Change in school lunches

Was this in the "old time sayings" thread? "You can lead a horse to water...."

Cultural changes have caused changes in the way we eat: time of day and venue, types of food, degree of factory prepared foods, etc. We are losing the art of cooking among the poor to factory prepared foods that are high in salt, fat and sugar. Those foods satisfy the need for instant gratification and, like many addictive drugs, condition the brain to crave them all the more. In an increasingly high stress society, many people reach for high calorie/fat/sugar foods to ease anxiety with the endorphins the brain releases. Not all people are susceptible to this pattern of behavior but, there is no doubt, I am an endorphin addict. I am 100 pounds overweight.

My mother volunteers at a food bank and she said no one knows what to do with fresh potatoes, dried beans, fresh vegetables, etc. People on the low end of the economic spectrum are confused about what constitutes food and often reject good food even when prepared for them. I have heard many ignoramuses say things like "I ain't eating that crap" when referring to cooked vegetables like spinach or cabbage at a church dinner. I know many fools who NEVER eat fruit OR vegetables OR whole grains. I have an employee who declares she eats vegetables but I have never determined one that she will eat. I have another employee who eats only dinner, rarely has fruit or vegetables and drinks four 24oz Mountain Dews during the day.

Most are eating white bread & its derivatives, sugar, fats, and meats. Most don't get enough roughage. Even my wife, who knows better, avoids beans and cabbage like the plague. I eat way too much fast food. I love my home-prepared whole foods but they are in short supply in my busy household. My wife cooks about three dinners per week that I can partake of. Not all of those contain the roughage or the balance I'd like.

Kids are victims of their culture and often their ill-informed parents. Unfortunately, the school alone isn't going to save them. Good parenting and better family habits from a reformed culture will do that.

Wow I finally found someone else who has the same conclusion I have on this program. When I went to school, the food was good (tasting) and now it just plain sucks. My kids don't want to eat it half the time now, so I wonder what it will be like when they go "healthy." They are also getting rid of whole milk and 2% milk. Personally, I can't drink skim milk and I don't imagine most kids will want to either. They should offer water and maybe 100% juice too. (not something like Hawaiian punch which is all sugar)

Everyone else I talked to basically said I'm stupid and kids are fat now-a-days so this is the greatest thing ever. I'm stupid because some parents are lazy and refuse to take care of their kids properly? Newsflash: One healthy meal a day isn't going to reverse the effects of parents who stuff their kids full of McDonalds every night.

I'd like to think mine are taken care of and being raised right and not told to go watch tv or sit in front of the computer all day to get out of my hair. My kids are active and eat home cooked meals almost every night. We do outdoor activities such as camping, bicycling, swimming, walking. The kids play sports such as cheer leading/football, basketball, softball/baseball.

Then it's court ordered that they go with their grandmother every other weekend and holidays (she happens to work at a school, BTW.) There, they get to watch tv all weekend and are bored out of their mind. She has 4 different meals she "makes" which are fast food, sandwiches, popcorn chicken, or chef boyardee canned products (No trimmings, no fruits, no vegetables.) I'm pretty sure she makes home cooked meals for her and her husband but not enough for the kids. Heck, on Thanksgiving day the kids weren't allowed to even have a bite of turkey at their house because they made it to take to another relatives house for dinner.
Sorry, I got off topic -- it just fires me up!

mikeandgerry wrote:Was this in the "old time sayings" thread? "You can lead a horse to water...."


My mother volunteers at a food bank and she said no one knows what to do with fresh potatoes, dried beans, fresh vegetables, etc. People on the low end of the economic spectrum are confused about what constitutes food and often reject good food even when prepared for them.

Here is an "old time sayings " for them, DON'T THUMP A FREE MELLON , and to quote Ebinezer Scrooge, if they don't want to eat a free meal that they can't provide for themselves "WELL LET THEM DIE AND DECREASE THE SURPLUS POPULATION" not the kids, just those that are old enough to know better.

jpete wrote:According to GHWB, ketchup(catsup?) is a vegetable. But a tomato is a fruit.

Actually that goes further back than GHWB. Ketchup as a vegetable was decided by Ronald Reagan.

Geez, I must be as senile as Ronnie.

I thought it was Bush Sr that said that. Around the time his VP was arguing with elementary school students about the proper spelling of potato.

mikeandgerry wrote: cooked cabbage at a church dinner.

........music to follow!!

Sounds like another episode of "You don't know what's good for you so we are going to make our choices mandatory". Like the other posters say. It's up to us as parents to get our kids eating the right kind of foods at home. The school meal will only marginally help those who eat poorly the rest of the time.

Hey Mike, really good post. My daffy ex-sister in law read a book called The China Study, that claims all cancer is caused by animal protein. So she became a vegan, and from what I hear, she's sickly as hell now. Her dad fought cancer and it was bad. I think she's looking to be sure she doesn't get it. I know how it is. I eat mostly bad and horrible. I know better. If I'm in a bad mood, I'll be much more likely to hit McDonald's. What a comfort. I loved Wendy's too until they changed their fries. Their new fries SUCK. I gotta write that company.
I have a friend that is on the lower side of the socio-economic spectrum. But that guy makes eating seem like a ritual. Organic everything, really good diet. He's a good cook too, I would eat like that if I was not exhausted from labor work.
A lot of citizens don't want to be told what to do; especially when the example is Michelle Obama whose measurements are 36-26- the equator.

Check out what's happening to our food supply, our farms...

required watching...







There is a huge battle for our food supply. Like it or not.. School lunch is big business.

If the government was really concerned about kids health, the first thing they would do is require kids to take phys ed everyday like we used to. Many schools don't have it at all anymore. So they coup little boys up in a classroom all day and then when they act like little boys, they are said to have ADHD and forced to take drugs like Ritalin.

Low calorie and low fat food. WTF !
Would you buy coal that only had 2,000 btu / lb. ?