Now that school has started....

[Desertthorn]

What are they feeding our kids. Are the meals any better or are you just having them brown bag it.

[book]

honestly, I am letting mine go ahead and eat the school food. We compensate by there being no sugary snacks at home, no sodas at all, plenty of salads and such. We make a loaf of banana flax bread for the kids each week. My 16 year old son took over that chore! We keep sunflower seeds on hand, cheeses they like for snacks, apples and bananas, etc.

I would likely cope differently if my kids had any weight issues. But they are all quite thin...their dad was a skinny and so was I until after having 4 kids, so they haven't any weight challenges.

I have noticed in the menu more fruit based deserts than cakes, etc. Often they have a simple fruit cup, or a cobbler of some sort. So that is an improvement.

book

[Defessa]

We brown bag it here. The only day my kids want to eat at school is on Pizza day, IF they remember. My kids have never really been into sweets on a regular basis, so having fruit for dessert has always been a habit for them.

Our typical lunches have been sandwich, something to nibble on with the sandwich (chips or carrots or celery or goldfish crackers or a combination of them) and a piece of fruit, and either pack a juice box or buy milk.

Now my oldest daughter packing salads or lunchmeat/cheese rollups for lunch. Every so often she wants something like a candy bar, so I allow her 2 low-carb bars per week--she can choose when. The younger kids still pack the normal lunch, except every once in a while they will take a salad.

[kebaldwin]

I read the

[brats4]

My son doesn't buy lunch. I've changed his snacks from previous years though, now more nuts, no sugars etc. However, you'll love this...to raise money for school the PE teachers have started selling shaved ice (flavored w/juice) to the kids during PE class. Hmmm, last year I recieved a letter about my sons weight basically pointing a finger at me to change it. Now I wonder what dietary need slushie falls into? So help them if I recieve one of those letters again. Luckily my son doesn't like them but good lord what has PE class have to do with eating.

[One Sweet Shannon]

I read the menu posted in the school cafeteria the other day and about went ballistic. How can educators be the stupidest people on the block?

For breakfast they listed eggs and then meat was like ham or sausage biscuit. The only thing out of about 20 items was was good was eggs. And I'll bet they will try to limit the kids eating those.

They actually sell doughnuts, waffles with syrup, pancakes with syrup, bagels, toast, etc. It's like having doughnuts with a side of doughnuts and then doughnuts for dessert.

And then they beat the kids up over not exercising enough? The kids can't get off the couch because of the junk they are feeding them!

Unfortunately the US Government only recognizes the current carb-laden food pyramid. The pyramid, if I'm not mistaken, is currently under review, but changes may be a while in coming. The USDA guidelines for school meals recommend that certain percentages of daily caloric needs RDA for particular vitamins and minerals be fulfilled depending on if it's lunch or breakfast, but local school authorities have the final say over *what* is served in order to meet these guidelines. Carbs are cheap, easy to prepare in bulk, and according to the food pyramid, totally suitable for school meals.

Then there's the issue of the junk foods, sodas, and other available foods -- unfortunately schools likely won't stop serving them because kids will keep on buying them. The school cafeteria has to support itself, so it becomes a matter of what the business dictates, not the concern for the health of the children.

[book]

Well over in Dallas there was a big brouhaha, the school system wanted to forbid having parents bring birthday cupcakes, etc. The parents actually rose in uproar and make them remove the sanction! They believe it is their right to bring sugary snacks for their child to share on their special day.

What fun for the teachers, a whole classroom full of kids on a cupcake/cookie/sugar high!

book

[Luna Rossa]

I had my daughters on the school lunch program for a few months last year. It was cheap, and so much quicker in the mornings, so we figured we'd try it. Youngest had frequent stomach aches so I'm brownbagging them healthier lunches again.

Dead food white bread 9 times out of 10. BLECK. Processed meats like bologna.Fruit 'flavored' juice boxes, puddings and jello. They weren't all bad, some days dessert was a piece of FRUIT - what a novel idea. Two days a month lunch would be a salad.

The breakfast program in place is always crap. It astounds me that first off some parents can send their kids to school without feeding them breakfast - and secondly that the school pumps them full of syrup and sugar and expects them to behave in the classroom!

[kebaldwin]

Some of the teachers learned real quick NEVER to say

[Luna Rossa]

I would still rather see a kid drinking a 'real' juice box (not sugar syrup flavored like fruit) than a pop unless it was diet, to be honest. 100% apple or orange juice, even though it's high in natural sugars, is still better than carbonated water, colorings/flavor and tons of white poison sugar. Better yet, water!

Our school sells waterbottles for two bucks with the school logo on them. What an awesome idea! Quite a few kids now drink water throughout the day at their desks. Too bad they still serve crappy breakfasts and poor lunches.