut up to eat.
Just food for thought.......
I'd be rather irate if my lunch "failed" at school and was sent home.
I looked up the town, which has a median income of around $31,000. So, I'd assume that most of the food was standard retail grade...ie white bread, deli turkey, and American cheese. It won't win a healthy eating award, but one can do worse.
And now we arrive at the chicken nugget. Forget frying vs baked. We're dealing with mechanically separated meat. Just have a look at THAT picture.
It's amazing how much has changed in the 10 short years since I left elementary school at age 12.
Funny. My kids used to pack their own lunches, no doubt I was lucky I did not get reported to CPS, for sending a child to school with a pepperoni sandwich, juice box, Oreos, and cheese sticks.
I wonder if that teacher will be looking for work soon?
I thought that the purpose of the school lunch program was to ensure that children from low income families (who have limited grocery budgets) received at least one square meal per day. Since this one meal might be the only substantial meal that some of these kids get in a day, it is designed to be as nutritious as possible.
Of course, many parents choose to buy the school lunches for their kids because they are well balanced and less hassle, maybe even more nutritious, than packing a lunch would be. My own kids buy lunch at school from time to time.
But usually we prefer to pack a lunch for a whole variety of reasons. For one thing, my kids are pokey, chatty eaters (lunch is not their main meal) and I'm afraid that lunch time would be over before they got through the cafeteria line and actually started to eat something. Better to eat the "wrong" type of yogurt from home than nothing at all, IMO.
I have never heard of an inspector, teacher or anyone else seizing a lunch brought from home or examining a home prepared lunch to determine whether or not it's balanced, then supplementing as needed (without parental consent!). Crazy. If this really is happening, I'd love to know the reasoning behind it because I do think that the logic is truly flawed.
Last edited by springfieldva; 02-17-2012 at 02:10 PM..
Here in N.C. this story is getting a lot of attention. It was not made up. Apparently the child was told to get in line and get milk but she got a whole new lunch. Still I think the official who interfered should be retrained how to handle a situation or better yet stay out of the lunch sacks.
Here in N.C. this story is getting a lot of attention. It was not made up. Apparently the child was told to get in line and get milk but she got a whole new lunch. Still I think the official who interfered should be retrained how to handle a situation or better yet stay out of the lunch sacks.
That is completely different from what was described in the OP.
pre-schools and daycare centers operated within North Carolina are indeed required to ensure that meals meet federal nutrition guidelines. But when a meal from home does not meet these requirements, the school or day care center is supposed to supplement the meal, not replace it:
If children bring food from home for their meals or snacks, or if food is catered, you are responsible for making sure it is nutritional and meets the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care. If it does not, you must have additional food available to supplement the meals and snacks brought from home. You should share nutritional information and meal ideas with parents to ensure they provide a well-balanced meal for their children.
Quote:
The child was simply instructed (it is unclear by whom, and it is unclear whether the child was first asked whether she wanted milk) to go through the lunch line to get some milk, and that the superintendent thinks "that the child became confused about what she had to do. I think the child, instead of going over and picking up the milk, I think the child, for whatever reason, thought she had to go through the line and get a school meal which, that's not our policy."
Last edited by nana053; 02-17-2012 at 03:07 PM..
Reason: adding another quote
And the lesson for this confused little girl: The school knows what's best for you, honey. Your mommy and daddy don't know how to take care of you properly.
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