DISCLAIMER: I love dairy. But even a cheese lover like myself believes in more than one food group.
I am not going to get into the nitty gritty of how the EASD should go about collecting outstanding lunch fees, but I couldn't help but notice in today's Express Times article by Colin McEvoy that the solution to the question of what to do if I child has used up his lunch credit and still does not have money to eat, is to give him/her:
a) a cheese sandwich, and
b) a glass of milk
If we're going to have a default lunch for hungry kids, could we try to balance it a little more than dairy, with a side of dairy?
When I read this, it reminded me of an issue that was hashed out during the budget meetings in which a dairy vendor wanted the district to spend money to install their dairy vending machines, even though the students were already supplied with milk at the schools. So although a couple of school board members opposed the idea, in the end the school board, who was supposed to be trying to find ways to cut spending, instead voted to spend even more money than they already were on DAIRY.
What is up with the EASD and DAIRY? Anyone?
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16 comments:
is it a grilled cheese? cause if it is, I'd be all over a grilled cheese/choclate milk lunch every day!
seriously Noel, settle down, still way better than eating nothing at all.
no one is disputing the yumminess of grilled cheese (or chocolate milk) and "way better than eating nothing at all" is not a high bar--a slice of bread would better than nothing at all too--so would a gumball, but i think we could all agree that it's not enough to nourish a child.
what have we got against vegetables? the first lady has made it a focus to steer our nation toward healthier, more balanced diets--higher protein, lower fat, lower starch, high on vegetables--the current face of poverty is obesity because of all the high-fat packaged foods our populace eats.
there is nothing wrong with cheese (i love cheese), or milk (i also love milk), but the idea that dairy is all we need to have a healthy meal makes no sense to me.
and why we as taxpayers needed to spend thousands of dollars to buy vending machines from the dairy industry to provide even more milk than the cafeteria provides when we're supposed to be finding expenses to cut, is beyond me.
i will go settle down now.
Easton is in love with dairy because America is. The most basic reason is so we keep the American Dairy Industry rich (as in rich off your dollars). Some of the "experts" who helped create the food pyramid we still blindly respect today, actually worked for the dairy industry. This makes the US Department of agriculture’s recommendations reflect industry interests, not science or our best interests. Don’t believe it? Go to Dominos Pizza’s website and pretend to order a pizza. Select no cheese and a message comes up that reads “We won't put cheese on your pizza. Your pizza just shows cheese here to keep the Dairy Farmers of America happy.”
Other fun facts:
1.Countries with lowest rates of dairy and calcium consumption (like those in Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis.
2. Calcium has benefits not dairy. Calcium can be found in vegetables!
3.Not everyone can stomach dairy. About 75 percent of the world's population is genetically unable to properly digest milk and other dairy products -- a problem called lactose intolerance.
These individuals then take over the counter medications to help force dairy into their diet.
4. Drinking milk is breast feeding as an adult off another species. Think about it!
If you love icecream, and cheese, or even low fat milk, fine. But saying it’s ok to eat only dairy each day, or in large amounts is idiotic. The fact that we are at a point where the attitude is “settle down” about nutritional issues is most likely what has lead us to severe obesity problems and other health issues in our country. Thanks Noel for posting :)
holy crap carrine! all this was is an article about how EASD will provide something 'basic' for kids who don't have lunch money! you turned it into a typical hippy liberal anti dairy industry campaign!
every anti dairy freak tells us how humans are the only ones who drink milk after infancy; so what??? we are also the only mammals who copulate facing each other, do you have a problem with that also?
this blog has such a level of intolerant liberalism bias I have a hard time even visiting it at all anymore.
I just think what we eat is pretty important. Humans “breast feeding” is just a humorous perspective. The “so what” as it relates to too much dairy consumption in general is obvious... obesity, high cholesterol, and all the issues that come from the two. There are many issues regarding diet, not just dairy. I think everyone should educate themselves on all diet concerns. Dairy just happened to come up on the blog. Last, I think you can eat anything that is bad for you in moderation. Or don’t care about any of it if you want. I just don’t think nutrition is liberal, or a political preference.
being anti-dairy is not any more liberal than being pro-dairy like myself is conservative. nutrition is nutrition, health is health. there are plenty of lactose-intolerant republicans out there.
i, myself, am a go local, slow food movement, michael pollen fan. i also grew up eating moose and fish that we caught or shot ourselves, and we got milk from a local farm. because we used guns for good purposes like subsistence hunting, i have always been pro-gun rights (among other reasons) but don't necessarily think that regular citizens need AK-47s. so am i a pro-gun liberal, or a dairy-loving conservative? both, and neither.
but i am definitely pro-balanced diet, which has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative.
I have a clarification question.
First, what does it mean to be low on lunch credits? Do these particular children not qualify or participate in the free and reduced lunch program?
The National School Lunch Act of 1964 put into place a system to ensure that all children in school had access to affordable, healthy meals. Just one more step on the road to equal opportunity! It is hard to take advantage of a good education when hungry....
The National School Lunch program expanded through the Child and Adult Food Care Program (CACFP)to help not just schools, but also child care centers, after school programs and adult centers to provide meals at a free or reduced rate (depending on income eligibility).
These government program seriously monitor things to ensure children receive meals following USDA guidelines. I don't particularly agree with the USDA's concept of healthy and balanced, but a glass of milk and a cheese sandwich does not even fit their parameters!
It is very worrisome to think some children will stand in line for lunch and receive something very different from their peers in the same line.
For some children, the best meals they receive are in school. How can we offer a lower standard meal to some children based on "lunch credits." Am I just completely misunderstanding things??
Learn more about the National School Lunch program here: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/
Thanks for the info, April--I will write to the school board and ask...stay tuned...
As a mother of a child in school I can tell you that lunch credits are when you pay for their lunch ahead of time. There is a website I go to when I can put 40 dollars towards her meal. If she decides to use it all up in 2 weeks instead of 4 (they can buy all sorts of things other than just the standard lunch) then she can become in the red. If at that point she tries to purchase another meal they will tell her she does not have enough credits and will have to eat milk and cheese sandwich.
The thing that bothers me is that Najja has said that depending on which line she goes to they will either say she doesn't have enough money or she's ok. Not sure why...
Hi Noel - Got your email about this question. I'll try to help. To my knowledge the term "lunch credits" used in the article refers simply to money on the child's account (available balance). I don't see this term used on the district's information. From the parent experience - when I give my kids a check for lunch the cost of the meal + any "a la carte" (read - extra snack) is debited from that sum (elementary child swipes i.d. card, MS child punches in his code). I believe that the students with free or reduced lunch also use their i.d. and the system keeps track of what is owed (for reduced) or is free. There are so many reasons why a child might not have (enough) money with them or on their student account - parents who cannot afford to give them money every day, parents/kids who simply forget, parents who give the kids cash only to have it spent somewhere between leaving home and getting on the lunch line...
I feel the district is being generous offering 3 days of the "lunch of choice" and then a bland/delicious (depending on your take on dairy - is it brie?) cheese sandwich and choice of milk to students without money on account or cash on hand. The application for free/reduced lunch comes home with every child at the beginning of the year and school personnel are available to help fill it out if needed. I don't want to get into a debate about the pros and cons of the free/reduced lunch program and the challenges of making sure every one of our 9,500 kids' families have the info available at any time of year when they might qualify. Parents need to be diligent with their children's education, including checking up on what they eat at school. For free, parents can create a simple login through the district web-site to track their student's lunch spending, receive an email alert when balance gets below a parent-chosen limit, and (for a 5% surcharge - no comment) can use a credit card to put money on the account. If a parent does not wish to make a credit card payment, they can still send cash or a check into the school, the money gets credited to the account and they can still monitor activity. The credit card option is for convenience. Of course, for those without email or internet, one must rely of their child, a personal reminder system, or the school to tell them the account is low. The system will never be perfect, but in an effort to cut down on loss in food services, a new procedure needs to be tried.
PS - Loved reading the dairy debate here. I could eat cheese til the cows come home. - Jen
Jen--thanks for posting! It's nice to have a school board member actually taking the time to address residents' questions in a public forum!
And brie...yes...yummm...
Where was I? Oh yes--feeding kids at school. I may be opening a can of worms here, but personally, I think it's worthwhile to provide healthy lunches to students because it would improve concentration and performance. If they're being fed lean, high protein, balanced lunches, they will perform better than if they are allowed to purchase packaged snacks full of corn syrup, etc. This leads to hyper-ness, sugar crashes, obesity, antsy behavior and a lack of concentration. This idea, of course, will be popular with almost nobody, as it would mean more tax money spent for the grown-ups, and the kids would probably hate being forced to eat healthy balanced food and not their favorite snacks. But perhaps parents would like it, because it would cost less for them and be one less thing for them to worry about. And if it helped the students calm down and focus more, and helped improve performance (and reduce obesity) maybe the community would eventually like it too.
It's just me. I think good lunches and text books are worth providing our students for free. I'd rather cut spending elsewhere, say, like heating a pool that has no insulation...
Also, many parents don't have computers and internet access at home to track their kids' lunch credit spending...
I am not normally a fan of posting comments to blogs because even the most well intended comments get twisted. But, I think that most people who ate public school lunches when they were young(er) would see a big change in the quality and content of the standard fare. As a parent, I prefer to have my children buy most days b/c they get a far better variety of meals then the same old cold choices I would pack (as long as they eat the fruit and veg on the tray). I used to volunteer to do "lunch duty" on occasion and was astounded to see 1) the junk that parents choose to put in elem. kids' lunch bags (things that make that cheese sandwich look like a well-rounded meal) and 2) the waste of food - especially fruit - that gets uneaten and thrown out.
The district's food service provider, Sodexo, does a good job of staying on top of healthy choice initiatives. The lunches meet new guidelines and for the cost of the lunch the food groups are covered (and nothing is deep fried anymore). The district also has a Wellness Policy, that although parts of it bother some people, does encourage good choices for students collectively while acknowledging individual parent choice of food for their own kids. As with everything, there is room for improvement, but in the case of where school lunches have come over the years, strides have been made.
you mean no more deep-fried fish sticks? tator-tots? jello salad? just kidding--no need to answer that!
My coworker was just talking about her daughter today who is prone to seizures when she has anything milk based and how she has to get a letter from the doctor in order for her daughter to have another choice of drink besides milk. And how the FDA is making it really hard on the parents who have children with special needs to obtain "healthy" food for their children (eg. jumping through hoops in order for her child to be allowed to eat a special diet)
As far as the dairy, dairy and more dairy - my guess is it's a matter of convenience. What's the easiest thing to slap in front of a kid? Cheese sandwich and a carton of milk. No muss, no fuss, not much $$ involved.
Having gone to HS in the middle ages (aka 1976 - 1979), I don't exactly have fond memories of school lunches, and for the most part, I was a brown-bagger.
It would seem that a teacher who knew of a student who habitually didn't eat/have lunch or was constantly overdrawn could perhaps make an educated guess as to whether it was from habitual parental neglect or whether it was because the $$ were spent elsewhere, and then arrangements could be made accordingly.
UT
UT--thanks for posting--yes, hopefully teachers are on the lookout--although I'm not sure if they would see what kids are eating if they eat in a teachers' lounge. but hopefully someone on lunch room duty would notice and say something.
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