Posted on 06/19/2006 4:51:06 AM PDT by Panerai
The escalating war on junk food in schools has targeted a new enemy -- that gooey, sugary, and often irresistible sandwich spread known to children everywhere as Fluff.
Outraged that his son was served peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff sandwiches at a Cambridge elementary school, state Senator Jarrett T. Barrios , a Democrat, said he will offer an amendment to a junk-food bill this week that would severely limit the serving of marshmallow spreads in school lunch programs statewide.
``A Fluff sandwich as the main course of a nutritious lunch just doesn't fly in 2006," Barrios said. ``It seems a little silly to have an amendment on Fluff, but it's called for by the silliness of schools offering this as a healthy alternative in the first place."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Government schools are fluff incarnate. Take out the fluff education and the rest will fall of its own insubstantiality. So will the niggardly left hand of the inevitable Bell Curve.
I've seen that one, but never tried it.
(Seems like the state senator might be conflicted about fudge made with Fluff.)
If we could find the left thinking gene I might reconsider my opposition to abortion.
"Outraged that his son was served peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff sandwiches..."
Ah, more government is the answer to inadequate parenthood responsibility in teaching proper eating habits. The Dem answer to everything, in fact that is the only way they consider something legitimate. Only when government makes the decision or certifies an activity, is that decision or activity legitimate.
Of course not. If they made just laws that made sense, they'd put themselves out of a job. It's have to go to way part time. Then they might have to really work for a living to support themselves.
Obvious question here.... Why couldn't he send his kid to school with his own homemade nutritious lunch like many of us do? Or is that expecting too much common sense from a dimocrat?
That would require personal responsibility, dems hate that!
I wonder if they eat marshmallows in their home? No S'mores? What a deprived child that would be.
I don't know the guy or his politics, but in theory I agree with him. With obesity on the rise among kids, and parents serving up Micky D's for dinner once a week, kids are not getting the right message about making wise choices for meals away from home.
I almost fired my kids' babysitter over this. I didn't want my kids eating McD's for lunch. I had plenty of healthier alternatives (P&J, grilled cheese, soup, left overs from dinner, etc) but she was not interested in preparing lunch. She would take them to McD's at her own expense because it was easier. I would pay for pizza even, but considered McD's way too fattening and salty to have more than once every other month or so.
Eventually we resolved this. She was nice, responsible, but not a rocket scientist. When her parents died and she was on her own at 35 years old she ate nearly every meal out because she didn't know how to cook, shop for food or prepare simple meals. Even an adult education cooking class didn't help. She was in hock up to her eyeballs and still ate junk food out every afternoon and evening. This is a basic life skill that the schools SHOULD teach, like the 3Rs. Not all parents understand sound nutrition.
I would not, under any circumstances consider a marshmellow derivative a lunch food. Surely the school district can come up with a better alternative. They may be the best hope for nutrition education for many kids.
"...replace "fluff" with fudge."
A very disturbing mental image, DH. And it's only 9am.
Because he probably gets a reduced price lunch. Being part of a protected class and all, you know?
Either that or it's typical Democrat to abdicate the responsibility to feed your kids the way you see fit and let the school do it.
My God, some folks probably have conniptions over tater tots. It's one meal a day, folks!
Oooops, forgot the sarcasm tags.
Cambridge could do more to fight obesity by bringing back recess and phsy ed.
Pls share it!
I sent nutritious, home prepared lunches for many years. Eventually the kids started asking for lunch at school on particular days. The school district sent the month's menu home in advance. They liked the "chicken nuggat" type food and the pizza. (Nix on the hot dogs; they bounced them!) In middle school & high school the menus were varied enough that it was easier to buy some things like salads with grilled chicken, than to try to bring that in tupperwares and prepare it at the lunch table.
Actually, the cost was a motivating factor too. A complete lunch cost under $2 for everyone (not on the free lunch program). Even shopping at Costco I couldn't beat that. Especially factoring in lost tupperware!
I gave them lunch money each week. Any lunch they brought from home was money in their pocket. If they didn't have time to wait on line, or were trying to squirrel away some extra money, or wanted a particular left-over they would prepare and bring lunch from home.
I was grateful they had good alternatives to pick from. For what I pay in SCHOOL taxes (about $8,000 per year) they should.
That would be the best thing to do, wouldn't it? Common sense.
Then again, I have my own story to tell: I think one big reason my son was pushed out of preschool (and I was pushed into homeschooling) is that I was complaining about the food they were letting him eat there.
He was only 4 years old in that two-hour per day preschool program offered by the public school. I was packing a healthy snack for him everyday, but he would bring the snack home uneaten. Well, I found out the teacher was giving the whole class food bought by the school (translation: paid for by our tax dollars). When I confronted her, she said it was easier to hand out food than let them go to their backpacks and get their own food. I told her I don't let him eat junk food. I told her the only exception would be a party. I wrote a letter to the school, too. So he was the only kid in class not allowed to eat the food she was handing out.
Turns out, he was getting his hands on the school food anyway, plus those "parties" were almost a daily event with well-meaning parents dropping off boxes of doughnuts for the class. In two months, that kid ate more junk food than he ever had before or in the 5-1/2 years since then... lol.
Of course, since then, I've lightened up a little bit. :-)
Did you read the article?
Did you see the number of calories in a fluffernutter sandwich versus a pizza or steak fries?
The fluff has about the same calories as jelly, a tiny fraction of what you'd get in a pizza or cheeseburger.
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