I know this is somewhat OT, but I think this is very indicative of where we are headed as a country, if people do NOT speak up and make some changes!
Just so y'all know, this is the kind of thing I expected to happen with all the hoop-la with the nutritious school lunch under the microscope at the WH. How much sense does this whole thing make to you?
A mother in Hoke County complains her daughter was forced to eat a school lunch because a government inspector determined her home-made lunch did not meet nutrition requirements. In fact, all of the students in the NC Pre-K program classroom at West Hoke Elementary School in Raeford had to accept a school lunch in addition to their lunches brought from home.
NC Pre-K (before this year known as More at Four) is a state-funded education program designed to “enhance school readiness” for four year-olds.
The mother, who doesn’t wish to be identified at this time, says she made her daughter a lunch that contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, apple juice and potato chips. A state inspector assessing the pre-K program at the school said the girl also needed a vegetable, so the inspector ordered a full school lunch tray for her. While the four-year-old was still allowed to eat her home lunch, the girl was forced to take a helping of chicken nuggets, milk, a fruit and a vegetable to supplement her sack lunch.
The mother says the girl was so intimidated by the inspection process that she was too scared to eat all of her homemade lunch. The girl ate only the chicken nuggets provided to her by the school, so she still didn’t eat a vegetable.
The mother says her daughter doesn’t like vegetables and – like most four year olds – will only eat them at home under close supervision.
In an interview with the Civitas Institute the mother said “I can’t put vegetables in her lunchbox. I’m not a millionaire and I’m not going to put something in there that my daughter doesn’t eat and I’ve done gone round and round with the teacher about that and I’ve told her that. I put fruit in there every day because she is a fruit eater. Vegetables, let me take care of my business at home and at night and that’s when I see she’s eating vegetables. I either have to smash it or tell her if you don’t eat your vegetables you’re going to go to bed.”
The mother added, “It’s just a headache to keep arguing and fighting. I’ve even wrote a note to her teachers and said do not give my daughter anything else unless it comes out of her lunchbox and they are still going against me and putting a milk in front of her every day.
“Friday she came home and said ‘Mom, they give me vegetable soup and a milk,’” said the mother.
“So I went to the cafeteria to make sure she had no fee and it’s not being charged to her account yet,” she continued, ” but what concerned me was that I got a letter from the principal and it says students who do not bring a healthy lunch will be offered the missing portions which may result in a fee from the cafeteria. So if I don’t stay on top of her account on a weekly basis there’s that opportunity that charges could be put on her account and then if I let it go too far then it’s like I’m going to have a big battle.”
The principal of West Hoke Elementary, Jackie Samuels, says none of the children’s parents were asked to pay for the school food. While the parents may not have to pay, it was still an expense for the school to provide the extra food. A phone call to the Hoke County Schools Superintendent to inquire as to how much additional expense this would impose on the school was not returned.
The mother, who lives in Fayetteville, sent a statement to state Rep. G.L. Pridgen (R-Robeson) detailing her complaint. Pridgen says he was shocked to hear it. Pridgen has since learned this is a nationwide practice based on federal guidelines.
An assistant to Pridgen says the girl’s grandmother was also upset and asked, “This isn’t China, is it?”
The government inspector was from the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised program at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The program gives schools a grade based on standards that include USDA meal guidelines enforced by the N.C. Division of Early Childhood Development.
The nutrition standards for pre-K lunch require milk, two servings of fruit or vegetable, bread or grains and a meat or meat alternative. The school didn’t receive a high grade from the January assessment because the home-made lunches didn’t meet those guidelines. The mother points out the only thing on that list her daughter’s home lunch didn’t have was milk, so she doesn’t understand why the girl was given a complete school meal as a supplement.
The mother says her next step is to sit down with the principal and if nothing is done then she plans to go to the school board.
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EXACTLY!! This is exactly what I have been screaming for a long while now! And YES, I can and DO blame it on MO. This is her little pet project, so she can take the stupid overboard food police terrorizing a little 4 yo child as well as whatever health benefits come from this healthy train that she is nudging everyone to take a ride on.
That's ridiculous. States had these guidelines in place long before the Obama's were in the White House. Every state has a guideline set of what they consider to be an acceptable meal, based on the variety of food groups in the meal. I worked at a pre-k program where there was no meal provided at school and parents sent in their child's lunch. And if the state inspectors happen to come by, which they do unannounced, and a child had a meal that did not meet their guidelines, the school was cited. So we kept various things on hand to supplement their lunches, if needed. School lunches, in my opinion, are no example of what a good, nutrious meal should be. Since Reagan's presidency, ketchup has been classified as a vegetable! However, schools hae to abide by these standards in order to keep their funding, especially with young children.
Michelle Obama's attempts to help address the problem of childhood obesity, which is out of control in this country, is not a negative thing. It's about time that people stopped filling their children fulll of worthless calories and started paying better attention to what they eat.
Didn't say it was national or Obama-related, Kate.
BIG government is the type including bureaucracies that micromanage our lives. It can be instituted on a national level, like in France. It could be instituted on a local level, like in Switzerland. The national kind is worse because it tends to be more inflexible and one-size-fits-all, rather than being shaped to regional needs or changed when necessary. The local kind tends to be created and supervised by people closer to the situation and is more easily changed. I have lived in France and Switzerland and I can attest to the differences.
Quoting Kate_Momof3:And which branch of government are the Obamas affiliated with? The Big federal, centralized government. Not the BIG local government (an oxymoron imo...perhaps you could clarify?).
I agree, this is an example of stupidity.
Thinking this is the result of a national public service announcement campaign is an example of idiocy.
Quoting Meadowchik:
No, that's local BIG government. There's BIG federal, centralized government, and there's BIG local government. Then there's small versions of both.
This is an example of state and local BIG government, but also just an example of stupidity. It's a shame.
Quoting Momniscient:
Without thinking it through apparently.
OMG Socialism is coming in the form of smaller government.
Does the irony want to make you roll on the floor laughing too?
Quoting Kate_Momof3:
It's not even that big...it's the local district that should be throwing a fit.
But, you know, blame Obama. One of 'em.
Quoting Momniscient:
Wait. This is a state issue.
How is this Michelle Obama's fault? Shouldn't all you conservative small governmenters be supporting this?
You are behind, OP. The reason behind the backlash toward the white house INITIATIVE towards healthier food IS the food industry. You are siding with them and being side-tracked by the very real, very active revolving door between industry and government agencies like the FDA and the USDA.
Small sample?
Clarence Thomas- former Monsanto lawyer. Islam Siddiqui- former lobbyist for Monsanto, Bayer, etc. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- major partner of Monsanto- helping to spread the use of genetically altered seeds onto the world market (along with the debt that goes with them-India is having fun with that). Roger Beachy- was head of Monsanto's non-profit, now heading up the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Michael Taylor Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner on food safety- former Monsanto lobbyist. Lisa Wellenda Pickard- former food safety inspector (or something similar), now working for the national turkey federation. Margaret Miller, former Monsanto chemical lab supervisor, now deputy director of the human food safety and consultative services- FDA. Anne Veneman, Donald Rumsfeld, Tommy Thompson. All connected to Monsanto. Oh, John Ashcroft received quite a lot of money during one campaign of his from Monsanto. So, basically, this is a revolving door problem. The USDA and FDA are essentially fronts for industry lobbyists to funnel interests into law.
So which part again is the Obama's fault?
Quoting Meadowchik:No, that's local BIG government. There's BIG federal, centralized government, and there's BIG local government. Then there's small versions of both.
This is an example of state and local BIG government, but also just an example of stupidity. It's a shame.
Quoting Momniscient:
Without thinking it through apparently.
OMG Socialism is coming in the form of smaller government.
Does the irony want to make you roll on the floor laughing too?
Quoting Kate_Momof3:
It's not even that big...it's the local district that should be throwing a fit.
But, you know, blame Obama. One of 'em.
Quoting Momniscient:
Wait. This is a state issue.
How is this Michelle Obama's fault? Shouldn't all you conservative small governmenters be supporting this?
Excuse me, why are you asking me while also ignoring the beginning of my post that you quoted?
It was,
"Didn't say it was national or Obama-related, Kate."
It does not look good when you appear to be trying to distort poeples' posts.
Quoting Momniscient:So which part again is the Obama's fault?
Quoting Meadowchik:No, that's local BIG government. There's BIG federal, centralized government, and there's BIG local government. Then there's small versions of both.
This is an example of state and local BIG government, but also just an example of stupidity. It's a shame.
Quoting Momniscient:
Without thinking it through apparently.
OMG Socialism is coming in the form of smaller government.
Does the irony want to make you roll on the floor laughing too?
Quoting Kate_Momof3:
It's not even that big...it's the local district that should be throwing a fit.
But, you know, blame Obama. One of 'em.
Quoting Momniscient:
Wait. This is a state issue.
How is this Michelle Obama's fault? Shouldn't all you conservative small governmenters be supporting this?
It isn't her fault. But big industry wants you to think she's to blame, when it's actually them.
I don't think this could be more plain, and I find it hilarious that the OP, et al believe this to be a fairly new issue.
Quoting rccmom:
I hardly think this is MO's fault. Schools have been doing stuff like this, and worse, long before this current First Lady.
I didn't mean to imply that you did say it and it wasn't intended to read that way. No reason to take offense.
Yeah...still seeing local government being just that: local. There's no "big" in that. It can be changed efficiently because it is small, not big.
Quoting Meadowchik:
Didn't say it was national or Obama-related, Kate.
BIG government is the type including bureaucracies that micromanage our lives. It can be instituted on a national level, like in France. It could be instituted on a local level, like in Switzerland. The national kind is worse because it tends to be more inflexible and one-size-fits-all, rather than being shaped to regional needs or changed when necessary. The local kind tends to be created and supervised by people closer to the situation and is more easily changed. I have lived in France and Switzerland and I can attest to the differences.
Quoting Kate_Momof3:
And which branch of government are the Obamas affiliated with? The Big federal, centralized government. Not the BIG local government (an oxymoron imo...perhaps you could clarify?).
I agree, this is an example of stupidity.
Thinking this is the result of a national public service announcement campaign is an example of idiocy.
Quoting Meadowchik:
No, that's local BIG government. There's BIG federal, centralized government, and there's BIG local government. Then there's small versions of both.
This is an example of state and local BIG government, but also just an example of stupidity. It's a shame.
Quoting Momniscient:
Without thinking it through apparently.
OMG Socialism is coming in the form of smaller government.
Does the irony want to make you roll on the floor laughing too?
Quoting Kate_Momof3:
It's not even that big...it's the local district that should be throwing a fit.
But, you know, blame Obama. One of 'em.
Quoting Momniscient:
Wait. This is a state issue.
How is this Michelle Obama's fault? Shouldn't all you conservative small governmenters be supporting this?
How Limbaugh, Thomas, Bean produced conservative warrior Andrew Breitbart
- 29again
on Feb. 15, 2012 at 12:30 AM