You're darned right it does.
Posted on 11/19/2010 7:41:03 AM PST by traumer
First Lady Michelle Obama is expected to announce on Monday a major new initiative that would place up to 5,000 salad bars in public schools nationwide, despite uncertainties over how local health inspectors might treat those salad bars and USDA nutrition-tracking rules that could prove a major impediment.
Officials in the White House, led by chef Sam Kass, and at the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention, have been working to build a coalition representing the produce industry and Ann Cooper, director of nutrition services in Boulder, Colo. schools, who recently teamed with Whole Foods to raise $1.4 million from customers to establish a grant program that would place salad bars in qualifying schools.
Under the initiative expected to be announced on Monday in Florida, where First Lady Michelle Obama has taken her "Let's Move" campaign to fight childhood obesity, Cooper would manage applications for salad bars from the schools along with distribution of funds to purchase necessary equipment.
One potential obstacle to the program is the refusal of many school districts to install salad bars for food-safety reasons and because of cumbersome USDA rules governing the federally subsidized school lunch program that feeds some 31 million U.S. school children every day.
Cooper named three school districts she knows of -- Philadelphia, Austin, Tex., and Montgomery County, Md., -- that have already indicated they will not support salad bars. Concerns have been raised that elementary school children in particular might be prone to spread disease at salad bars because they are too short for the standard "sneeze guard" installed on most salad bars, or because they might use their hands instead of the serving utensils provided.
Cooper, who would not comment on the pending White House announcement, has dismissed those concerns, saying, "As far as I’ve found out,
(Excerpt) Read more at grist.org ...
Johnny wins the Spelling Bee: S-A-L-M-O-N-E-L-L-A.
Wait till there's a case of mass food poisoning from one of the wookie's salad bars.
Oh wait, no more peanuts in school because of the alergy thing... okay, how about a ham and cheese sandwich? Oh wait, the ham may offend a very small minority of the kid's parents... how about... never mind... as I put my skull through sheet rock to ease the pain of thinking rationally.
Understandably so...since we are getting our vegetables from our amigo's in Mexico now.
I am all for healthier lunches and getting kids to exercise, but as you mentioned some of the salad dressings containing hydrogenated oil and fixings laden with nitrites deserve a second look. Does Mrs. Obama actually believe that schools are going to use olive oil and vinegar as dressing? Schools are going to go for the cheapest fat laden products they can find.
I am shocked that Montgomery County said they wouldn’t do it. Absolutely shocked! This liberal area always supports liberal agenda hook, line, and sinker. I am thinking they want a money incentive and this is just in the negotiation stages. Am I jaded or what?! Just a thought.
Yes, oh for the days when the nanny state did not own our kids. I loved my PB&J. And believe it or not, I had a thermos of sweet tea! Oh my!
Salad bars have been removed almost everywhere. Kids will sneeze, cough, and put their hands in the offerings.
But since Moochelle is a moron who nobody cares about, they have to appease her and let her impose her idiotic will on American citizens in some way.
“Moochelle”is getting FATTER and FATTER and still spending money we don’t have for what our kids DON’T want!!
Hilarious post! I love it.
I have limited knowledge on this but from what I do know—this will be expensive!
As a kid I worked at a pizza joint and food costs on the salad bar always ate out lunch. heh
Produce prices always fluctuated the most, waste was often fairly big as some of the vegetables would get slimy or discolor pretty quick.
Rotating the crocks of salad dressing was important because you can really make someone sick if not tended to properly.
Salad bars aren’t cheap and can easily make people sick if someone tries to cut corners on their work.
The problem is, really healthy food does not lend itself to feeding large groups on the cheap. That’s why school food is usually not very good, and not particularly healthy. But it fills them up and it’s generally cost effective (or can be if the program is run properly). Of course, I’m really against the whole idea of a government run program anyway. If a local system wants to have something in place, fine. If a local charity wants to feed poor kids, great. But the federal government should get out of the business of doing any of this.
Must be wabbit season...
Poor kids. This made me laugh. The “salad” bar at my local Whole Foods has: two or three kinds of lettuce. A few vegetables to put on the lettuce. But 10 - count ‘em — 10 different kinds of grains and legumes to eat made into “salads,” tabouli, brown rice, wheat berries, black-eye peas, quinoa, etc. I am not a ruminant animal.
We didn't have an obesity problem until the government starting feeding these kids breakfast lunch and supper. Then they go home and eat the food stamp stuff...THEY'RE DOUBLE EATING!!!!
You're darned right it does.
There’s another reason why kids don’t eat fruits and vegetables: laziness and / or expense.
To get kids to eat carrots, they have to be peeled and cut. Oranges, peeled, segmented, cleaned. Bananas, not bruised and within a 2 day window of ripeness.
All this takes planning, work and/or expense.
Many kids or adults will not make the effort.
But if the government is buying?
So it’s just another degree of sponsored welfare, or taking from the productive and caring class and giving to others.
I think the goverment and others would be better off sponsoring guilt to those who don’t care for their children and going no further.
All valid. And kids are funny. They are picky about what they will eat. They are probably going to end up with the least healthy things on the salad bar being the most popular (ie, canned fruits, sweetened things like 3 bean salad, etc). The nice fresh vegetables they imagine are going to go to waste for the most part. Anyone who thinks school lunches (especially FREE school lunches) are a good idea should go check the garbage after their local school lunch and see how much waste there is.
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