Is the school right to enact this mandatory lunch policy?

16 Comments

  • Betty - 13 years ago

    Nutritious school lunch or not, what is happening to free choice?

  • Lisa - 13 years ago

    Wow, if they are to make this mandatory then they need to hire gourmet cooks who cook organic and unprocessed foods with no chemicals, high fructose corn syrup, food dye, etc. because that is the type of food that I cook for my daughter. Also, what about vegetarians??? We are vegetarian and from what I find most people think that "vegetarian" means veggie burgers and a whole bunch of soy junk made to look like meat which me and my family do not eat.
    I bet the school's idea of a healthy lunch would be something like boiled pasta with canned tomato sauce served with canned vegetables and topped off with canned fruit in syrup.....all served with cheap white bread make with bleached flour and corn syrup topped with cheap margarine made with chemicals.

    NO WAY WOULD MY KID EAT A SCHOOL LUNCH!

  • RD - 13 years ago

    If they are going to force children to eat the school lunches, then they need to employ cooks who will actually make healthy meals for the children, not reheat pre-packaged junk food. My daughter refuses to eat the lunces prepared at her school because, in her words, it's "gross". She says the cold food is warm, and the hot food is cold, and it tastes awful. Bringing her own lunch is the only option for us, and I know my daughter is eating something healthy.

  • Alyssa - 13 years ago

    My school's food is not only disgusting, but unhealthy. The "healthy" options include a baked potato with sour cream and butter, a salad with egg, cheese, bacon, or a wrap with chicken, lettuce, ranch, and cheese. Even if I believed these options to be healthy, I couldn't eat them because I am vegan. Some people choose what they eat based on morals, and vegetarians and vegans shouldn't be hungry or be required to support something they don't believe in. I also agree that parents know what their children like, and whether the school thinks it or not, kids are not going to eat food that they don't like.

  • Leslie - 13 years ago

    My children have been taking their lunch from home for several years because they have ADHD and I have found through my own trials that organic, less processed foods help eliminate some of the symptoms. Red food dyes make them especially hyper, even evil and aggressive to others as other artificial colors and food additives like MSG make the symptoms manifest during the day when they are expected to sit still and behave. Even refined process sugar and high fructose corn syrup are found in nearly everything. When my boys have gotten written up for misbehavior the incident could be traced back to eating candy a teacher had given him that day or simply eating the cornbread off of a corn dog served in the cafeteria from a classmate. I have written a letter every year asking teachers, assistants, etc. not to give them candy as rewards unless I can send my organic lollipops from home to substitute. This works nicely when they allow it. As my boys get older they make their own lunches but I continue to only have the organic and high protein items in the house for them to take. I would be livid if their school made this rule. I would fight every step of the way. I could get a doctor's excuse but the whole thing is ridiculous to have to resort to that.

  • Kelly - 13 years ago

    My daughter is a very picky eater, so I would insist upon sending a lunch with her. She loves apples, but not peaches, so if the school lunch includes peaches, she's not going to eat them. I want her to eat her lunch and she's simply not going to eat what she doesn't like. The food would get wasted and she wouldn't have the nutrition she needs. I realize some parents aren't as nutritionally aware as others and maybe going on a case by case basis would be better. Perhaps educating parents would be better than punishing those who know how to do it right.

  • Dale - 13 years ago

    I send lunch w/ my child specifically to AVOID some of the higher fat options of the school cafeteria. My daughter buys 1x a week (if I can manage it) and that's because 100% juice or chocolate milk served at school is not as good as the water or flavored water I would send. And whole grain pizza or baked chicken isn't as healthy as the salad wrap she actually would eat from home. And I know what she likes and doesn't like, so I can send strawberries or blackberries where she might not want what they are offering.

    A blanket policy is never the answer!

  • Last time I checked - 13 years ago

    When is the last time any of you were FORCED to skip lunch because you didn't eat what was put in front of you by your employer? Be honest. I highly doubt any adult would stand for this so why should children and their parents?

    "If a parent takes up issue with a school serving healthy food to their kids, I take up issue with the priorities of the parent" By Marcus - I don't think the issue is anyone worried about what the school serves, I believe the issue is that you either eat that or nothing - do you understand that? - NOTHING. What the school is saying is that you either put money in our coiffere or your child can "starve" for the day. That is a dangerous game to play with developing bodies. Any nutritionalist will tell you that can set up a precidence which will follow that person their entire life.

    The last time I checked we were still a free country. I know this is changing rapidly but as a partent I feed my kids very well and don't need Big Brother to tell me how to feed my children. My kids are both lettermen on sports teams (boy & girl). During the season they eat 5000 - 8000 calories per day. They are 5"8 & 5"11, weighing in a 125 & 135 respectively. They are given a choice by my husband and I to eat breakfast (which we pay for) at school or come home to eat. They choose to come home because the food is better quality and more substantial. I also make them lunches at their request though more often they opt to purchase two school lunches to feel satisfied (keep in mind they swim four hours daily). However, when I make lunch it is fantastic and they have the OPTION.

    Basically this comes down to a Nanny state and it should be illegal in America to institute the "eat ours or starve mentallity" I think Oliver Twist is quite a nice example of this. "Please Sir, more porridge".... Oliver Twist wants more porridge!!! How horrible! Ungrateful child. Poor Oliver Twist being raised by the state... oh wait, that's what is happening there. Oh, that's just dandy (not).

  • Sidni - 13 years ago

    I think this is ridiculous. Students should be allowed to choose what they want to eat. In my school, I know for a fact that our lunches are definitely not more nutritional than anything I could bring from home. We did make a change last year by taking out soda machines and debbie snacks, but we still have fatty, greasy pizza? What happens if a child brings a lunch from home, anyway? Is the school going to take it away? That's like starving someone. In my opinion, they should be offering classes to teach students about making healthier choices instead.

  • This IS America, right? - 13 years ago

    Granted, not every parent makes the best food choices, and it may be out of ignorance. Perhaps a nutritional education program requirement for the parents is in order?

    My teenager buys the school lunch for convenience but rates the food as "totally gross if I think about it."

    The statistics say that 1 out of every 3 kids in my state is overweight. Well, mine are the other 2 kids. I have to feed them extra calories just to maintain their weight. If an administrator told me I couldn't feed them what I do, my kids' doctor would have a fit.

  • Tom bautz - 13 years ago

    For a school to require all students to purchase lunch or eat NO lunch is ludicrous. I agree that schools need to offer healthier lunches. I also have no problem with the Feds requiring lunches that are subsidized through free/reduced lunch program be healthier. But to require all students to buy lunch, smells of corporate influence. My daughter, as a freshmen in college, is required to live in an on campusdorm. Makes sense. However, she is also required to purchase a meal plan at a cost of $3800-$4000. When ging through the process of plan purchase, I discovered that the provider, was a large corporate institutional meal provider. I wonder what kind of kickback the university (or in the GREAT STATE OF FLORIDA, LLC) state level politician or crony rceives.

  • Steve Jesmer - 13 years ago

    I think that schools should get rid of soda machines and offer healthy lunches but they should not have this type of policy. Instead, they could make a class about good food, hygiene and value of exercise mandatory.

  • Marcus - 13 years ago

    I commend the school for trying to do something. There was an interesting project in an school in England that removed vending machines and got rid of the traditional junk food in the cafeteria (yes, even cafeteria food is fried junk food and I am leerie of what Chartwells' serves in the story above). Anyway, the British school began serving fish and steamed vegies. No high-sugar content juice boxes, but rather healthy unprocessed and natural drinks. The result? Kids suprisingly became more focused in class, performed better and they had less behavioral problems that had previously been blamed on ADHD. If a school can improve behavior and academic performance via a strict diet, then they should try to find a way to make it happen. It could be a much more proactive way to keep "bad" kids from distracting the "good" ones. And if a parent takes up issue with a school serving healthy food to their kids, I take up issue with the priorities of the parent.

  • Crissy - 13 years ago

    I would be absolutely livid if this happened in our school/district. Aside from the fact that my daughter is an extremely picky eater and will not eat most of the things served in her school cafeteria, the lunch that I pack for her (and the foods that she prefers to eat) is exceedingly more healthy/nutritious than anything the school serves.

  • dangermaus - 13 years ago

    So, because many (maybe even most, who knows) parents at that school give their kids junk food for lunch, this principal makes it impossible for parents to try to have control over what their own children eat, even if they want to set a higher standard than what the school is offering...

    THIS is what our property taxes go for?

    @Laura -
    Because they don't get federal money for the lunch program if they just exclude food items from home.

  • Laura - 13 years ago

    Why dont they just prohibit soda or whatever fatty foods that they are trying to stop kids from eating?

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