Have you ate lunch at your childs public school lately?

Disclaimer: I am going to start this thread by making it clear that it not the school districts fault or the employee's that make the food. It is what our government says is acceptable for human consumption.

recently I went to the my stepsons school, and ate lunch with him. I went through the line with him, and we got a hamburger. Needless to say, it was mystery meat on a wheat bun (because wheat is healthy with pink slime), and baked tator tots (that were not placed under a heat lamp), with a cup if pineapple (which was the best part), all with my choice of milk to wash it down. after taking a bite out of hamburger, and winning a dare from my other half. I then began to feel sick and floaty- I was also having significant trouble paying attention to the road as I drove home. This makes me sad, for some children this is the best/or only meal of the day... If we wouldn't eat this how come we expect our children to? like I said no offense to the school employees or school district, but I will making my children's lunch until it become more healthy and tasteful. Your guidelines are not up to my crap-line, and I never knew till' now.

Honestly, I believed it was better since I was in school, because of the war on obesity and phasing out unhealthy food.

This is not about money, jobs, or tea bagging. This is about our youngsters getting food that taste like food- is that a right that only some adults get or what?

A few links that may be of interest are:
What school lunches look like arcross the globe.

prison food vs. school lunchnasty school lunch- kind of dated link but truste me it has not changed a bit.

reply to post by randomquestions

"Have you ate (?) lunch". Maybe while at the school you should have stuck around for English class.

reply to post by randomquestions


I agree and I think it's disgusting our schools bend to the will of corporations who want nothing more than to poison our kids with their so called food. Pizza is a vegatable? C'mon.

Man some things never change huh? Sounds like the same slop our school delved out in the 80's. Like the entire school sytem, the menu is antiquated, but whenever anyone tries to change the institution, they are called a socialist and told not to tell us what to do Which is fine if all parents were good parents, but that ain't the case.

I guess the only thing outside of protesting is pack your own kids lunch with something healthy. But, oh yea, not all parents are good parents and/or can afford to do so, I guess.

I will U2 smylee girl, a teacher here, and see if any changes or efforts for change are in the pipeline.

spec

I have eaten with my child (2nd grade) at school about 4 times this year, the most recent was last friday.

Chicken sandwich, which was probably "liquid chicken" in a mold, but it was reasonably tasty and I don't recall any ill effects you described. A cup of pickles and lettuce was available if you want those on your sandwich as well. Fresh fruit (apples that day) were available. Milk and ice water. French Fries were available, they appear to have been baked and were of a small portion, but they were not hot, but were ok.

Later that day (I was volunteering) the kids the later lunch time had hamburgers. I didn't have one, but they looked and smelled better then the burgers my elementry had (early 1980's) which we were informed were half beef half soy? Although I don't know. That's not a bad option depending on the kind of beef and how much is slime beef.... I can't remember what I had the other times but I don't recall it being bad or feeling bad..

My daughter is on a competitive gymnastics team and usually we pack her lunch to make sure she is getting enough protein and not to much junk as they work out 3 to 4 hours a day (she leaves school early instead of taking gym, she can run circles around everyone in her grade. In fact this was her first year of public school, she had been homeschooled K and 1st). BUT there are some meals she likes (she and my wife rave about the schools sweet and sour chicken, which I have not had) and we make sure she has money on her account incase we forgot to pack her lunch.

Her school district is fairly "upscale" compared to most in the state, probably in the top 10 if I had to guess with a new high school recently having been built that reminds me of the inside of the Denver Airport Terminals and a football stadium that looks like a small college......

Originally posted by F4guy
reply to post by randomquestions

 

"Have you ate (?) lunch". Maybe while at the school you should have stuck around for English class.

And perhaps you should stay on topic and not play grammar cop. Man, that's annoying and more than a bit rude.

And yes@OP, the state of our schools in general is pretty pathetic and depressing...I didn't know that extended to school lunches as well. Figured they'd be better off with the big healthy-eating kick they've been on and the hard time they've been giving to vending machines and outside lunches being brought in.

Busted...that's all I can say about it.

Thats why it is called mystery meat, but i agree. I see nothing has changed in the 15 years i have been out of highschool. Well, the highschool i went to the lunch you bought with your own money was decent but the free/reduced lunches the poor kids had to eat was pure crap, i mean you could literally tell the difference between who was poor and who was not by what they were eating it was that nasty. The poor kids woulda had a healthier meal rummaging in the dumpster behind MacDonalds than the junk they were eating in my school, it was about as bad as the food at the state prison.

Well, My kids go to school in Texas. I was so appalled at what they were feeding the kids. I even asked the lunch lady who supplied the food to them. She went on to explain that it was all regulated (just like prison food), and that they are not allowed to actually cook. They pretty much just warm-up and serve the highly processed food to the children. I just think if they want to make school food healthy they should start by teaching kids how to eat in the real world not an institutionalized setting. All they are making them think is :Can anyone tell me where to get chalky chicken nuggets??? I have to eat those on Thursday or I will get fat..... or, screw this I'm going to get chips and Dr. pepper at the gas station instead of buying this #.

P.s. sorry I said "ate"... as for English class, I think you need to find someone else to troll. I'm not going to let a pessimist like you hurt my feelings.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


In the elementary school my kid attends. All the children have the same menu. Basically, everyone get the free or reduced lunch meal. That is how it should be unless they bring food from home, but what needs to be changed is the food itself. Ham sandwiches and crackers would have been better than the festering mess those kids eat.

Hey OP,

School lunches.....suck. No doubt about it.

At my school system we have a new nutrionist overseeing the menu. Before, a typical menu was

Hot dog
Choice of two veggies (green beans or salad)
Choice of two fruits (strawberries or apples)

Now that same lunch would be

Hot dog
Choice of fruit (fruit flavored juice is now an option)
Choice of veggie (ketchup and salad dressing now count as a veggie)

And the whole time the kids are staring at this big rack of junk food they can purchase. There's chips, cookies, ice cream, etc. Since the kids are still hungry after their substandard meal, many of them will buy these snacks.

I think it's a scam: make money by keeping the kids hungry. Although to be fair I have no idea where the extra money goes...the school doesn't see it. But the school is run separately from the cafeteria.

reply to post by randomquestions


I remember loving the lunches at school when I was a kid (in the 60s) but I'm not sure how healthy they were. I think they were better than today's but I couldn't say for sure.

I think packing your kid's lunch from now on is the right thing to do. Parent's have to take more responsibility for their children's health and well-being because no one else is going to. This country pays lip service to the idea that kids are important to us, then we feed them crap and use the money that should be for education to kill innocent people on the other side of the world...

The other day I heard on the radio that 30% of Americans eat the same thing for lunch every day. Among those people, the most popular lunch item was a cheese sandwich... Yuk! (I can eat the same thing for lunch everyday, but it's not going to be a cheese sandwich! )

Oh, and here's what you ate...

What's Inside the 26-Ingredient School Lunch Burger?

Thiamine mononitrate, disodium inosinate, pyridoxine hydrochloride.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


The mystery meat has not changed since the 39 years I
have been out of high school!
I think it's made from the parts that are still parts before
becoming meat-by-products.Then it becomes pet food
and livestock feed.