Schools Sending 'Fat Letters' To Parents About Overweight Children

Originally posted by Hollie
reply to post by xuenchen

 

So you have seen a lease that says specifically that you cannot grow your own food? Dude, you are making excuses at this point. You are a victim and want to play victim. If that's the case, I cannot help you. But if you want some sense of sustainability, I can help you. Otherwise, I just don;t know what to tell you. You should see the progress here. People are actually waking up, getting together as a community and growing out of junk that is laying around. Poor people. Dirt poor people. Slums!

edit on 6-9-2013 by Hollie because: (no reason given)

You have made good points about growing your own food, etc.

And you seem sincere.

There is a problem not only with leases, but with many laws.

Here's two articles.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center will soon seek a California legislator to author a bill in 2013 to reduce legal barriers to the cultivation and sale of homegrown and locally-grown produce.

The California Homegrown Food Act

Dear Modern Farmer,

My back yard is no good for growing food. It’s got terrible sun exposure, the soil is poor, and it’s a small space to begin with. My front yard, however, is southern facing and beautiful. I think I could get a good harvest out there, but can I legally grow food in my front yard?

Thanks,
Front Yard Farmer

Dear Front Yard Farmer,

The answer, of course, is it depends. I’d like to be able to tell you “no problem!” — and personally, I think it should be that way — but there have been more than a few recent cases where front yard gardeners have found themselves in hot compost tea.

Dear Modern Farmer: Can I Legally Grow Food in My Front Yard?

There are many local ordinances against growing.

reply to post by xuenchen


Okay BOTH of those articles are excellent news! It took me a while to read them. The guy in Orlando is having the local ordinances changed. I guess some old fart neighbors of his thought his front yard was an eyesore and used the city regulations to further their cause. Well it all backfired. I think we will see more of this as the economy slopes. I personally would have planted a "F U" tree just for that nasty neighbor. But there are several ways to avoid this sort of stuff anyway.

One, you can plant in containers. Containers can be moved. Plus, planting in containers gives you way more control than planting directly in the city soil. Why? Because you can control what is in the dirt. Planting in the ground, I do not do it because I know that my neighbor uses weed killer and some sort of $hit to wash his car, and all of that goes right back into the dirt. I don't want my food/roots near that stuff.

Number two. You don't want to draw attention to yourself by gardening with obnoxious plants. You go and plant a big mulberry tree next to the side walk, well people will get upset because of the mess, or it potentially blocks the view of cars, or whatever. You just don't do stuff like that in the city or on someone else's property that you are renting from. Plant vegetables like you are landscaping. I have seen some beautiful gardens here that you would have no clue were ALL edibles.

Number three. When in a gated, HOA, or deed restricted community, you can certainly grow inside gardens easily. You can also raise quail and rabbits on a patio or in a garage, or even in a small coop outside. I personally would never live in such a place, and if you do live in an HOA, skip paying those fees and move out. You aren't that poor if you live in an HOA and have no right to bitch if you are already being governed in such a way by choice.

Lastly, and it should be mentioned, there are a lot of people that plant things that can be devastating for local crops, or even your own home grown crops. For instance, I made the mistake of planting a variety that was diseased with blight. The outcome was horrible for my whole garden. People need to maintain and be responsible or they WILL pass on plant diseases to others, and it is a very serious problem that states are concerned with. People here fought tooth and nail not to have their beautiful citrus trees removed. Canker was BAD, and I mean so bad that our commercial crops were suffering. No one was about to remove their beautiful orange trees from their yard. No ONE. Including me. Guess what! The county came and ripped it out, but we fought it for two years. In retrospect, I should have ripped it out in the beginning. And after learning so much about how my plants can affect so many others, I was seriously enlightened on how easy it is to lose control of your own crops. That's just one reason states are concerned with food crops.

California is having a disease with their avacado crops I hear?

Anyway, I believe that same lack of personal control is exactly why this nation is obese. They do not want to control their food, nor where it comes from. They do not know how or they have no interest, or just too fat and lazy. I mean, there is not much standing in their way is there? Nothing is really preventing them from trying to grow a vegetable or a rabbit. Not really even the government, as both of your links have proven.

Dont mistake feeling insulted or acting with aggression for embarrassment.

Fat kids are sick in a way - their life expectancy and quality will be adversely effected if they are overweight. Also young overweight teenagers are more likely to remain overweight for the rest of their lives as they turn into adults due to warped life views and choices.

Would you send a note home if the child had head lice? Which in the grand scheme of things are harmless (you know what i mean). Of course you would!

Good for the schools! Something they have got right recently.

reply to post by Honor93


Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.

Yes seeds are an eligible item. Another thing that people are not aware of is that fruit and vegetables are not always the same price all year long. When you purchase it is important to understand that while most things in the US are available all year round they cost more when they are not purchased in season.

I do not have an issue with schools sending home these "fat letters", not because children should be ridiculed or shamed. I see it as an extension of educating you and your child about the facts of a healthy diet and exercise. The information being sent home should include suggestions for an exercise regimen, and advise how to make healthier choices when grocery shopping. It should also include information explaining that age/height and weight ratios in children are not completely perfect.

My brother was an active child being a late summer baby he was always shorter and generally smaller than 90% of his class. When he got into about the fifth grade he started putting on a little weight and stayed just outside of the norms on these charts. Then when he got in to the 10th grade he hit a growth spurt and then became substantially taller and thinner than 90% of his class. He always tells dad that he is grateful that when he went through his pudgy years that he was forced into exercising daily and given a proper diet, even when it had no visible effect on his waist size at the time. The charts cant always tell you what the body is doing, but if you follow through on the maintenance usually by the time adulthood comes it works itself out.

ETA. Oh and to this day despite having a killer physique, and a good shape to his body he still falls just a bit outside the height and weight charts.

reply to post by xuenchen


I don't see it as a insult, imo. But, i can see parents who's gonna flip over this.

If my children gets close to an unhealthy lifestyle, i will make changes. I don't need a dieticians or doctors "fat letter".

What's sad is - That there are so many parents that will take this as an insult (which i can understand) and do nothing about changing their kid/s lifestyle.

These days we cannot parent our children as we should, 'cause, it is "abuse" in one way, or another.

reply to post by KaelemJames


Parents are often clouded by their love and pride for their kids to notice emerging problems, especially if their own life styles are less than healthy.

You may be a competent parent, but there are many that dont care or dont know.

reply to post by xuenchen


Screw that!

What's next? A letter that says your kid is ugly? Too short? Too tall? Wears glasses?

Just TEACH the kids math, history, english, science!

Hey, maybe PE also!

Just another BS attempt at social engineering to allow the state to dictate what the norm is.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by xuenchen

 

Screw that!

What's next? A letter that says your kid is ugly? Too short? Too tall? Wears glasses?

Just TEACH the kids math, history, english, science!

Hey, maybe PE also!

Just another BS attempt at social engineering to allow the state to dictate what the norm is.

Kids are born ugly or not, they are not born obesely (sp?) overweight.

They are genetically tall or genetically ugly, short, have good eyes, bad eyes, deaf autistic etc. Being fat is the same as being unhygienic and unhealthy.

If a kid was sent to school who was literally dirty, smelly, unwashed had lice, always sick etc thats okay? would or should the school do anything for the saftey and health for the child?

What about psychical or mental abuse? - id consider a very poor diet a form of abuse so why should too much of bad food be any different?

reply to post by Biigs


When the state starts determining "what is best for the child" then we're screwed.

What if the child has cancer and the state determines that chemo is the right course when the parents want to try alternative treatments?

Whenever we start allowing a central authority to determine what is best for us, then turn off the lights and lock the doors, cause the American experiment is over!

Originally posted by VoidHawk
reply to post by xuenchen

 

How many school staff are overweight I wonder?

People dont need food education, what they need is REAL food in the shops, not artificial garbage thats laden with fructose corn oil an such crap.

we were lucky.
in my tiny home town, less than 3,000 people, our grade school kitchen staff created some fantastic meals. I still think about them forty years later. my friend and I would stay in the café and get seconds. sloppy joes with real meat, spaghetti and meatballs with real marinara sauce, and real desserts to top it off.

one of the ladies was the mother of a friend of mine. I made sure to thank her and tell her that her work was appreciated.

I hear budget cuts changed the menu..... not for the better. it is a shame really. I consider myself lucky to grow up where I did when I did.

star and flag to all kitchen staff.

In reply to beezzer's post - my answer in italics.

When the state starts determining "what is best for the child" then we're screwed.

If the parents dont do anything about or are uninformed of the childs situation yes (remember they are sending forms that say your kids fat, the school isnt actually doing anything about it like forcing salads and jogging for the kids!)

What if the child has cancer and the state determines that chemo is the right course when the parents want to try alternative treatments?

If the parents were unaware that their kid could have cancer, notification of the fact is all they are doing here - they arnt deciding what should be done about it or implementing anything themselves

Whenever we start allowing a central authority to determine what is best for us, then turn off the lights and lock the doors, cause the American experiment is over!

Once again this is about NOTIFICATION not action

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by xuenchen

 

Screw that!

What's next? A letter that says your kid is ugly? Too short? Too tall? Wears glasses?

Just TEACH the kids math, history, english, science!

Hey, maybe PE also!

Just another BS attempt at social engineering to allow the state to dictate what the norm is.

How much does an ugly kid cost me in tax dollars a year? What kind of heart complications come along with being short? How tall do you have to be before you get diabetes? What prescription of lenses causes liver failure?

Just TEACH the kids math, history, english, science!

Weight loss is science, genius.

Originally posted by Biigs


Once again this is about NOTIFICATION not action

No.

It is about determining what the societal norm should be. It is about pushing an artificial standard that the state dictates.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Biigs

 

When the state starts determining "what is best for the child" then we're screwed.

What if the child has cancer and the state determines that chemo is the right course when the parents want to try alternative treatments?

Whenever we start allowing a central authority to determine what is best for us, then turn off the lights and lock the doors, cause the American experiment is over!

Oh I see.

Any excuse to perpetuate the "communist slippery slope" lunacy.

Chirp away, parrot McGee.

I like how you jump from a letter of concern to forced extreme medical treatments. Of course since theyre writing on a piece of paper ad sending it to their house, the next logical step would be to put them in a straight jacket and start making every single decision in their lives. No leap there; tomato tomahto.

Originally posted by LightOrange

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by xuenchen

 

Screw that!

What's next? A letter that says your kid is ugly? Too short? Too tall? Wears glasses?

Just TEACH the kids math, history, english, science!

Hey, maybe PE also!

Just another BS attempt at social engineering to allow the state to dictate what the norm is.

How much does an ugly kid cost me in tax dollars a year? What kind of heart complications come along with being short? How tall do you have to be before you get diabetes? What prescription of lenses causes liver failure?

Just TEACH the kids math, history, english, science!

Weight loss is science, genius.

edit on 6-9-2013 by LightOrange because: (no reason given)

So this is what it comes down to.

(told ya so!)

With the advent of Obamacare and socialised medicine here in the states, everyones health issues becomes everyones business. If the state is taking care of you, you'd better listen to what the state dictates its standards to be!

You may enjoy having those pesky life-style choices taken up by government/central authority but I still have a right to self determine regardless of what the nanny-state crowd wants.

Originally posted by beezzer

Originally posted by Biigs


Once again this is about NOTIFICATION not action

No.

It is about determining what the societal norm should be. It is about pushing an artificial standard that the state dictates.

It's not an artificial standard. It's a natural standard that the human body has for healthy living.

You probably just need a little Jillian Michaels kick-in-the-butt yourself.

Originally posted by LightOrange

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Biigs

 

When the state starts determining "what is best for the child" then we're screwed.

What if the child has cancer and the state determines that chemo is the right course when the parents want to try alternative treatments?

Whenever we start allowing a central authority to determine what is best for us, then turn off the lights and lock the doors, cause the American experiment is over!

Oh I see.

Any excuse to perpetuate the "communist slippery slope" lunacy.

Chirp away, parrot McGee.

I like how you jump from a letter of concern to forced extreme medical treatments. Of course since theyre writing on a piece of paper ad sending it to their house, the next logical step would be to put them in a straight jacket and start making every single decision in their lives. No leap there; tomato tomahto.

How's the kool-aide tasting these days?

You see nothing wrong.

I see social engineering.

The only difference between our two views is that I would allow you to have your freedom of expression, while your world view would take away mine.

Originally posted by beezzer
You may enjoy having those pesky life-style choices taken up by government/central authority but I still have a right to self determine regardless of what the nanny-state crowd wants.

Great. Then self-determine.

Die early, leave your kids and family alone.

No biggy.

You're a real man.

Originally posted by LightOrange

Originally posted by beezzer

Originally posted by Biigs


Once again this is about NOTIFICATION not action

No.

It is about determining what the societal norm should be. It is about pushing an artificial standard that the state dictates.

It's not an artificial standard. It's a natural standard that the human body has for healthy living.

You probably just need a little Jillian Michaels kick-in-the-butt yourself.

edit on 6-9-2013 by LightOrange because: (no reason given)

Who dictcates and determines the natural standard?

Oh yeah, THE STATE!

Originally posted by LightOrange

Originally posted by beezzer
You may enjoy having those pesky life-style choices taken up by government/central authority but I still have a right to self determine regardless of what the nanny-state crowd wants.

Great. Then self-determine.

Die early, leave your kids and family alone.

No biggy.

You're a real man.

Can I pour you another cup of "bitter" Capt. Angry?

Appreciate the thought that you won't interfere with my life.

You'll just insult it.