School lunches....and how we PISS money away.

[Yinzerlyn]

We all know about the new federal guidelines for Mooschelle's "Healthy lunch" program. I have seen more food get thrown away uneaten than I ever have before. The staff has a box next to the garbage can for uneaten apples, oranges, and bananas....those fruits get served again until they are rotten.

Well, what I saw yesterday has my blood BOILING. I was assisting one of my kiddos pick out what she wanted for lunch. She pointed to a chicken drumstick. So I picked one out of the serving line and placed it on her tray. She then saw chicken fried steak and told me that she wanted that instead. So I put the drumstick back onto the serving line. (It was in a little paper boat thing. I didn't touch it at all, nor did the student). Well, one of the cafeteria servers who monitors what you put on your tray (I **** you not, that is what we are paying them for), told me to give her that drumstick. I looked at her with a "WTF" face and gave it to her. She told me that she has to THROW IT AWAY by FEDERAL LAW. The drumstick wasn't touched or anything...but because it went onto a tray and left the actual "food warming" place, it's considered "eaten." Had I just SHOWN it to my student without actually having the little paper boat with the drumstick touch the tray, it would NOT have been considered "eaten." Yet, the uneaten fruit doesn't require to be thrown away- THAT fruit actually makes it into the commons, onto a kid's tray, and god knows what else before it gets tossed into the "re-use" box.

The waste of money that the school lunch program is is ridiculous. We are paying people to monitor what gets put on the tray (SpEd kids have a little leeway due to their issues, but they are still watched). We have all this food that gets wasted because of the damn guidelines...yet we continue to allow this to happen.

Was anyone else aware of the "selected but given back" rule?

 

[oneforthebus]

Eh, that one doesn't bother me so much, it's a hygiene issue. Illness spreads like wildfire in schools...I wouldn't want 10 kids, 6 of whom probably haven't washed their hands all day, touching my kid's food and then putting it back before he eats it. Like most school rules it's a bit extreme that common sense and judgment can't be brought in to individual situations, but I agree with the rule.

The waste bothers me most. For what we are all paying for that's getting thrown away, we should be able to provide decent food. The lunches they serve are so disgusting. A few years ago discovered my son was getting something called a "yogurt lunch" every day...sugary yogurt and a granola bar, both chock full of artificial flavors colors and preservatives, with a whole apple (can't eat because of braces) and a bowl of gross canned vegetables that NOBODY eats. This meets all of Michelle's requirements because it has some protein, is low in calories and fat and has a fruit and a vegetable. Hardly nutritious and my son would come home starving every day. He got this alternate lunch every day (along with a bunch of other kids) because the rest of the food they serve is inedible. That's when I started packing his lunch. My girls have been packing lunch since they were very small, because the lunches are so gross. It's a shame some kids have no other choice but to eat that crap.

Our high school has opted out of the federal funding and the food is much better. There is a salad bar, they can get whatever they want a la carte and aren't forced to buy stuff they won't eat. My girls still pack out of habit though.

 

[Yinzerlyn]

But why is it OK for the apples to be served over and over and over and over, but a drumstick in a paper box that didn't even make it out of the serving line tossed immediately? I GET the hygiene thing, but if you have ever sat in a cafeteria, you'd see how many people touch the apples before they are tossed in the re-use box. Selecting an item and putting it right back is bad though. Makes NO sense. They also should consider the SpEd kids and how they don't always KNOW what the food is until they see it.

The kids (HIGH SCHOOL KIDS) have that yogurt lunch as well. It's a yogurt, a cheese stick, mini waffles (which are NOT homemade- they are those microwaveable ones that are reaheated right before lunch), canned fruit cocktail, and 5 or 6 tater tots. That's it. Sometimes, they substitute a blueberry muffin (pre packaged) for the waffles. It's AWFUL.

When I was at the elementary school here, we had a girl with autism who could not (and WOULD NOT) eat mashed potatoes. She freaked out at the sight of them. We would have mashed potatoes and gravy, and we would tell the workers that we didn't want that at all- the workers KNEW we were the SpEd class. We were FORCED to take the gravy, but no potatoes. Who eats just gravy? Who makes these damn rules?

 

[oneforthebus]

But why is it OK for the apples to be served over and over and over and over, but a drumstick in a paper box that didn't even make it out of the serving line tossed immediately? I GET the hygiene thing, but if you have ever sat in a cafeteria, you'd see how many people touch the apples before they are tossed in the re-use box. Selecting an item and putting it right back is bad though. Makes NO sense. They also should consider the SpEd kids and how they don't always KNOW what the food is until they see it.

The kids (HIGH SCHOOL KIDS) have that yogurt lunch as well. It's a yogurt, a cheese stick, mini waffles (which are NOT homemade- they are those microwaveable ones that are reaheated right before lunch), canned fruit cocktail, and 5 or 6 tater tots. That's it. Sometimes, they substitute a blueberry muffin (pre packaged) for the waffles. It's AWFUL.

When I was at the elementary school here, we had a girl with autism who could not (and WOULD NOT) eat mashed potatoes. She freaked out at the sight of them. We would have mashed potatoes and gravy, and we would tell the workers that we didn't want that at all- the workers KNEW we were the SpEd class. We were FORCED to take the gravy, but no potatoes. Who eats just gravy? Who makes these damn rules?

I'm assuming (hoping) they are washing the apples putting them back out? I don't know. In our schools they go right into the trash. Why force kids to take stuff they are not going to eat? It's insane.

 

[Yinzerlyn]

I HOPE they wash the apples, but who knows?

It's just insane to witness how messed up this program is. The pictures on Twitter and Facebook about how bad the lunches look are pretty accurate. I don't see how serving all that processed, reheatable crap is better than the homemade stuff. It might have less calories, yes, but all the preservatives and all isn't good for you!!! My daughter eats the lunch only for convenience sake. Plus, lunches brought from home have a tendency to be stolen. The kids don't use lockers, so they have to tote their lunch with them all day until it's time to eat.

 

[Troglodyte]

Both my kids pack now because of all the stupid rules.

Water was an extra charge if my daughter wanted it instead of milk.

Juice was considered a fruit and they're not allowed two fruit servings or some **** like that.

 

[MT~Forged]

That is along the lines of a complaint I had written to my Congressman about, while in the US Navy. We had just taken on stores in Australia for the return trip to the US. After we left Australia, we were deployed to Burma instead. We were sent there in case our Marines had to extract US citizens during the coup. While en route we took on additional stores, Fresh and Sea-Rations. As they were planning on having a shitload of civilians onboard, we were ALLOWED to eat the Sea-Rations (for 8 ******* days). We were eventually relieved and proceeded to Pearl. We were at that point allowed whatever we wanted. 2 days out of Pearl we jettisoned 48 PALLETS of stores that we were not ALLOWED to return to port with. I would guess that it must have been 20-30 THOUSAND pounds of food. The vast majority of those stores were FROZEN AND CANNED, very little were fresh produce, though there must have still been 5-6 thousand pounds of that.

Why that food couldn't have continued to be used or at the least given to local food pantries, is beyond me. All I can figure is some company bribed the USN to re-stock all US Navy ships returning to the US.

 

[MT~Forged]

Both my kids pack now because of all the stupid rules.

Water was an extra charge if my daughter wanted it instead of milk.

Juice was considered a fruit and they're not allowed two fruit servings or some **** like that.

I am glad our school system doesn't follow those **** rules. Our kids eat HOMEMADE meals every day. Most of the products are even locally produced.

 

[Vader]

I fix my sons lunches. The school lunches are horrible. I've been there for lunch and tasted that crap. I'd rather eat MREs from the 60s.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

So I put the drumstick back onto the serving line. (It was in a little paper boat thing. I didn't touch it at all, nor did the student)

Lynn at the caf:

 

[Yinzerlyn]

I found out today that the schools are prohibited BY THE FEDS from donating all the extra food to food pantries. Obviously, you can't donate the hot food, but the crackers, fruit, veggies, snacks, sandwiches...all banned from donation. Schools could lose their funding if they are caught doing that.

And we wonder why other countries hate us.

 

[Sarge]

I fix my sons lunches. The school lunches are horrible. I've been there for lunch and tasted that crap. I'd rather eat MREs from the 60s.

I think those were called C-Rations.

 

[Yinzerlyn]

Both my kids pack now because of all the stupid rules.

Water was an extra charge if my daughter wanted it instead of milk.

Juice was considered a fruit and they're not allowed two fruit servings or some **** like that.

How is water an extra charge? That's insane.

 

[DBS1970]

Welcome to the machine.

Sort of like mixing rainwater with sewage to have something to purify out of it to meet EPA standards.

 

[Vader]

I think those were called C-Rations.

I think you're right. I remember eating some from the 60's in the late 70's when I was a kid. They were horrible.