New York school drops Michelle Obama lunch standards: Kids too hungry

reply to post by Indigo5


I'm just wondering where you figure the Federal Government is mandating and ordering better food than local districts with PTA watchers hounding everything they do, would manage to buy on their own?

The MEGA - Corp food seems to be coming at the Federal, not local levels anyway. Deals are made in Government bulk orders in Washington with business big enough to fill such colossal orders ...and I'm sure we get what we pay for too. The lowest bidder, as the Feds do on everything that isn't corrupt right out the gate.

I'd trust my local PTA and School Board, not to mention State board to make nutritional decisions before some fat cat (in Michelle's case, that's not all figurative either) in Washington.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by jimmyx

 

make your child a lunch everyday and send it to school with them....

That will work fine....if they are legally permitted to pack a lunch. Not every district even allows a home lunch to cross onto their property anymore. In some cases, these are LITERALLY captive audiences to the menu decreed in Washington with no OTHER option available.

Chicago Public School Bans Home-Packed Lunches

It's a more complex situation than you're suggesting here, to be sure.

down in the article you sited it says.....one school.....and.....the ban was done 6 years ago....and....I know this might be hard for conservatives, you need to read the article.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000


The hyperbole about fast food outlets is just that tho. Hyperbole and not very creative anyway. I don't know ANY parents who would choose to have their kids pigging out on Taco Bell tacos and Pizza Hut slop every day for lunch.

That is exactly what they ARE being fed at school...only Taco Bell and Pizza Hut hold themselves to a higher standard than the industrial school lunch providers who have a captive consumer.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

The MEGA - Corp food seems to be coming at the Federal, not local levels anyway.

Nope...it is made at the local level with school districts looking to save money.

Let me know if you need me to chase down sources.

reply to post by firemonkey


Can't beleive how distorted your thinking is and how many stars you got, that is the attitude that is killing this world, forming all the wars, allowing homelessness, and starvation of the majority on this planet, its an attitude with horns.

LOVE, and that is all. And Obama's wife is working for codex alminentarius and actually is establishing bad health for the children.

These people are mass murderers.

reply to post by jimmyx


This might come as a surprise in your blind hate for anything more right leaning than you are for politics...but I can not only read, I've actually written an entire thread about that very decision and event in the Chicago district ...with supporting material from other districts around the nation that have instituted other similar bans. ....supporting material ......from other districts.

Care to really get into this? I won't lose the debate...You will come out looking like crap and frankly, given how IN-topic the issue you picked this time was? I'll be MORE than happy to carry this one all the way and then some. The condescension and outright fight picking you get off on is just enough for me to spend my evening making this topic a point to prove beyond all possible partisan doubt you embrace like a security blanket.

Oh and by the way, would rather be fat, but do it my way, and have my kids happy and empowered as well than ever be under anyones thumb. Just saying! Don't every give your autonomy, and power away. The only people who want you too are demons. Dictators and very very tiny tots like to lord it over others and judge their body types. Other people's bodies, diets and hobbies, are none of your concern.

I don't understand what the government has to do with the lunch at school. It should be the parents responsibility to feed the kids with food prepared at home.
Maybe I'm damaged from growing up in Norway, land of the matpakke (lunch box), but the school should really focus on teaching and not food.

Forcing these fat kids to eat healthy is not going to work when you have parents in the back complaining as they don't want to change their own diets.

But all in all, this should not be a government responsibility to feed the kids.

On the other hand, I think one should procecute the parents that are not providing a balanced and nutricious diet for their kids.

PS. I am myself a father and know the fights over what to eat can be difficult. You just have to deal with it. You assumed that responsibility when you did the nasties without the rain coat!

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

Originally posted by jimmyx
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

ok, fine....have the republicans in congress cut all school lunch program funds, if you are so adamant about it. maybe you can have Mcdonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King with franchise outlets in each school. in fact, all republican children should be allowed to all the crap food they want to ingest....it's all about liberty and freedom, right? .....so go for it.

Actually, if I had my way, the federal Department of Education would be disbanded outright and never reformed in any way in the future. The feds have taken a decent education system and run it so far into the ground that we're now graduating adults who cannot functionally read or do basic math. Graduating now...that doesn't count the drop outs who never even got that far.

The hyperbole about fast food outlets is just that tho. Hyperbole and not very creative anyway. I don't know ANY parents who would choose to have their kids pigging out on Taco Bell tacos and Pizza Hut slop every day for lunch.

If the Feds would get OUT of our classrooms and lunchrooms, we actually DO elect school boards for a reason. There really ARE State boards of education for good reasons as well. These people all do jobs that Washington just figures they can do better ...and seem to prove they can't on every attempt.

www.huffingtonpost.com...
www.cis.drexel.edu...

to paraphrase:
the reason we needed a federal dept of education...was that there were states that discriminated against the poor and minorities from getting an education. the "chosen crowd" (meaning wealthy, white, or who could afford it) were the ones getting educated.

They too hungry because GMO wheat and corn is still laced in the food and they are primed to be fat bodies.

Dont count calories....make calories count is the name of the game.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
KIds who are athletes need MANY more calories than Michelle Obama's version of lunch.
The kids and the parents know what they need. Not the White House.

I would disagree. America has a massive obesity problem, with millions of parents feeding their kids trash. There are clear links between poor unhealthy diet and terrible mental capability. We've seen the same problem in the UK with children being fed reconstituted trash loaded with salt and sugar, and kids refusing to eat anything more healthy for them - just because their parents are ignorant.

I don't deny that this wasn't done properly, but the suggestion that parents know best is just false, parents have consistently proven that they don't know best. If they did, these kids would not be loaded up on chemicals, sugar and meat that's barely fit for Human consumption.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Indigo5

 

I'd trust my local PTA and School Board, not to mention State board to make nutritional decisions before some fat cat (in Michelle's case, that's not all figurative either) in Washington.

You know the fat cats aren't restricted to Washington, right? There's corruption and special deals done all over the US, with local authorities making very lucrative deals on their own.

Remember the judge sending kids to juvie and cashing in from the private prison system? That wasn't federal, that was state.

I appreciate a lot of your posts, but I think you're being a little biased in this case. I'm right there with you in criticizing the federal government, and the Obama's, but not everything is fine and dandy at a state level, far from it.

From what I understand about this story, it sounds like the state has pandered to a bunch of whining kids who miss their junk food, while making some money in the process, and the parents are all too ignorant to know what's good for their own children.

Originally posted by Rocker2013

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Indigo5

 

I'd trust my local PTA and School Board, not to mention State board to make nutritional decisions before some fat cat (in Michelle's case, that's not all figurative either) in Washington.

You know the fat cats aren't restricted to Washington, right? There's corruption and special deals done all over the US, with local authorities making very lucrative deals on their own.

Your post inspired me to do a little googling ...

Lawndale School District food services director charged with taking bribes from pizza vendor vendorwww.bhbl.org...

And here...Federal grand jury indictments Thursday alleging corruption in Philadelphia School District food services indicate a pattern of bribery that might have been systematic over a number of years.
articles.philly.com...


Chicago:
Schools CEO, mayor want food chief fired
Brizard: Taking gifts from vendors an 'utter disregard' of ethics
articles.chicagotribune.com...

Originally posted by Rocker2013

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Indigo5

 

I'd trust my local PTA and School Board, not to mention State board to make nutritional decisions before some fat cat (in Michelle's case, that's not all figurative either) in Washington.

You know the fat cats aren't restricted to Washington, right? There's corruption and special deals done all over the US, with local authorities making very lucrative deals on their own.

You're absolutely right and the United States was formed as a nation with that in mind. We were formed as a Representative Republic with a weak central Government so problems on the local level could be dealt with on the local level. The closer to the people the ruling bodies are, the more accessible they are. It doesn't always work that way, but access to Congress is a total ZERO....and outright out of the question for normal people outside your own rep.

The evil we can see and reach is always better than the distant one we can't even see.

Originally posted by jimmyx
to paraphrase:
the reason we needed a federal dept of education...was that there were states that discriminated against the poor and minorities from getting an education. the "chosen crowd" (meaning wealthy, white, or who could afford it) were the ones getting educated.

Hey Jimmy...I don't disagree...but Nutritional programs seem a long way from desegregation?

For what it is worth...I don't think the Dept. of Ed needs to be disbanded, but I do think it needs to be downsized and reformed. It has good in it, but it also has it's own quantity of bueracratic "fat". I think the CDC would rightly declare it obese.

As long as Fed. dollars are being spent, then the feds should have the perogative on how that money is spent...and we need real food in schools....so while I am not positive that the First Lady's program is ideal...it is light-years better than what we have been doing.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

Originally posted by jimmyx
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

ok, fine....have the republicans in congress cut all school lunch program funds, if you are so adamant about it. maybe you can have Mcdonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King with franchise outlets in each school. in fact, all republican children should be allowed to all the crap food they want to ingest....it's all about liberty and freedom, right? .....so go for it.

Actually, if I had my way, the federal Department of Education would be disbanded outright and never reformed in any way in the future. The feds have taken a decent education system and run it so far into the ground that we're now graduating adults who cannot functionally read or do basic math. Graduating now...that doesn't count the drop outs who never even got that far.

The hyperbole about fast food outlets is just that tho. Hyperbole and not very creative anyway. I don't know ANY parents who would choose to have their kids pigging out on Taco Bell tacos and Pizza Hut slop every day for lunch.

If the Feds would get OUT of our classrooms and lunchrooms, we actually DO elect school boards for a reason. There really ARE State boards of education for good reasons as well. These people all do jobs that Washington just figures they can do better ...and seem to prove they can't on every attempt.

Actually no it isn't hyperbole Why School Cafeterias Are Dishing Out Fast Food

As they try to keep pace with student taste, lunchrooms across the country have given up meatloaf and mashed potatoes for brand-name fast-food items. In Edmond, Okla., middle school students load up their trays with Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. In Niskayuna, NY, elementary-schoolers get slices of Pizza Hut, fresh from the deliveryman. In Livermore, Calif., the high school cafeteria offers Panda Express rice bowls, Little Caesar’s pizza and burritos from a local chain.

“This community is very brand-conscious,” said Frank Castro, who runs the lunch program in the Pleasanton Unified School District. “I could offer the same hamburger or a better quality burger, but it wouldn’t increase my lunch count.”

So much for part about parents not letting their kids eat Pizza Hut everyday.

reply to post by KeliOnyx


Some California schools have Cappuccino and Espresso Machines.. Should we use that as representative for the debate too? Perhaps I should have been more precise to say that, of the thousands of schools across our 50 states, some exceptions may exist...HOWEVER...in general and on average, publicly funded schools do not serve branded fast food in their public, general access lunch rooms in a standard menu presentation for grade school kids.

Better for precision?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Agree...but Federal dollars have strings attached. Don't want them telling you what to put on the menu? Then fund your own school lunch program...parents don't like it? then replace the school board...BUT you can't have it both ways..take the taxpayer dollars and shuffle it to an Industrial "Food" Manufacturer and tell the feds they have no say in the matter.

This School in NYC? It looks like political spin to me...I hunted down the school board letter....

I noticed a few things...

Due to lower sales, BH-BL's lunch program ended the 2012-13 school year roughly $100,000 in the red,

Schools are not required to participate in the NSLP, but most schools do in order to receive financial incentives, including low cost federal commodity foods and partial reimbursement of the cost of food served to students who qualify for free and reduced priced meals.

The price for complete lunches will increase by 25¢ in September, a change that would have been needed whether the district stayed in the NSLP or not, Boehm says, since prices have not increased in two years.

bhbl.org...

So they claim the program was too expensive...Kids not buying food...and the district collecting both sales and Federal re-imbursement?

And they drop the program...AND BTW increase prices...

This seems like a financial issue...and sales...Spun out in complaining by the food services manager that the program was too burdonsome.

If she thought the new guidelines were responsible for them losing money...despite federal money as "gravy"...then why the need to kick up prices after dropping the Fed Guidelines? Shouldn't going back to the old Lunch Program bring the cash back?

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by KeliOnyx

 

Some California schools have Cappuccino and Espresso Machines.. Should we use that as representative for the debate too? Perhaps I should have been more precise to say that, of the thousands of schools across our 50 states, some exceptions may exist...HOWEVER...in general and on average, publicly funded schools do not serve branded fast food in their public, general access lunch rooms in a standard menu presentation for grade school kids.

Better for precision?

That is where you would be wrong. These aren't just a few exceptions to the rule. These are representative of the rule. This has been the trend for around 30 years now. Cash strapped districts have been cashing in on fast food chains for sometime now. Starting as early as the 90's when my district agreed to let Domino's and Burger King in the door.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Public willingness doesn't enter the equation, far as I'm concerned. It's an empirical fact that Americans are getting fatter and more unhealthy. Something needs to be done about that, and if it comes down to the government having to force it, then that's how it has to be.