Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home

[The Northerner]

To encourage healthful eating, Chicago school doesn't allow kids to bring lunches or certain snacks from home — and some parents, and many students, aren't fans of the policy

Fernando Dominguez cut the figure of a young revolutionary leader during a recent lunch period at his elementary school.

"Who thinks the lunch is not good enough?" the seventh-grader shouted to his lunch mates in Spanish and English.

Dozens of hands flew in the air and fellow students shouted along: "We should bring our own lunch! We should bring our own lunch! We should bring our own lunch!"

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-school-lunch-restrictions-041120110410,0,4567867.story

[brendan120678]

1. Gotta protect the people from their own choices!

Government knows best, after all.

[Snoutport]

9. As a teacher I can tell you that corporations are poisoning our kids. get this:

my school is on a brownbag lunch program. We pick up lunches and never know what we are going to get. Almost everything the give us is packaged corporate food. Oreo cookies, Cheetos, Fritos...everything but the fresh fruit and the sandwiches comes in a plastic bag with advertising for the company on it. One day last month there was 129% of the daily sodium intake in their breakfast and lunch.

Kids bring even worse food from home sometimes. There is one Snack-able that has 79% of the daily sodium intake in it (and Kindergarten kids are eating them). There simply are some foods that should be banned at school. Sadly, a good portion of that food is what the school is serving for lunch.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Our lunches are lots better than they used to be.

And what the school serves is ALWAYS better than what the kids bring from home. That is almost always hot chips and pop.

[Maat]

28. Well, that's your experience.

My teen's diet consists of USDA-certified, non-GMO, non-hormone-laced healthy food. I've homeschooled for the last several years, but, when I packed her a lunch, it always healthier food than that which was being served by the school.

[mrmpa]

29. Try watching the kids eat hot chips and pop for breakfast, it has sickened me to watch this, then...

in the breakfast area, everything that is offered is sugar and then at lunch it's sodium and starches.

[DJ13]

23. We pick up lunches and never know what we are going to get

Sounds like the county jail I once worked in.

[apocalypsehow]

38. As a parent I can tell you that it is none of your business what I pack my kids for lunch*.

There simply are some issues that should be banned for teachers at school to worry themselves about when it comes to the kids they are there to teach. What those kids are toting around for lunch in bags that their parents packed is one of them.




*This is to quash the dreary, diversionary, and inevitable "what about drugs? Or alcohol? Is it none of my business then?" We are talking about any legal edible food items. It's a shame I have to include this preemptive footnote, but, sadly, I am all too familiar with the tendency to erect enormous Strawmen to flail away at when some posters find their opinions challenged.

[Zax2me]

45. Corporations sell fruit and veggies too

So I guess they poison and are angels at the same time.
Or, just maybe, it is diet choices of parents/individuals that are the deciding factor in ones health.
But, easier to just label corporations as the boogey man and eat another Cheeto.

[slackmaster]

18. Government is simply trying to take care of its property

:hide:

[exboyfil]

22. I wonder how much is paid in total for subsidized lunches

Subway makes a profit offering a 6" sub with plenty of chicken and a bunch of veges on a wheat bun for $2.75. Maybe a little high in sodium but otherwise a good meal. Combine with dirt cheap subsidized milk at $.40 and you have a 400 calorie balanced meal for $3.15. Compare the $2.75 to
Compare to a partially subsidized meal at $2.15 from the school which is not nearly as good (price for adult meal is $3.05 for example which is probably around the true cost).

The footlong version is only $5.00. Maybe since these are loss leaders it is not an entirely fair comparison, but my daughters would choose Subway over what they get at school anyday.

I can't believe it being any more nanny statish than telling parents they can't pack lunches for their children. The amazing thing is that, even with subsidization, the school lunches can't compete with other choices. Kind of like parents deciding to double up on taxes and pay private school tuition or doing it themselves

[Dulcinea]

31. Follow the money.

Who profits if kids can't bring their own lunches? Therein will lie your answer.

[meegbear]

2. And Ronald Reagan DIED ... his hair ...

<snip>

"Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school," Carmona said. "It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke. But with allergies and any medical issue, of course, we would make an exception."

Carmona said she created the policy six years ago after watching students bring "bottles of soda and flaming hot chips" on field trips for their lunch. Although she would not name any other schools that employ such practices, she said it was fairly common.

<snip>

[madfloridian]

3. Better for the private food provider

"Any school that bans homemade lunches also puts more money in the pockets of the district's food provider, Chartwells-Thompson. The federal government pays the district for each free or reduced-price lunch taken, and the caterer receives a set fee from the district per lunch.

At Little Village, most students must take the meals served in the cafeteria or go hungry or both. During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten. Though CPS has improved the nutritional quality of its meals this year, it also has seen a drop-off in meal participation among students, many of whom say the food tastes bad.

"Some of the kids don't like the food they give at our school for lunch or breakfast," said Little Village parent Erica Martinez. "So it would be a good idea if they could bring their lunch so they could at least eat something."

[Johonny]

39. that's the bottom line

I don't think there's harm in the school being proactive and trying to teach kids and parents on better nutrition. I doubt forcing everyone to buy school lunches does that.

[Travelman]

4. Good grief, what an idiotic idea

Plenty of parents are perfectly capable of providing their kids with nutritious lunches in a brown paper bag. Or better stil, they could use this crazy new invention called a LUNCHBOX, into which, surprisingly, people put thier kids' lunch.

Chicago public schools can't seem to manage to keep rival gang members from wasting each other in school, but THANK GOODNESS that at least little Timmy won't manage to have 50 more calories than he's supposed to while he's dodging bullets. :eyes:



Sheesh. Stupid squared.

[Xenotime]

21. It's a good idea if parents are taking care of the children.

Then the can learn proper nutrition and maybe lead a better life.

[Travelman]

27. If the parents are taking care of the children

then they're already learning proper nutrition. They don't need some school nanny to dictate that some institutional slop is the only thing they can eat.

[gkhouston]

5. There's no way the stuff on that tray is more nutritious than what my kid took

to school today. :puke:

[jdlh8894]

8. At least he /she was allowed to bring their own!

[gkhouston]

10. She would in any case; she's allergic to peanuts.

It's one of the reasons she opts for "home lunch" most of the time, but not the primary one. The school menu is largely peanut-free, but there aren't many items on the school menu she even wants to try after seeing other kids eat them. She likes having fresh fruit and vegetables and whole wheat bread in her lunch and you know what institutional food is like.

[jdlh8894]

6. "Who thinks the lunch is not good enough?"

School lunches were never "good enough" when I went to school.
But,you make do.
Not trying to be nasty,but -

1- Are they paying for their lunches?
2-Can their parents afford to pay for what they want?
3-Not sure I want to go there!!!

[frazzled]

7. Note that this is one principal's decision at one school, not CPS policy

And I don't know how they let her get away with it!

Several issues:

(1) As some of the kids in the article mention, they don't LIKE the school lunch. My kids never did, and I packed them (healthy) lunches for many many years (first grade through high school). My daughter used to complain in elementary school that they served "gray" meat and insisted she eat it before she'd be allowed to go to recess. She became a vegetarian by age 9 (and still is 20 years later). My son was just an extremely picky and limited eater. I mean, honestly, a simple PBJ or turkey sandwich and an apple and carrot sticks from home is simply going to appeal to many kids more than the prefab food served up by today's industrial school lunchrooms.

(2) Little Village, for those who don't know Chicago neighborhoods, is predominantly Hispanic. I don't know what the school is offering for lunch, but it may be very far from their cultural norms.


I can see a school saying you're not allowed to bring sugary soft drinks like Coke to school, or candy in your lunchbox. But aside from that, this is not a good thing.

[Monique1]

11. Well that depends

I worked in schools where children brought their own lunches, yes, real nutritional. Yep, they brought soda pop, cupcakes, brownies, lunchables, chips, candy bars etc. A healthy lunch was unusual. My policy where I was a director was no sweet foods or sweet drinks, and yes daily fighting parents to send nutritional foods. Parents excuse was I pay to make these lunches, I don't have time to prepare their lunches or you know I allow them to eat this food.

I do remember the Hispanic children's lunches predominately nutritional. Actually it was the more affluent or middle class white parents who had the above attitude.

I worked as a director in a poorer district and a more affluent area. Give me the poorer parents and children any day they are more willing to work with the rules and suggestions.

[hedgehog]

12. I have several questions. Since this seems to be a charter school,

did the parents choose to send their kids there or were they assigned?

How much input do the parents get into school policy?

[brendan120678]

16. I don't think it is a charter school...

the news article calls it a "public school" and the school's website leads me to believe it's a normal public elementary school.

http://www.lva.cps.k12.il.us/lva/HOME.html

[madfloridian]

19. I think it may be a charter. They all call themselves public.

So it's very very very hard to tell anymore.

It is an internet type school, it seems. I just went all over their website....and I still have the impression they are a charter school. I can not prove it.

Usually the word academy means charter or magnet or choice as to distinguish from regular public schools.

Whatever they are they are benefiting the private company that does their lunches.

[msanthrope]

34. It is NOT a charter--it is a public school. Read the link--CPS allows this. n/t

[Recursion]

24. All charter schools are public schools (nt)

[frazzled]

26. It's not a charter school

http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?unit=2590

http://www.lva.cps.k12.il.us/lva/HOME.html

And it's 99.6% Hispanic and 100% Low Income

[OhioChick]

13. And that shit on the kid's plate is healthier??

:puke:

[1monster]

14. I've worked in schools for nine years now. And I won't eat their food, let

alone force my kid to eat them.

Elementary school lunches for him were great and so, through fifth grade, he ate school lunch. Middle school lunches ... not so good. And by the time the kids got through the lunch line, they often only had five minutes to scarf down their pizza or fried chicken nuggets and curly fries (which were the endless choices kids had EVERY day.) Occasionally, I saw something called winter vegetables -- a dark green and pale green mixture of mushy, over cooked broccoli and cauliflower and some reddish spaghetti noodles. But if I wouln't eat what was being served, I wouldn't make my kid eat it.

I packed his lunch everday from sixth grade through graduation last year. And I'm satisfied that I gave him healthier and better food than he would ever have gotten from the school lunch program.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I thought the Feds (who pay for most of the food) already banned junk food

That's been the policy as long as I can remember. :shrug:

[madfloridian]

20. Here's the website for the food provider.

http://www.chartwellsschools.com/Patnerships.cfm

They are ones who benefit from this policy. From the looks of the food on the tray in the OP, it is not the kids.

[pecwae]

25. Would the school

rather the kids go hungry? If they don't like what's being served they aren't going to eat it. Kids are kids. But at least the corporation providing the lunch will still get paid.

[Odin2005]

30. And some wonder why people hate "Big Government"?

It's because they associate it with shit like this.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

32. That looks like vomit on a plate.

It's disgusting. It's like the crap we used to get before they hired an actual nutritionist. We may not have liked it every day, but it was healthy. We had other options, including salads and pizza. It was actually really good food.
I do remember the kids at the detention center we used to work at eating better than these kids. At least what they had to eat wasn't vomit on a plate. It was healthy too. And they actually ate it and like it. Kids who never ate a real meal thought it was great.
The stuff in that picture is foul looking. And it's that and a thing of milk? That's it? No fruit? No vegetables? Where is the money going?

[Cairycat]

33. I serve lunch every day in an elementary school

School food is usually made in a central kitchen, kept hot, transported, and kept hot some more until the students eat. Because of that, it does not and never will taste just like a similar lunch made at home. The USDA has limits on fat and sodium that are much stricter than most people follow at home. Currently, the daily requirement for elementary students is 3/4 cup daily of fruits and vegetables, in two different plus an additional 1/2 cup over the course of the week. Secondary gets 1 cup daily. There are limits as to how much of that can be juice. I don't think the majority of brought-from-home lunches would meet those requirements.

About 99% of the brought-from-home lunches I see are Lunchable, baloney or PBJ (very heavy on the J), and individually-packaged snack foods. About 50% will have a banana or orange or grapes or other fruit. I saw a kindergartner today with a large bottle of FUZE, which I don't think even has any juice in it. I see a lot junkier foods brought from home than I ever let my kids take in their lunch.

[slackmaster]

35. How much of the food that you serve gets thrown in the trash?

You can require that kids get served fruits, vegetables, fruit juices, etc., but you can't force them to eat or drink anything.

[Dappleganger]

36. +10000

If kids are complaining and habitually throwing away lunches, clearly the cafeteria menu isn't accomplishing it's goal and needs to be changed.

[Cairycat]

37. A lot, but

of course, a lot of the home-packed lunches get tossed also - especially any fruits and vegetables. In my school, we do offer vs. serve, which means the student only has to take 3 of 5 components of the lunch. For example, we might have hamburgers, green beans, pears, and milk. They would only have to take a hamburger and milk, or hamburger and pears, if they don't want milk (allergic & lactose intolerant students get orange juice instead of milk, but it doesn't count as a component).

[slackmaster]

40. I remember eating school cafeteria food when I was a kid. I only rarely threw anything out.

I was taught at home to clean my plate, that wasting food was immoral; and also the value of eating a diverse, balanced diet.

[haele]

41. I remember real lunch ladies coming in when school started and making real food

there in the lunchroom in elementry school and jr. high. There was a big industrial stove and oven set-up, and both a refigerator and a freezer in a large pantry. Around 9:30, you'd start smelling lunch being made.
Yes, they got institutional supplies, but they'd actually prepare and cook something, including cookies or a cobbler of some sort for dessert, and there was always seasonal fruit. And they'd make a real grilled cheese sandwich or have PB&J for those who might not like the fish sticks or meatloaf for lunch. Lunch was served in pale green or tan colored melamine trays and bowls.
And there was always a soup of some type.

The best lunches were the twice a month sliced turkey breast over mashed potatoes with either applesauce or cranberry sauce scoops alongside.

Haele

[and-justice-for-all]

42. That is going a bit to far...nt

[surrealAmerican]

43. Banning non-nutritious lunches is no substitute ...

... for actually teaching kids about nutrition, and that's what they desperately need. I realize it's not something the children are tested on, but it's a vital life skill. We need to take the time, especially in the early grades, and teach these children what a balanced diet is, how to read food labels, and how to decide what foods are good for them, and what to avoid.

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. whoa! Educate the parents, don't ban their lunches.

[Honeycombe8]

46. This isn't about health. It's about MONEY. I bet a lot of families...

weren't buying the lousy lunches. The school probably needs a certain # of kids buying the lunches..either to get better prices or to make more $$$.

I'd like to see them try that here in Texas.