I thought it was great when I heard that there were going to start being some guidelines enforced on what schools were offering our children for lunches… especially knowing that I did with my lunch money! When I was in school, most of the options were unhealthy (pizza, hamburgers, chips), but they were also the most popular. I spent my $1.25 on a soda, an ice cream sandwich, and a piece of pizza. I cringe to think of my child making choices like that when you send them off to grow and learn… so of course I was tickled to see that they wouldn’t be offering soda, would have more fresh and healthy alternatives.
Now, as I’m reading a recent
article about a 4 year old whose lunch was sent home with the child unopened from the school because someone felt her lunch didn’t meet the USDA standards, I’m struck a little dumb.
The child’s lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, a banana, chips, and apple juice. At the end of the day, they admit it actually did meet the USDA’s criteria – but exactly when did they start busing a four year old’s lunch box and nitpicking on whether she’s got one or two servings of fruit!?
If I want to give my child a peanut butter sandwich one day, or add a hard boiled egg to his lunch on another day, darn right I’m going to do it! What’s next? Will they start counting calories for overweight children’s lunches? Removing the avocado from little Lucy’s turkey sandwich because she’s a little chunky? Throw out Mommy’s homemade Elmo cupcake that she made for little Johnny’s birthday because it’s not on the guidelines!? I hope like heck that what happened to that child in North Carolina was just a fluke… because I can already see mothers across the country getting all riled up over this.
Oh, but I saved the best for last. They didn’t just send this little girl home hungry, oh no… rather than following the guidelines of supplementing the child’s lunch with whatever they deemed it was missing, they replaced her lunch and charged her mother for it. Did they give her baked skinless turkey, an apple and carrot sticks? Oh no… they gave her
chicken nuggets. Oh yeah. And by the way, she hardly ate anything of her replacement lunch because she didn’t like what she was given.
Why are you in my child’s lunch box!?
Do you know what he likes and doesn’t like?
What he will and won’t eat?
Okay, now I know that there are children going to school with really bad lunch choices and others with no lunch at all; this program is supposed to help these children to have a healthy meal. I get this. What I don’t get is how this was handled … chicken nuggets… really?
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Comments (32)
that is just stupid.
My son asks every day if he can have a PB & J sandwich to school.. unfortunately he can't because there are quite a few children in his school with severe nut allergies, so his whole school is "nut free". I don't mind, i do most of my own baking, and he gets a good healthy lunch.the thing that really ticks me off is that our boy cannot have chocolate... (his ears go red, his cheeks get flushed, and he is totally out of control for anywhere from 4-6 hours before he crashes and has a melt down. His body just does not process it well.. yet the parents who bring cupcakes to school for birthdays only bring chocolate. I usually bring a special treat for him to have one those days so he doesn't feel left out.That's ridiculous. Also, school lunches haven't really gotten any better, actually worse. Before, they were unhealthy and edible. Now, they're unhealthy AND inedible. But perhaps that's just my school.
I dare anyone to try to take my lunch box...I'll bite them >.>The school said it was a huge misunderstanding. They wanted her to get some milk to complete her nutrition needs I guess. Apparently she thought they meant buy a whole school meal. At least, that's what I learned from the news. haha
YES, this is exactly what happens when you allow this to be legislated. That's what I've been trying to tell everybody. And they think that I'm overly paranoid. *smh*
Totally ridiculous situation! This child's brown bag lunch sounds like a better choice than chicken nuggets. Her parents weren't feeding her junk food, and I really don't see it the school's business to check up what parents send for lunch with the kids.
Its OKAY to eat a little unhealthy once in a while. Chips in her lunch? That should be fine.. Seeing as she has a turkey sandwhich (which IS healthy) and a fruit.. Not to mention Chicken nuggets are DEFINIETLY more unhealthy than one of the healthiest kinds of meat out there... turkey..
That is bogus! I remember that I starved myself during lunch because I couldn't eat the food, it was that gross. The people don't really take allergies into consideration either huh?
If it was just about adding milk to her meal, that bothers me just as much! Why do people insist that dairy is necessary to "complete" a meal? Especially when there are so many studies that link animal products to disease >=/
outrageous. mommy knows best, in this case.
They are in your kid's mind (teaching them "facts") , their clothes (dress code), their pants (sexual education for as young as 10 years old)...why would you be shocked at them being in your kid's lunch box?
If you really want to raise your kids free of government interference, then don't send your kid to a government school.
I can understand monitoring lunches for peanut allergies, since the risk posed to certain kids is so severe. This, however, is ridiculous. Schools serve such unhealthy crap to kids...they're really not in a place to decide what is and isn't healthy. That decision is for the parents.
@NightCometh@xanga - I don't think all "government schools" are as bad as people paint them to be. I was educated at public schools from kindergarten to law school. I had great teachers, did well, dressed appropriately, and didn't learn anything about sex until high school. Just like everything in life, public schools are good and bad depending on tons of factors. The demonization of all public schools, in my opinion, is baseless.
"If I want to give my child a peanut butter sandwich one day, or add a hard boiled egg to his lunch on another day, darn right I’m going to do it! What’s next? Will they start counting calories for overweight children’s lunches?"
Hey, remember your previous comment about how you were so tickled that the Gestapo would be inspecting food? Yea, this is why laws like that are a bad idea. Are you now reconsidering how great an over-reaching and meddling government is?
@NightCometh@xanga - or hope you can make a way to have other options....
Providing a healthy school lunch... a good thing... trying to dictate to the parent how to feed their child... not acceptable.
The hilarious thing is what they gave her was probably unhealthier than her original meal.
My four-year-old isn't even allowed to bring a lunch at all. All the kids in his class are supposed to eat the same thing as everyone else, regardless of whether they like it or not.
@the_rocking_of_socks@xanga - what. how is that allowed? at a public school? are you in the US?
@the_rocking_of_socks@xanga - Yeah, i mean i guess i get the concept behind that but it seems like something the parent and not the school should have the final say in enforcing/overseeing
That is freaking ridiculous! Schools should focus on having more healthy options to sell in their lunches, they shouldn't be checking the packed ones like suspect luggage..!?
I also cringed because nowadays $1.25 will get you a drink at my former high school cafeteria. Ugh.
this is what happens when they allow the government to "babysit us."
How in the world are chicken nuggets healthier than a turkey sandwich? They just want to have power and control people. Jerks.
There is never an end to the amount of facepalming I do while reading Xanga and its Ish sites.
This is pathetic. I get that we all want our children to eat healthier & not be obese, this is a good thing. But really? A huge stink is being made over this? I'm more concerned about the horrendous bullying that takes place in schools, that's continually been & is still being swept under the rug. On the flip side, it's a bit ridiculous that this happened & I can understand the outrage towards it, especially since they replaced what was a healthy meal with chicken nuggets which aren't healthy. But for me, I can control to a degree what my child eats outside of school [Which should be the case, I AM the parent, not the school.] & I am more afraid of the bullying that takes place versus my child's sandwich being deemed "not good enough." If it's an issue for the parent feeling like the school is overstepping it's boundaries they should be notified & if nothing is done [Which seems to be the case a lot of the time] perhaps the child would be better off in a different school setting if possible. If not..well..hopefully it was just a fluke & the child can bring their usual healthy lunch to school.
They take away her turkey sandwich and replace it with chicken nuggets?!?! What the.