What has happened to kids school lunches?

[mousefan73]

Which this brings me to my next thought. I still cannot figure out why I was not allowed to sit with the other kids at lunch because I brought my lunch back in elementary school. I had to sit at a table by myself, several tables away. I was kind of a trend setter because eventually others started bringing their lunches too. We were still required to sit a separate table away from our classmates who were eating what the cafeteria was serving. I think back to those days and I am still baffled by some of the things our teachers said and did.

For some reason this sounds oddly familiar. Did you go to school in the 80s? I wonder if it’s because they had the kids who got the hot lunches they had to get them all lined up and organized and maybe it was easier just to put the sack lunches in a group and someone else would watch them?

 

[DeeBee3]

Wow, costs have sure gone up! When I started elementary school, school lunch was 45 cents and when I graduated from high school it was one dollar.

Have to say $3 for the food they get is a steal in today's terms. They get actual deli sandwiches (made from a real place) and real pizza - not frozen or microwaved, etc. Half the time I am tempted to send in money to get a sandwich for myself! If I were to buy the same thing at that deli it would be closer to $10. Especially if you included the fruit sides, etc.

 

[TLSnell1981]

One word describes what happened to school lunches -- Michelle. Mrs. Obama's efforts to make school lunches more healthful have caused children to not eat. School lunches in our district contain no seasoning, no fat, no sugar, and very little meat. The only dressing they get is fat-free ranch. I see kids take one bite of the entree and throw the meal away. I know that obesity is an issue with children, but a little fat or sugar is not going to hurt a child whose only food is what they get at school. Dinner for many of the kids where I volunteer is ramen.

Definitely keeps kids from over eating.

 

[tzolkin]

I worked with several schools that had a larger than average percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches, that transitioned to a "free lunch for everybody" model. They saved enough in administrative costs that they were spending the same or even a little less after the transition.

Yes, it absolutely can be worked into the budget and may actually be a cost savings. People don't think about the wages needed to pay people to evaluate all the free/reduced applications, to accept payments and update student accounts, to go through the books on a weekly basis to see who owes, to print and mail notices (is it really worth the paper, stamps, and time to send out multiple notices to someone who owes 25cents?)

Schools could also have a "pay what you want" or donation option as well if they didn't want it to be 100% free. When we lived in a very poor rural area (90%+ on free/reduced meals), every field trip and activity was also free. If the school didn't have the budget to cover the cost in full, they didn't schedule the trip. This was so much better than having kids miss out on field trips and fun things simply because they could not afford it. If you did have the money for the trip, you could send in a check but it was completely optional and the money would go into the "field trip fund" for the school's budget.

 

[TLSnell1981]

@DodgerGirl my apologizes for calling you a Troll, I guess we all have different lunch room experiences. Me personally I would have loved fruit/brownie lunch packs... I believe in HS I ate a Little Debbie Nutty Bar for lunch everyday and fries.. NO wonder I am fat today...

I think it's sad when parents ( based on some commment on Michelle Obama) are criticial when kids are introduced to healthier eating habits.. Maybe we should force our kids to eat more salads/veggies iso crap at lunch. Mac and Cheese Homemade or box is CRAP from nutrional view. and we wonder why childhood obesity is an epidemic.. I wish back then somebody would have forced me to eat salad iso a Nutty Bar

Healthy food doesn’t have to be bland. School food is already gross. The restrictions MO introduced were mostly inedible.

BTW there are many healthy choices other than salads and raw veggies. They aren’t easy to digest.

 

[wvjules]

Healthy food doesn’t have to be bland. School food is already gross. The restrictions MO introduced were mostly inedible.

BTW there are many healthy choices other than salads and raw veggies. They aren’t easy to digest.

Can you be more specific?

Also, this wasn't just Michelle Obama. It was passed in House and Senate with a bipartisan vote.

 

[BrianL]

@DodgerGirl my apologizes for calling you a Troll, I guess we all have different lunch room experiences. Me personally I would have loved fruit/brownie lunch packs... I believe in HS I ate a Little Debbie Nutty Bar for lunch everyday and fries.. NO wonder I am fat today...

I think it's sad when parents ( based on some commment on Michelle Obama) are criticial when kids are introduced to healthier eating habits.. Maybe we should force our kids to eat more salads/veggies iso crap at lunch. Mac and Cheese Homemade or box is CRAP from nutrional view. and we wonder why childhood obesity is an epidemic.. I wish back then somebody would have forced me to eat salad iso a Nutty Bar

I think the real key isn't necessarily, "Healthy" but rather, "Balance." They should absolutely consider nutrition of course, but it doesn't all have to be 100% health food either. A peice of grilled chicken with a couple of vegetables as a side should work, even if the ocassional side is mac & cheese. As long as the portions are moderate, there's no harm.

My school had that classic cafeteria style lunch. We would get spaghetti, salisbury steak, meatloaf, chicken breast, with the ocassional pizza or taco day peppered in (always the most popular). It always came with a vegetable side - typically corn, green beans, etc. - and possibly mashed potatoes or mac & cheese, and also some fruit cocktail of peaches/pears as "desert" - pudding sometimes. The thing is the portions were small of each thing. There was the possiblity to buy ice cream, but this was only allowed if you ate your meal and all your veggies - the lunch ladies checked when you would turn in your tray. Now, that wasn't exactly the absolutely healthiest of meals all around, but couple that with daily P.E. and a vigorous recess (and I'm not kidding, we ran around like wild animals!), and I don't think it was contributing to the obesity epidemic.

 

[TLSnell1981]

All carbs are not equal. Everything in moderation. If kids won’t eat the food it’s kind of defeating the purpose of providing meals. It’s just common sense.

 

[wvjules]

All carbs are not equal. Everything in moderation. If kids won’t eat the food it’s kind of defeating the purpose of providing meals. It’s just common sense.

You stated it was too restrictive so I'm asking what you find restrictive about it? Did it say No carbs?

 

[leahgoogle]

Did the Healthy Hunger-free kids act mandate that schools buy pre-packaged, processed, preserved crap? Or is that just what your district did instead of trying to make healthy meals from scratch?

That is what we were told. I'm not sure if they were mandated to follow that program, but they did so they are bound by what the program tells them they can serve. Nothing is from scratch any longer.

 

[leahgoogle]

yeah I was served tasteless, oily, packaged stuff in the 1980s. So I think you may be off a bit...

That's sad for you. Our school used to make food from scratch until they signed up for the program.

 

[barkley]

My school had that classic cafeteria style lunch. We would get spaghetti, salisbury steak, meatloaf, chicken breast, with the ocassional pizza or taco day peppered in (always the most popular). It always came with a vegetable side - typically corn, green beans, etc. - and possibly mashed potatoes or mac & cheese, and also some fruit cocktail of peaches/pears as "desert" - pudding sometimes

no 'dessert' when i was in elementary school. i remember the plastic trays had 4 sections-largest for the protean, 3 smaller for veggies (on a rare occasion fruit), carb, and to set milk on. i think it was b/c there was no prevailing mindset that people had dessert with lunch.

 

[leahgoogle]

Can you be more specific?

Also, this wasn't just Michelle Obama. It was passed in House and Senate with a bipartisan vote.

This program was MO's baby. It might have also been passed by the House and Senate, but she was the face of the program and how it was promoted.

 

[monsterkitty]

Why yes, we do provide free lunch here in Maine- and breakfast, too. I am happy to have my tax dollars spent this way instead of buying another war machine of some sort.

Colorado provides free breakfast and lunch to all students. We voted on this last year.

That is what we were told. I'm not sure if they were mandated to follow that program, but they did so they are bound by what the program tells them they can serve. Nothing is from scratch any longer.

Many school districts have sourced-out food service to outside companies in order to save money and the headache of preparing and serving the meals. The outside companies are now responsible for that. When our district switched to their first outside company, it was all pre-packaged food that was heated and the students removed the packaging from their meal before they ate. The current company, Chartwells, at least removes the packaging before serving the meals to the students, haha.

The district I taught in was 90-100% free and reduced lunch depending on the school you were at. By moving to the private company, the private company was responsible for making sure the lunches met the federal requirements (even way before 2009) yet also were cost saving so that they could be reimbursed fully for the F&R costs.

My first 10 or so years of teaching and the years I was a student in the same district, all our lunches were homemade and we had tons of choices. Around 2000 or so, our food service managers were no longer allowed to have open salad bars/taco bars/potato bars etc because they were too expensive to be reimbursed from the federal programs. They also started limiting what homemade food could be served. They switched to the outside company in around 2005.

Each meal must have a protein, fruit/veggie, and milk or juice for those who cannot consume dairy.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

DH and I both loved our school lunches (60s and 70s) and we still talk about them today. I went to a newly built school and it had a modern kitchen with homemade food at a cheap cost. That said, I didn’t always buy lunch, sometimes I brought one in a cool metal lunchbox with thermos.

I will say that one thing I liked at both my elementary/jr high and high schools were that the tables went lengthwise. There was never a problem with sitting with friends that I saw in my kids’ schools with round tables with a limited number of seats where inevitably some kids were left out.

 

[BrianL]

no 'dessert' when i was in elementary school. i remember the plastic trays had 4 sections-largest for the protean, 3 smaller for veggies (on a rare occasion fruit), carb, and to set milk on. i think it was b/c there was no prevailing mindset that people had dessert with lunch.

We had trays with 5 spots, a large one, a round one and three squares at the top. One spot was for your milk and there was a long slot on the side for silverware. The desert was almost always canned fruit. The pudding would have only been for special days, like on Halloween they always did some "spooks-ghetti" and there would be some chocolate pudding with a plastic spider ring or some such on it. Otherwise it was always fruit cocktail, etc. Those are pretty sweet and syrupy though, so not too dissimilar from a desert.

 

[monsterkitty]

Ok, I will bite.....why?

Is there no personal responsibility for the parents that are raising these children? Where does this stop, should the government feed all kids in college also, why not in their adulthood also?

People that need assistance should get that assistance to get back on their feet, but personal responsibility has to play some part of a functioning society.

Nothing like watching a kitchen manager rip a lunch out of a child's hand because the child's parents couldn't pay for the lunch.

Children should never suffer because their parents can't afford a school breakfast or lunch.

I taught in a high poverty district for 32 years. Many of those parents held two or three jobs so they could keep a roof over their children's heads.

 

[sam_gordon]

I vaguely remember enjoying most of the lunches when I was in HS. A couple of the items that stood out were pudding on the a la carte menu and cinnamon rolls. They would do a "honor roll" breakfast after each of the first three 9 weeks and kids (and their families) who made the honor roll were invited. The breakfast was just the cinnamon rolls and milk (I think, maybe juice). LOVED them. Other than those, we did not have breakfast options. This was in the 80s.

My kids attended fairly large middle and high schools and they had/have multiple lines. With rare exception, the kids bought their lunches from the school. About 2-3 years ago they changed over that every student in the district got free lunches (and breakfasts if they desired).

 

[Boopuff]

I worked in a low-income school. The food was interesting. Sometimes we’d get great handmade stuff (tamales to die for!) other times a bag of chips with chili (yuck) and sooooo much waste! We had kids from many different cultures, and some food was just not in their wheelhouse. The food plan really needs to consider this!

 

[leahgoogle]

Colorado provides free breakfast and lunch to all students. We voted on this last year.

Many school districts have sourced-out food service to outside companies in order to save money and the headache of preparing and serving the meals. The outside companies are now responsible for that. When our district switched to their first outside company, it was all pre-packaged food that was heated and the students removed the packaging from their meal before they ate. The current company, Chartwells, at least removes the packaging before serving the meals to the students, haha.

The district I taught in was 90-100% free and reduced lunch depending on the school you were at. By moving to the private company, the private company was responsible for making sure the lunches met the federal requirements (even way before 2009) yet also were cost saving so that they could be reimbursed fully for the F&R costs.

My first 10 or so years of teaching and the years I was a student in the same district, all our lunches were homemade and we had tons of choices. Around 2000 or so, our food service managers were no longer allowed to have open salad bars/taco bars/potato bars etc because they were too expensive to be reimbursed from the federal programs. They also started limiting what homemade food could be served. They switched to the outside company in around 2005.

Each meal must have a protein, fruit/veggie, and milk or juice for those who cannot consume dairy.

This makes sense. Sadly, it is at the expense of the quality of food served. I've looked at the ingredients of the food our school serves. Tasting bad is the least of the worries. The preservatives and additives are horrible. We have moved to eating a whole food, mostly unprocessed diet at home and it makes a world of difference as far as health. I feel lucky we have the means to do that. I know many students rely on schools to eat that is why more focus should be put on providing unprocessed meals (like another poster said, chicken breast and a fruit or veggie is a good one and add rice to that for an acceptable carb). Serving a donut and juice at breakfast is setting a kid up to fail. Eggs and bacon or sausage and whole fruit for breakfast would improve focus and behavior issues.