So my kid's pediatrician says Rice Krispy Treats are OK to snack on, but......

[LSmith]

While I disagreed with the PP on the gov't paying for our healthcare, and you don't indicate where you're from, as a former farmer, and someone who is still very closely involved with agriculture in Ontario, I have to correct you on this....PLEASE don't fall prey to movies like "Food Inc" if you are Canadian....it is about the U.S....NOT Canada! Canadian farmers, as a whole, care very much about their animals (of course there are scummy exceptions everywhere) and their crops, and are actually very heavily regulated as far as what they can and cannot add, or what medications can be used in our industry. Growth hormones are illegal in Canada. Pesticides are very carefully researched, and you need to take extensive classes and have a licence to even buy them, let alone apply them.

Canada is VERY different from the U.S. i this area...please don't lump us togather....

Respectfully, while I am proudly Canadian and 25 years a Torontonian, I can assure you that I didn’t just watch “Food, Inc.” and decide what is going on in Canada and the farming industry. Almost 20 years ago I was fortunate enough to meet two extremely educated chefs in Toronto, Jamie Kennedy and Susur Lee. They, along with their wives introduced me to my education towards food. I have been passionately educating myself ever since.

Also, I have worked in the legal patent world for over 20 years. I know that it is happening here. Sadly, at the end of the day, almost the same as in the US. I have patented many genetically altered plants and animals, personally. Growth hormones may be not allowed in Canadian milk but there are many, many products sold here that contain it. They are also allowed in other areas with cows.

Pesticides on fruits and vegetables: You are never going to convince me that they are safe because they are “carefully researched” by the government. This is, of course, my personal opinion.

 

[SaraJayne]

I plan to have a nice cold glass of milk with a handful of Oreos. Seriously I have this treat once in a great while and reading the stuff about milk being bad for you inspired me to enjoy this later.

Dontcha' know milk is poison?

 

[Planogirl]

Dontcha' know milk is poison?

Apparently. I'll take my chances.

 

[SaraJayne]

Apparently. I'll take my chances.

Me too.

Nothing goes better with oreos than a glass of nice cold milk. Enjoy your snack!

 

[tiggger1]

Me too.

Nothing goes better with oreos than a glass of nice cold milk. Enjoy your snack!

Same here!!! I am also making RCT flags for my dd's 8th birthday treat on Tues because it is flag day!!!!

 

[southern_redhead]

Yeah, it's like that here too. Don't dare bring in a sugary snack, but here buy some ice cream and cookies!

And do you know why that (likely) is? Because your school is making a profit of each "treat" they sell. They aren't profiting off your "treat" that you bring in to share. Sorry, but I work in a school and I see what our kids are allowed to buy as extras - gatorades, ice creams of every shape and size, Capri Suns. I don't think any of these are "bad" but it has always puzzled me that they continue to sell these items (and allow each child to get up to 2 a day) but they have gone so "healthy" on cooking that much of the food is inedible, kids are throwing away whole lunches because they find it so disgusting. We can hardly serve a ham sandwich (which they still put on white bread?!) without fear of rankling the higher ups in food service but we can serve a bunch of rock hard oven baked chicken that kids toss out whole, leaving only their gatoade and their ice cream sandwich or popsicle to eat. I pack my kids lunches and never send money for extras. I pack a reasonable sized dessert along with a healthy lunch and my kids are some of the more physically fit kids in their class...I know a lot of that is genetic - I was a super thin child, myself - but some of it is that they aren't eating junk at home for breakfast and dinner then eating just the extra $ junk at lunch.

As a side note, I tried to send healthy snacks with ODS when he started school. I sent applesauce, grapes, carrots with dip, homemade muffins - about 9 wks into the school year his teacher sent home a note saying that some kids were bringing "messy" snacks like applesauce or dips and she'd prefer cookies or chips So, she'd rather they eat junk and have less "mess" to clean up. I considered pointing out the crumbs but realized she meant the kid had to wipe up a smear of dip of his/her desk while the crumbs could be knocked into the floor with a hand and left for the janitors and roaches to deal with.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Happy to report that my Rice Krispie treat was definitely NOT cut into a 2" square.

 

[Janet Hill]

Like I said, I don't want to turn this into a health tax debate. Our taxes do not adequately cover our health costs, especially those from diet related illnesses. Tiger

If your taxes aren't covering it - what is? Where is the money coming from?

Or does the government just deny care?

I'm just curious.

 

[Tiger926]

If your taxes aren't covering it - what is? Where is the money coming from?

Or does the government just deny care?

I'm just curious.

No, our government does not deny care, but we have huge provincial and federal deficits when it comes to our universal health care. Just read an article the other day that broke down health care by major diseases, as well as actual costs vs. taxes collected, and the numbers fall short, for many, many reasons. In regards to care, people are on waiting lists for months and months just to see specialists, surgeries are cancelled, patients sleep in hallways, etc.

Like I said, I don't want this to turn into a health tax debate, but when speaking about food based products in our schools, since our government is in charge of spending of both healthcare and education, as a teacher, I have to follow their guidelines. Principal, food teacher and myself have already met several times about this, as the government is very serious about this, so our principal is mandated by policy to have compliance in our school, just as all principals across the province will be too.

It is a difficult area, as mentioned in this thread, but for us, our schools will not be able to sell, nor give away unacceptable snacks (there is a huge chart/list that we have to comply with) starting in 2012. So, there won't be pizza sales or choco bars sold in cafeteria, nor students allowed to bring in trays full or rice krispie treats. We do have strict no peanut policies in our province too, so homemade treats at many schools, are problematic due to no ingredient list for allergies, so this has beens something that has been in place for years already, but schools do handle that differently depending upon the anaphylactic allergies that are present in their schools, and that's for both staff and students. So, some schools would have allowed the OP's rice krisipie treats, and others would not, but once the new health guidelines kick in, that will change.

Tiger

 

[torinsmom]

And do you know why that (likely) is? Because your school is making a profit of each "treat" they sell. They aren't profiting off your "treat" that you bring in to share. Sorry, but I work in a school and I see what our kids are allowed to buy as extras - gatorades, ice creams of every shape and size, Capri Suns. I don't think any of these are "bad" but it has always puzzled me that they continue to sell these items (and allow each child to get up to 2 a day) but they have gone so "healthy" on cooking that much of the food is inedible, kids are throwing away whole lunches because they find it so disgusting. We can hardly serve a ham sandwich (which they still put on white bread?!) without fear of rankling the higher ups in food service but we can serve a bunch of rock hard oven baked chicken that kids toss out whole, leaving only their gatoade and their ice cream sandwich or popsicle to eat. I pack my kids lunches and never send money for extras. I pack a reasonable sized dessert along with a healthy lunch and my kids are some of the more physically fit kids in their class...I know a lot of that is genetic - I was a super thin child, myself - but some of it is that they aren't eating junk at home for breakfast and dinner then eating just the extra $ junk at lunch.

As a side note, I tried to send healthy snacks with ODS when he started school. I sent applesauce, grapes, carrots with dip, homemade muffins - about 9 wks into the school year his teacher sent home a note saying that some kids were bringing "messy" snacks like applesauce or dips and she'd prefer cookies or chips So, she'd rather they eat junk and have less "mess" to clean up. I considered pointing out the crumbs but realized she meant the kid had to wipe up a smear of dip of his/her desk while the crumbs could be knocked into the floor with a hand and left for the janitors and roaches to deal with.

Did your kids sit at a desk in K? Mine sit on our big carpet for snack. And yes, pudding and applesauce spills are much worse to clean up on carpet. The kids don't spill a drop, they drop the whole daggone container all over themselves and the carpet. And 4-5 year olds cleaning up that spill completely?---never seen it in my 12 years teaching. Crumbs are much easier to clean with our little push sweeper and the cleaners get anything we miss in the evening. With wet spills, the rug turns gross, and they won't clean it during the year unless there is blood, urine or vomit on it. Even spilled on the floor, wet spills are worse than dry spills(teachers have to spend time cleaning it or kids will slip; kids have to change clothes). That being said, we don't put restrictions on what can be brought in unless we have allergies.

 

[NHdisneylover]

While I feel that sugary and high fat snacks should not be sold at the schools, I do feel there is a difference between the schools offering items for sale in the lunchroom and items being handed out free in the classroom.

As a parent, it is easy for me to restrict my child from eating unhealthy items which are offered for sale. All I have to do is not send my child with money to buy them. It is also easy for me to find out exactly what is available in the lunchroom and tell my child exactly what s/he may or may not buy. Additionally, on any given day some kids will buy treats and others will not so no one child feels stigmatized sitting there without the treat.

Items brought into the classroom and handed out to all are much harder to control. This is an item being handed to each child (not sought out by the child which must make an effort to purchase it and must have money from home to do so). This take away much of the parental control. As a parent, I cannot possibly list for my child every item that MAY come into a classroom to tell them what they may or may not have. I think it is fair to expect that the school sets a policy of what comes in and then I can tell my child they may have anything approved by the school in the classroom as well as whichever treats I deem acceptable (from the short list of what is there) from the cafeteria.

 

[CurlyGirl]

A doctor that considers rice krispies combined with butter and sugar as a healthy snack is an idiot.

 

[FireDancer]

A doctor that considers rice krispies combined with butter and sugar as a healthy snack is an idiot.

While even a healthy diet can consist of bad food from time to time that doesn't make that bad food healthy. A couple of time a year I have a piece of cheesecake but I don't dilute myself into thinking that that occasional treat is healthy.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

While even a healthy diet can consist of bad food from time to time that doesn't make that bad food healthy. A couple of time a year I have a piece of cheesecake but I don't dilute myself into thinking that that occasional treat is healthy.

It's got cheese and eggs in it...possibly fruit

 

[keetmommy]

This is kind of like not letting adults drink untill they are 21 (and out of the house) benge drinking and drunkeness is common.

If the gov. thinks they can keep kids from eating sweats they are dumber than I thought and I think they are pretty dumb

'

I SO agree with this...We have some good friends who restrict sweets and any junk type food with their kids...well when we get together with them and the adults are hanging out their kids raid our pantry and eat all of our treats (don't get me started on that aspect it is just the aspect of making things out of reach.. ...my kids have the choice of fruit or junk and they go back and forth between the 2)

 

[MamaLema]

Well, considering the fact that our government pays for our healthcare costs, they absolutely have the right to do this.

Tiger

The government doesn't pay for our healthcare costs, WE pay for them by being taxed to death in Canada. We even have to pay 1 cent tax on the 5 cent bag tax

 

[aaarcher86]

It's got cheese and eggs in it...possibly fruit

Those aren't the only things in a cheesecake

Adding a little fruit doesn't make something healthy.

 

[FireDancer]

Adding a little fruit doesn't make something healthy.

Really? Well there goes my plan to offset my heroine habit with an apple a day.

 

[aaarcher86]

Really? Well there goes my plan to offset my heroine habit with an apple a day.

Excellent. I can take 'destroy someone's lifestyle' off my to do list... and it's only 10:30a! It's gonna be a good day!

 

[LSmith]

Really? So you can't offset your heroine habit with an apple a day?

Exactly. Next time someone wants to bring in rice crispy squares to their child's class just add a few chopped up red peppers in it. The school will think it's healthy.

Did anyone ever notice that muffins and cake are pretty much made with the same ingredients minus the icing? Throw in a cup of dentist hated raisons and all is good.