Kaytlin Shelton took this picture of her school lunch.
Posted on 10/29/2014 7:32:42 AM PDT by Red Badger
It was just a week ago when an Oklahoma teen’s picture of her school lunch went viral on social media.
It turns out that student is not alone in grumbling about school lunches, an investigation by the Washington Bureau discovered.
Since new federal nutrition standards began rolling out in 2012, fewer students are buying school lunches, even though enrollment is going up.
The Cox Washington Bureau reviewed U.S. Department of Agriculture documents and found thousands fewer students bought meals when stricter standards kicked in.
The rules, championed by first lady Michelle Obama and approved by congress, require more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in lunches. Plus, the rules put limits on sodium, sugar, fat and calories.
“It's a struggle to get kids to eat them and enjoy them,” said Dianne Pratt-Heavner, with the School Nutrition Association.
The School Nutrition Association supports the new standards, but wants more flexibility to help students adjust to healthy changes.
“We're asking congress or USDA to provide a little breathing room to help school nutrition professionals plan meals that kids will eat,” said Pratt-Heavner.
For example, the standards require all grains served at school to be whole-grain rich.
Experts say requiring half that would help schools provide more options, and get more students eating lunch.
Obama has said she doesn't want to roll back guidelines.
The School Nutrition Association says this is not about politics, it's about making sure kids eat.
“But new calorie maximums have limited the size of entrees, and we have heard some complaints from students,” said Pratt-Heavner.
Nationwide, more than 1 million fewer students are taking advantage of school lunches each day, a drop of nearly four percent since 2012.
Critics hope members of congress tweak the school lunch program standards.
They're supposed to vote on reauthorizing the program next year.
Experts also say schools should not make students take a fruit and vegetable because there's a lot of waste.
Nutritionists say that part of the lunch should be an option for now.
Kaytlin Shelton took this picture of her school lunch.
Mandate the purchase of these lunches.
And the consumption.
Those one million plus three million others now get a taxpayer paid meal.
Back in my day, there wasn’t all this emphasis on meeting nutrition standards and all that. All of us ate the lunches, and joked about “mystery meat” sometimes. But we ate it. Kids didn’t go hungry in school from not getting enough to eat.
I would also wonder, why the emphasis on school lunches nowadays? It’s one meal a day. Hopefully these kids have parents at home who are feeding them good food the rest of the time.
Also, we’re talking about growing children, who are still growing and developing. We really should not be taking adult concerns about getting too much salt and cholesterol and all of that, which older adults rightly are concerned about, and applying such standards to what kids eat.
And there’s anecdotal evidence, that record amounts of these allegedly healthy lunches are being thrown out. A healthy lunch does nobody any good if kids won’t eat it.
Obama has said she doesn’t want to roll back guidelines.
What’s with presidential wives making policy and having veto power, in effect, over what these standards will be? Last time I checked, Michelle Obama holds no public office, was not elected to anything, and does not get a vote into what our policies will be on school lunches, or any other subject for that matter.
Someone explain to be where in the U.S. Code, much less the Constitution, it says the Fedgov has the right to dictate food standards to local school boards. What ever happened to State and Municipal rights?
re: But new calorie maximums have limited the size of entrees
If you give your child medication, there is a designated amount related to their age and weight. It appears though with Michelle Obama’s school lunch mandates, the lunch options are one-size-fits all. The amount of food in the photo might be sufficient for an elementary school child (if they will eat it) but definitely not enough for the football player in high school. But never mind the obvious. Michelle has power to establish guidelines and we just need to accept it.
“Those one million plus three million others now get a taxpayer paid meal.”
That they won’t eat.
Are you supposed to use the crackers to make a sandwich? This “lunch” makes no sense.
As Hilarious said when Bill was first elected, you get TWO for the price of ONE..................
It’s a subtle ‘dig’ at ‘white people’.................eat the crackers and shut up................
It's to get the next generation 'used to one meal a day' provided by the government and that's all you get or nothing at all....................
You can’t make them eat it.....................
Yes, I like fruits and vegetables. But you can't live on them. Growing kids need lots of animal protein.
In any case, why are we providing lunches for kids in school? I went 12 years carrying a lunch pail that my mother filled with enough nutritious food to get me through the day.
And now your mother would be charged with child abuse..................
Michelle Obama is a genius.
Make the food so terrible that they drop off the dole.
Genius!
280 calorie lunch don’t cut it : )
Schools should not be serving lunches or breakfast in the first place. It’s a bit of socialism.
In fact, what if there were no public schools?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.