<p>Lots of opinions, but no data either way. When the test program runs, I’d like to see if opening free lunch/breakfast to all increases the number of children actually eating the school meals, and how much cost it actually adds. If a school already has a large percentage of children receiving free meals, it might be easier/cheaper to just give everyone access to the free food. Or not–that’s what the test program is for. There should also be a sense of outcomes: what happens to the absentee rate, disciplinary visits to the principal, test scores? </p>
<p>Hot meals can sometimes be cheaper than cold, or equally priced. A serving of sweetened instant oatmeal made with boiling water compares well price-wise with a bowl of cold cereal and a cup of milk; oatmeal or other hot cereal grains would be even cheaper. A lot would depend on commodity pricing and what’s available as government surplus.</p>
<p>Detroit is supposedly a “food desert,” meaning there are very few grocery stores per capita, and the obesity rate is one of the highest in the nation. This is why it is especially important that the breakfasts/lunches not include any additional processed foods or sugar-laden sweets, including chocolate milk. Regardless of whether the students like fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, if the food is being served at school, learning to like healthy foods ought to be part of the curriculum. If a child is hungry enough, he will eat what is in front of him. If he doesn’t eat it, then he is not all that hungry.</p>
<p>Not a fan of cold cereal either - a lot of commercial cereal products are loaded
with sugar and then there are the issues with eating too many carbs.</p>
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<p>I find the prices on grains varies quite a bit.</p>
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<p>I didn’t know that the government bought up oatmeal and other grains. I do know that China is developing a taste for certain US agricultural products which should push prices up. The US dollar is on the precipice of the important 73.50 technical level to the south with resistance at 75 to the north. Other countries have been propping the US dollar at the 73.50 level - we’ll see if that continues - especially after Jackson Hole.</p>
<p>Because some posters went hungry as a child, it is OK for children today to go hungry.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>What is that based on?</p>
<p>I just don’t think that the meals should cost more than what a middle class kid is likely getting at home.</p>
<p>Instead of giving free breakfast, why not give those who qualify cereal, milk, OJ , fruit, and other breakfast food coupons…and the kids could eat at home…and no one sees/knows.</p>
<p>This whole free breakfast/free lunch program ends up being a “jobs program” for adults…you have to pay people to order, cook, serve the food, and people to manage the whole empire. A bunch of wasted money. Just give these kids more food stamps/ WIC or whatever…and they can eat at home and bring lunch from home.</p>
<p>Some of the most needy still wouldn’t get breakfast and lunch with the extra food stamps. They don’t have anyone at home shopping and cooking for them - or even capable of putting out a bowl of cereal or packing a lunch. These are the most at risk kids.</p>
<p>About the Federal mandate on soda machines. Check your school’s machines. I hope you will find diet sodas, Gatorade (allowed), & flavored waters. </p>
<p>In my school, almost every student meets in the commons area to either eat breakfast or hang out. No stigma. Lunch cards are scanned. No one knows or cares.</p>
<p>But I will tell you a story. Twelve years ago I had a student that was kicked out of the house and was living on his own. (Parent alcohol problems) I asked a school secretary how to get him on free lunch. She said, “He’s got enough money for hair dye!” </p>
<p>I was aghast! I then provided him with food for a few weeks and we went to the courthouse and applied for food stamps. Later that month he then took me aside and said, “The problem is solved for school lunch…” I was relieved.</p>
<p>I found out years later that he had printed his own lunch tickets in shop class.</p>
<p>He is a Big Ten college graduate and is a well known photographer in Seattle, WA.</p>
<p>The research on diet sodas isn’t good on weight gain.</p>
<p>Gatorade? Probably good for elite athletes.</p>
<p>When I was in high-school, we had water fountains. There you go:
free water for all students.</p>
<p>We have free sodas (diet and regular), juices, coffee, tea, hot
chocolate, a high-performance water filter and cans of spritzer
water. Guess what is most in demand.</p>
<p>Just looked up the nutritional content of Nature Valley Granola Bars. Twelve grams of sugar and pretty heavy on the carbs. Better than soda but that’s still a decent shot of sugar.</p>
<p>Thanks, BC. The plan is to gradually faze out unhealthy foods, until they are all replaced.
First step is to get rid of sugar, chocolate and caffeine.</p>
<p>It wasn’t my decision, but I would assume it is because it is easier to change a habit gradually, or there is an existing contract that has to be fulfilled, or some other political implication.</p>
<p>BCEagle91, I agree that water is the best, and it bothers me to see students BUYING water. REALLY? When the machines were changed from soda to diet, there was much gnashing of teeth…they got over it.</p>
<p>My school used to have a “snack bar”, with mostly Little Debbie Fat Cakes. That has been closed. But it took the Federal government to close it!</p>
<p>If an idea ends up hurting people in the long run, no amount of you “feeling good” in the short run can justify it. </p>
<p>It may sound good, and it may be all kinds of fun to plan out the minutiae of the latest scheme (should we include stevia packets? what about powdered milk versus whole?). HOWEVER, the bottom line is that someone has to pay for it, and unless you plan on stepping up to the plate and doing the honor yourself, the rest of us are out of money.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with chocolate - it’s actually nutritionally good - if you get the unsweetened kind. I don’t know that kids would eat it unsweetened though.</p>
<p>I’m surprised that we don’t have a US RDA for sugars. We have it for cholesterol, protein, carbohydrates, fat, calories and sodium. I believe that 50 grams per day is considered a low amount of sugar. That’s less than one soda. My intake of sugars for the last few days ranged from 8 to 43 - average is probably around 20 or less. Eating fruit usually bumps it up quite a bit. A kid drinking three sodas a day is taking in 225 grams of sugar, ten times my average. Setting the RDA would provide a guideline that families and institutions could start to follow while not really doing anything to the market for products with a lot of sugars.</p>
<p>For cheap, high-quality foods, go with beans. They are a relatively recent staple at our house. We can get a 1-pound bag of beans with 13 servings for 99 cents. We can get them cheaper at the Asian supermarket if we buy them in bulk. No fat, lots of protein and lots of fiber for rock-bottom prices. They can be dressed up with a little beef, chicken or soy.</p>
<p>I can see the point about not paying for water bottles, but as a practical matter, I support water bottles in the NYC public schools. The reason for that suppot is quite simply that the water fountains in most schools either don’t work or are so revoltingly filthy and contaminated that no child should be expected to drink from them. In my D2’s school, they were pretty much interchangeable with toilets or garbage cans.
I totally support giving kids in need what they need to succeed. I am not fine with using taxpayer dollars to prevent them from learning one of the important lessons of growing up, which is that everyone is different.</p>
<p>BC, I have trouble envisioning kids buying sugarless chocolate, or even it being manufactured. </p>
<p>One of the issues with the chocolate milk and Dairy Assoc., is that when the campaign began to end chocolate milk, the amount of sugar was increased by the producers to further addict the kids.</p>
<p>Beans in the forms of burritos are one of the healthy choices, according to the NYT article I linked to above. I don’t think these programs have progressed to the point of lentil soup,
yet.</p>
<p>Salad bars and a la carte items seem to be the most popular healthy foods. I don’t know if beans are included in the salad bar, and if they would be popular among non-Latino students. I suspect a bean salad with Indian spices would be popular.</p>