Food at Schools

[Mickey1122]

Hello everybody. Reading the threads about the new Disney food, both here and on the restaurant board, has reminded me about the situation at our schools. The 2006-2007 school year began last month, with a new food policy. Portions served in the cafeteria are smaller in all the schools (K-12) and all sodas and electolyte replacement drinks (Vitamin Water, Gatorade, etc.) are no longer sold. Candy is no longer available, and snacks, such as cookies and chips, are only sold after 12:50-and that is only at the high school. Connecticut had a law that banned the drinks and instructed the schools to create its own wellness policy. The idea is that it is easier to make healthier choices. We don't really mind the policy, because lunches are always sent in from home with non-soda drinks inside. It doesn't really affect us. My question is: Have there been any changes in your local school's policy affecting food sold in cafeterias? And are the changes meaningful? Here, you can bring in any of those 'contraband' items-they just can't be sold. I feel that that renders the new policy less meaningful.

 

[momof2inPA]

They have similar restriction in my friend's kids' school as an extension of No Child Left Behind. I call it "No Child Left With a Big Behind."

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

Yup. Our (high school) cafeteria has had a total overhaul. It's all health foods. The school store no longer sells snacks like cookies, chips, and the like. The vending machines for pop, Gatoraid (and the like), and some juices have been replaced with vending machines filled with all water with the exception of one juice one. Its purpose is to have us as the students make better choices. My opinion in the matter is that it doesn't help at all. How can we make better choices if there isn't a choice? I fully understand having some of the new stuff mixed in with the old, giving us an actual choice but until we have another option, it won't be a choice, rather, a forced lifestyle for 6.5 hours a day which is usually thrown out the window the second we get home.

 

[Mickey1122]

They have similar restriction in my friend's kids' school as an extension of No Child Left Behind. I call it "No Child Left With a Big Behind."

One thing that I have noticed about our school system is that there aren't too many unhealthy kids. Almost everyone is healthy, and it can be assumed that many people are already making 'healthy choices.' I just think that moderation in terms of food should be taught, rather than simply banning it.

BTW, there are no goody bags at all in the elementary schools now.

 

[ADisneygirl]

At the elementary school I teach at the portions have all been reduced. They no longer sell certain high fat/salt foods. They only sell ice cream on Friday and the ice cream sandwich is very small - probably less then half the regular size. The only other choice is a fruit ice. Milk is all 2%. They do still sell Gatorade, but in the small size. I personally don't like when the kids buy the Gatorades. They either drink the Gatorade and leave their food untouched, or they end up in the trash because they can't leave the cafeteria with them.

They don't stop kids from eating what they have brought from home, but the monitors remind them that candy and soda are not allowed in school for lunch. If a parent comes to eat with their child and brings McDonald's (or any outside junk type food) they must eat it outside. The cafeteria manager monitors this and enforces it.

 

[golfgal]

Our district did an overhaul of their lunch program and I think it is great EXCEPT for the smaller portions. Our kids say that they are still hungry after lunch, they are in 6th and 9th grades and growing so they need the extra calories right now. They are good eaters and FAR from overweight so if they are still hungry after lunch I don't think they are giving them enough to eat for lunch. Even DS11 has complained that he doesn't have enough to eat at lunch and he isn't a big eater to begin with.

 

[TSTEWARTFAN]

I can't wait for them to overhaul the menus in my district. I am tired of seeing funnel cakes on the menu as the entree!

 

[Captain Brain]

I'm a high school student, I weigh less than a 100 pounds.

Our school, in a small rural community, had the Soda machines taken out and replaced with Water/Juice/Gatorade. We still have sweets once a week with lunch, and we can bring a soda, just not in a two liter size. (who would do that anyway?) In our school, the French Fries are now made without salt, and they look like they have been thrown into a blender. They are the nastiest French fries I've ever tasted.

 

[snowwite]

They have similar restriction in my friend's kids' school as an extension of No Child Left Behind. I call it "No Child Left With a Big Behind."

 

[CEDmom]

Our schools are also doing smaller portions and the food is apparently pretty good and relatively healthy (assuming everything is eaten). They also don't sell anything where the 1st ingredient is sugar.

It doesn't affect us though because DD takes lunch with her. I don't allow her to bring candy in but she does have a small treat in her lunch everyday along with lots of healthy stuff.

 

[Aidensmom]

I am happy the food served has become healthier, not just in terms of not selling sodas and candy, but also that they are using whole grains and less fat. At some schools, a very large percentage of students get free lunch. I think if the state is providing it, it should be something healthy. If someone really wants their child to be able to eat the less healthy stuff, they can send it from home, we don't have restrictions on what can be brought in a lunch.

 

[aprilgail2]

Ours bakes the chicken nuggets now and doesn't not fry them which is good, but now my daughter won't eat them because they are soggy, so everyday she takes a bag lunch fro home. I wish the school sould sell yogurt because that is what she takes every day from home. Yogurt, lemonade, either a few cookies,crackers with peanut butter on them, apple slices with peanut butter on them, or pretzels with peanut butter to dip them in or a fruit roll up.-sometimes she will change the yogurt up for a jar of peanut butter and a spoon...only stuff she will eat so packing lunches for her is BORING!

 

[Frantasmic]

We have similar changes in our private school. Apparently, they get some money for reduced lunch or free lunch program and the government mandated it.

No Child Left with Big Behinds is alive and well everywhere that schools accept money to help children.

 

[Mermaid02]

My daughter says portions at her high school have gotten smaller, but the prices have gone up. Gotta love that!

 

[FreshTressa]

Our district did an overhaul of their lunch program and I think it is great EXCEPT for the smaller portions. Our kids say that they are still hungry after lunch, they are in 6th and 9th grades and growing so they need the extra calories right now. They are good eaters and FAR from overweight so if they are still hungry after lunch I don't think they are giving them enough to eat for lunch. Even DS11 has complained that he doesn't have enough to eat at lunch and he isn't a big eater to begin with.

I agree. There should be no need to limit portion size if the food offered is healthy. I send a ton of food for my son. He has a big appetite and is skinny as a rail. He never gets full on a school lunch, and on days he buys, he comes home starving with a headache.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I agree. There should be no need to limit portion size if the food offered is healthy. I send a ton of food for my son. He has a big appetite and is skinny as a rail. He never gets full on a school lunch, and on days he buys, he comes home starving with a headache.

OT Fresh, but that is a GORGEOUS picture of your family

 

[Tazicket]

Its purpose is to have us as the students make better choices. My opinion in the matter is that it doesn't help at all. How can we make better choices if there isn't a choice? I fully understand having some of the new stuff mixed in with the old, giving us an actual choice but until we have another option, it won't be a choice, rather, a forced lifestyle for 6.5 hours a day which is usually thrown out the window the second we get home.

*disclaimer- I am happy that there are healthy foods in schools. I don't want students to eat nothing but doughnuts and ice cream . Thank you*​

I totally agree. I do applaud the effort to get students to eat healthier, but I don't think it should be passed off as trying to get students to choose healthier foods and drinks. It's kind of like that old Henry Ford quote, "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black."

 

[stm61]

When I was teaching we had to do lunch duty every couple days. The entire school received free lunch so very few kids brought anything from home. I can tell you exactly what the majority of the kids ate: the desert if it wasn't fruit (canned or fresh, didn't matter), the entree only if it was pizza or something they really liked (otherwise they might take a bite before they tossed it), and the drink. Everything was tossed, didn't matter what it was. It was to the point where the teachers were telling the kids to put the sealed individual containers of fruit and jello on the ends of the table before they dumped the trays so the preschool and kindergartners could have them for snack after their naps. I'm not teaching now but my kids tell me it's still the same in their school.