Is it possible can our kids receive fresh food in school
This interest article in the New York times click on to School Menus. As you know First Lady Michelle Obama has focus on ending obesity in the United States. Mrs.Obama will be attending a annual conference with food severs , school chefs , and nutritionist, in help creating a new , healthy , fresh menu for kids in school. I must admit I am little sceptical.
Do you think it is possible that our kids can receive fresh food in school instead of prepacked meals. Does your child school receive fresh food for breakfast and lunch ?
Our school received a grant for the K-2 students to receive a fresh fruit or vegetable snack twice a week. It included cherry tomatoes, asparagus, kiwi, etc. It looked very tasty. The high schoolers were served what was left-over. I could never understand why the preschoolers weren't given the extra portions since the school must provide them with a daily snack and those snacks are anything but healthy!
Our school is part of a program that provides fresh fruit or veggies for a snack 4 days a week (not the 5th because every Wednesday the kids get out 1.5 hours early for teacher developement). I think it has to do with the high number of free/reduced lunch kids in the school. It's been great because DS1 usually eats what's offered, but he has also been able to try different things like jicama and radishes, things we might not normally have at home.
I wish! Where I teach and my son goes, we used to have free lunches from a local restaurant that adhered to the religious dietary guidelines, but the school paid for them (at a discount), and discontinued this halfway through our first year there due to "budget issues." So from then on it was pack your own. It's a sad change, because you could always count on something healthy with ususally both a fruit and vegetable. Now, I watch what some of the children bring- I have one student who will bring chips, candy, cookies, fruit, sandwich, and she manages to throw away the fruit, or trade it. It's sad.
Our pre-k program used to provide free snacks as well as lunches, when it was funded by the state, but it was pretzels/animal crackers/etc. Last year, one of the pre-k teachers made an effort to provide snacks daily out of her own pocket, so that the children were all eating the same thing at snack, but it was the same types of things. They did ask for parents to donate snacks if they could, and I sent fresh fruit several times- apples, oranges, cuties, bananas, watermelon. I know of other parents who donated bottled water, chips, crackers. They were happy to take what they could get, but I only wish it was ALL healthy, not just cheap.
The problem is that processed and packaged is usually cheaper (and almost always more convenient) than fresh/homemade/healthy nowadays...and cheap and convenient will usually win out with most people. And if parents don't teach their children healthy eating habits...well, I can't do everything in the classroom. The summer camp where I worked served fruit and vegetables, and SO many of the children threw them out, saying things like "I don't like that...My parents don't make me eat that at home..." And this was a religious program- where part of our religion is to NOT be wasteful- where I'm watching children throw away fresh foods that most hungry people would be happy to have.
Is there any way to make tying shoes fun?
- janitablue
on Aug. 2, 2012 at 10:26 PM