School lunches to have more veggies, whole grains
January 24, 2012 at 11:50 pm in The Daily Republic
First lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are expected to announce Wednesday that most school meals, including pizza, will have less sodium, more whole grains and more fruits and vegetables as sides. Continue Reading
Sounds like the government is making the choices that the parents should be making. We moved here from a school that was already regulated all natural whole grain foods. Our children would not eat the food. The first few days after the change they did not eat at school then after that they brought their own cold lunch. Sad, when for some kids that is all they get to eat in a day. People need to start putting their foot down about what the government tell us our kids have to eat. Before long they will be tell the adults they have to eat what they say.
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I suppose that is one take on the situation. I commend the USDA & the First Lady on moving school lunch reform ahead. I do not see any harm in reducing sodium, doubling the amount of fruits & vegetables and making grains whole wheat grains. I will need some help understanding how that is a disservice to any child. What I like most is how the new regulations focus on a “nutrient standard” based diet rather than “food”. Previously they had to choose foods based on the food guide, so 2 veggies, 1 grain, 1 protein etc. Now they can make menus that focus on what’s actually in the food.
You are right in the aspect that for some children this is their only meal, so why not make it the healthiest part of their day? Anyone has the right to bring their own lunch, this is not being forced upon anything. I’m so excited to see that we acknowledge that 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese and with current trends by 2020 the estimated number of minority children to be diabetic will be 1 in 2. We know that a healthy diet and exercise are among the top contributing factors and yet our schools have had to cut funding to PE because of spending cuts.
The idea that kids just won’t eat healthy food is a load of bull. How do I know this? I was a part of a Harvard study at the YMCA afterschool program and we studied it. Here are the results: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/11_0097.htm?s_cid=tw_cdc1126. I watched kids choose warmed up sweet corn in a crock pot over animal crackers. I saw kids choose water over juice…..which eventually will allow programs to offer water as the only choice and be able to spend money on healthier food options for children.
Now let’s talk about the real debate on school food. The fact that these regulations do not go deep enough. For example: pizza is still a vegetable? Flavored milks are still allowed and they reduced all milk to low or non fat. (We still need healthy fat in our diet and whole milk is a good source). There are much more but I will end on this note. The schools are only getting a 6 cents reimbursement to help pay for this. It is not enough! The program costs the US $10.8 Billion in 2008. (To compare that number we spent $68 Billion in 2006 on incarcerating people in the US). After overhead and admin we spend on average less than $1 per meal per child. You can barely get a cup of coffee these days for that. So I applaud school lunch people who try their best to serve our kids and say we should do more! Where is the better investment?
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