Today a school in Chicago made news for banning lunches from home, forcing all their students to eat school lunch. Um, wow. This sounds bad.
But can we be sure that home lunches are healthy and satisfying? Here are two recent examples from my students:
Lunch example 1: Two donuts.
Lunch example 2: A ham sandwich on white bread, a donut, a banana, a bag of hot chips.
Should the “two donut” kid be forced to eat school lunch? I’m asking that rhetorically because I really don’t have an answer.
We need to know what Little Village Academy is serving for lunch. Is it anything like the lunches offered at the Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC)? You guys saw the amazing lunch I ate there last month. Should AGC’s students be required to eat school lunch?
I’d also like to note that the article mentions kids need to get permission to send home lunches with a medical excuse. How easy is it to get a note from your child’s doctor for them to eat home lunches? Remember how I had to get a doctor’s note allowing my son to the lunches I send from home (that I post on the blog)? I got a note faxed to my day care in less than 24 hours.
One reason I’m not totally up in arms about this article is that home lunches are banned in France. In some schools in France you have to meet with the principal to opt out of the school lunch program. School lunch is mandatory because it is part of the education. Months ago I posted this video about the French school lunch program (CBS). Watching it still chokes me up — really you must watch it.
I have to say I get really excited when school food makes the news and riles people up! Now let’s try to channel that emotion to change school lunch so that being forced to eat it is not a punishment.
I was totally waiting for you to blog about this!
Just Better Together
I have no problem saying that I absolutely do NOT like the idea of banning lunches. For a few reasons.
1) My kid, my choice what to feed him. PERIOD
2) I haven't seen school food yet that is better than my lunches.
3) My kid is sensitive to MSG, corn, soy, red food dye, and is lactose intolerant
4)I also believe in moderation. My son went to a school with a healthy eating program and the staff became the food police, telling him when he couldn't have the odd treat and making a big deal of him not eating all the food I sent. Hello? Possibly not hungry? Kids should listen to their bodies. What frustrated me so much was staff eat junk in the staff room, then tell the kids they can't have the occasional cookie. Kids see right through that.
The bottom line is I'd want the choices, as would my kid. If they outlawed lunches from home, he wouldn't be going there.
I am sure some parents send totally unhealthy food for their childs lunch.But considering it is in fact THEIR child that is their right.I don't agree with this at all.It reminds me of this quote I found that truly concerned me.
"Parents give up their rights when they drop the children off at a public school."~Melinda Harmon, Federal Judge, 1996
It just isnt right.
If you look at the article in the Tribune, you can see a picture of the actual lunch that's served at Little Village: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-school-lunch-restrictions-041120110410,0,2614451,full.story
The story also says that their lunches are provided by Chartwells-Thompson, so it doesn't sound like the lunches are of the quality that you saw at AGC.
As a parent, I would be furious if my son's school implemented this rule. Even if some parents are providing their kids with unhealthy lunches — and I'm sure this is the case — it is the parents' responsibility to determine what their children eat. I think this school could look for other ways to curb unhealthy lunches from home, such as working with the kids and their families on nutrition education. What they're doing now alienates all of the parents who would work hard to feed their children healthful lunches.
That must be awful for parents who don't qualify for free/reduced prices but are still on a tight budget, especially for families with several kids. You'd be spending around $45/month, per kid. If you've got several kids, that adds up fast.
Also, Mrs. Q – the Little Village Academy you linked to isn't the one in the article. You linked to a daycare by the same name in Ohio (which actually has the opposite policy: parents are required to provide lunch and snack – and there are rules about food group representation!) The Chicago school's website is: http://www.lva.cps.k12.il.us/lva/HOME.html
As of midnight (approx. 12 hours after the story was published on the Tribune website) 707 comments have been posted in response to this article. The overwhelming majority of the comments are decidedly against the school forcing its students to purchase school lunch.
You mention that it was easy for you to receive a note from your doctor stating that your son needed to eat a home-prepared lunch — but what about children who don't have a specific, verifiable medical reason to avoid school lunch? What about children who prefer the lunch that their parents prepare due to taste or texture preferences? What about children who are vegetarian or vegan or observe halal or have other dietary restrictions that are religious or cultural? According to the article, medical issues are the only allowable exception for opting out of school lunch.
I sincerely doubt the faculty and staff at Little Village Academy are lining up every day to purchase school lunch. What sort of message is that sending to the students and their parents? — "Do as we say, not as we do." I think a lot of us have had more than enough of someone telling us what we need to do, but then choosing to do something totally different for themselves/their children.
Ultimately for me: my child = my responsibility and my choice.
Thats ridiculous. In a public school children should be allowed to eat whatever their parents pack them and if its two donuts, so be it! How is two donuts different from the two waffles the kid ate for breakfast which by most people's definition is just fine? Its not. Look at the nutrition label…Sugar same amount, carbohydrate same amount, protein non-existant. How do you know those arent whole grain (LOL) donuts, seeing that every tom dick and harry company now slaps WHOLE GRAIN on their junk food, according to the government its all a big pile of health food.
My point is why should the school or the government tell me what to do?
MY kid, I decide. PERIOD.
The last two paragraphs of the Tribune article disturbs me –
"Any school that bans homemade lunches also puts more money in the pockets of the district's food provider, Chartwells-Thompson…
At Little Village, most students must take the meals served in the cafeteria or go hungry or both. During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten. Though CPS has improved the nutritional quality of its meals this year, it also has seen a drop-off in meal participation among students, many of whom say the food tastes bad."
How is this policy beneficial to the kids if they end up going hungry? I can understand banning unhealthy items (sodas, sugary drinks, candy, etc) or giving parents guidelines for the brown-bag lunches the same way the caterer has to follow nutritional guidelines. However, if the lunch provider can pass a cookie off as a starch or bread, then so can the parents.
What I like about the banning home lunches policy is that it gives parents pause. They have to think about what they send with their children for lunch. On the other hand, there are many parents who send their child to school expecting that the school will feed them.
What I see most commonly is children who get the hot lunch at school, but bring in a bag of hot chips for a "side." What do you think the kids end up eating? Hot chips.
Maybe we just need a hot chips ban!
All I have to say is screw Little Academy. If I want to pack a lunch for my son/daughter, and my son/daughter wants to eat the lunch I give them, then I will.
This sounds unethical and unjust. Someone should fight this in the courts.
As a teacher, I can't believe this. There are a lot of students who won't buy the "unhealthy" lunches at school because they aren't healthy enough! Give the parents the choice on what to feed their kids. This doesn't take into account those kids who just don't like a hamburger – so they have to be hungry that day? I think the school will see a lot of doctor's notes, because the doctors will think it is a ridiculous policy as well.
I feel like the kind of parent who is lazy enough to send donuts is too lazy to get a doctor's note. What parent is going to say, "I am determined to send crappy donuts for my child's lunch!!" Most parents who want to send lunch enough to get a doctor's note probably work hard to pack a healthy lunch because they feel the school lunch is not adequate.
If I had children, I would not like this policy being forced on my family. It's just another reason why I imagine I might homeschool when the time comes. I can't abide this attitude of "We know what's best for you" and the taking away of basic freedom of choice of food.
P.S. What are "hot chips"? Spicy-flavored potato chips? I have never heard that term before.
This whole ban as little to do with providing children with healthy lunches and more with government control. It is the government saying to parents that we are not capable of making good choices for our own children. I carried my children for 9 months inside me, gave birth to them (no drugs mind you) it is my God given right as their mother to feed them whatever I choose. I follow the feingold diet with my boys but if I want to send my kids to school with wonder bread, pixie sticks and Tang for lunch that is my right as their parent to do so. I think the government's energy and resources are better spent on, oh I don't know, passing a budget and getting our country out of debt rather than being so concerned about what my kids are eating. I am their mother, that is my job.
Marisa made a good point. I fall into that category of the parent who doesn't feel the school lunch is good enough. I've seen and eaten the lunch at my son's school. Frankly I'd rather feed my kids Taco Bell. There is no way the school could afford organic foods to feed the kids. I'd rather the money be spend on not firing teachers,raising class sizes and keeping art and music.
I have had personal experience with Chartwells at my son's elementary school, and let me just tell you it was the worst food I've ever seen served to children. I am not exaggerating. It was horrible. One time they served kidney beans mixed with spaghetti noodles as an entrée. That's it. No sauce (not that sauce would have made it any better.
I stopped feeding him school lunch because his lunches consisted only of lettuce and cheese from the salad bar. Everything else was basically inedible. There was such a decline in participation in the food program that when it came time to renew the contract with Chartwells the school chose not to.
Also, they (Chartwells) provided a lunch specifically for the teachers because they wouldn't eat what the kids were being served. This tells me how awful the food was, and that they knew it, and they STILL fed it to our children.
The article says, "nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school." Looking at the picture, there is processed cheese (or is it "cheese food?") carrots, canned pears, strawberry milk, tator tots and a hoagie-type sandwhich, which looks like white bread. Now compare what I make my son for lunch… Turkey sandwhich with homemade wheat bread, water, real fruit, yogurt, and maybe some veggies. Which is better? School vs. homemade???
It's not always easy to get a medical excuse. I can't get one for my son, on a modified Feingold, so that the cafeteria will not give him artificial food dyes.
And if you have Medicaid it is a nightmare- literally hours and hours just to get an appointment sometimes. My experience is that it's never as easy as a phone call with Medicaid.
Mrs. Q, in TX there is a 'cupcake ban'. Actually they have a whole list of "foods of minimal nutritional value" that are not allowed to be used in the classroom. Unfortunately, the FMNV ban doesn't extend to the cafeteria.
My opinions:
in a perfect world
1. everyone would want to buy the school lunch because it is affordable, nutritious, and delicious void of all artificial chemicals, and additives – sign me up for those French lunches
2. schools would have a policy (and enforce it) about what items are not allowed to be sent in a school lunch (lunchables perhaps?). Parents would sign off that if they opt out of buying lunch, they promise to provide a healthy alternative
"It's MY kid so I decide what I feed him. Even if it's crap!"
I'm sorry, but I can't get behind that thinking. What gives parents the right to mess up their childrens live? Just because they gave birth to them? I think not.
There should be mandatory courses for parents on how to raise children and consequences if they fail to provide a decent environment for their kids to grow up.
this is truly sad. little by little the states are chipping away at the rights of parents.
i remember going to school and having to pick from very bad produce if i wanted a fruit. I cherish the times when my mom would make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some grapes, strawberries or blueberries,pickle or carrots and a very well appreciated water. Sometimes i'd get a nice surprise, 35 cents for an ice cream. i was not fat or unhealthy and still am not. if this goes into effect i think we'll see a lot of kids hungry and sneaking unhealthy easy to store foods inside, like candy bars.
What about the kids with juvenile diabetes? Does that count as an allergy?
This is just another blow destroying the America we fought so hard for. Liberalism is definitely a disease. There is no doubt this is just one more reason why so many other countries are fighting "western" persuasion and the globalization of American values. How dare the school district interfere with a parent's right to chose a lunch for their children. Thank goodness there are still private schools willing to teach morals, ethics and religion to our children.
The French situation is too dissimilar to our own to count as evidence. In France, as you say, the meals are part of the education. Not so in America (or at least, not part of the *intentional* education process). In France, it would make as much sense to opt out of the meals as it would to opt out of, say, the math component at school. But this just isn't the way that school lunches function in America, as the quality and emphasis on the importance of that meal in our schools amply demonstrates.
Obama is trying to turn this country into socialism (like France). I bet he is celebrating this example of government control. I just think I'll homeschool. I live in Oklahoma City. The public school systems are pretty bad here.
I don't see how anyone can blame Obama, or even the federal government, for one school making a policy like this. I disagree with the policy but it wasn't country-wide, state-wide or even city-wide. It was one school.
While I agree it's foolish to disallow kids to bring their lunch I really don't think there's anyone to blame besides the foolish administrators at that school.
I pack my kids lunches because we don't eat grain, dairy, sugar or salt. Their food is healthier and tastier than anything that is served at the school.
I don't see this policy as one that's going to hold up to much scrutiny. This appears to be an overreaction to possibly just a few poor examples. It seems counter to what we often hear from educators, that a child's education should be a partnership between parents and teachers. In this case it appears that the educators are just saying, "screw you, parents."
A better solution would be to educate the children (and maybe the parents) as to what a healthy lunch is and why it is important to have one.
My initial reactions were much like yours, but after reading the original article, I am more against it. As a teacher, I have seen what kids bring to school for snacks. Luckily in my district the encourage healthy snacks, and as a classroom teacher you can tell the parents no chips and junk. However, the food they show in the article is just awful, and many students aren't eating it. I'd rather have students eat something.
This is all about money- and I knew it was. The article goes on to talk about how the district gets money for each lunch (for free and reduced) it gives. It is the same in my district and why we have Breakfast in the Classroom- which I hate! Everything in public schools is about the money. Every time they make a weird change, I try to find out how it monetarily benefits the districts. It's sickening.
Oh… my mind is going in so many directions I don't know which thought to focus on first.
Yes I do. All of you saying it's your god-given right to feed your kids exactly what you please. When I think of Mrs. Q's 2 donut example… I would have to go so far as to say it's abusive and neglectful to send your kid to school with two nearly pure-sugar confections that will leave the child starving in half an hour. Is it your god given right to beat the hell out of your kid? To only bathe them once a week? To spend all your money on drugs while the child goes hungry? Those are all forms of abuse, and I think everyone here would agree. Wouldn't extremely poor nutrition be abusive too?
I know people who take the time to read blogs like this and think about what they feed their children are great parents. Don't get me wrong. But it's nothing short of DANGEROUSLY NAIVE to think that every other parent out there does the same.
Next, I'm so torn on the issue. When I think about kids who bring a lunchable every single day, yeah, that's a kid who could benefit from being forced to eat school lunch. But when I stop to think about the slop Mrs. Q was forced to eat every day for a year, I cringe. I couldn't imagine forcing any child to eat that when a parent could (and would <–big important key phrase here) do better.
"I'd also like to note that the article mentions kids need to get permission to send home lunches with a medical excuse. How easy is it to get a note from your child's doctor for them to eat home lunches?"
For poor parents I bet it is pretty damn hard. Even at a prestigious college, we HAD to be on the shitty meal plan even if we lived off campus. You had to meet with like 5 different people to get permission to go off the meal plan, even though we were adults. It was BS. So if young, college-educated people with free time and financial resources can't get excused from a meal plan, I find it hard to believe that poor, busy parents that are raising kids would find the time to get a medical excuse!
If my kids' school served them the same quality meals that we make for them, sure. But they don't. They serve junk food: burgers, fries, pizza, great giant pre-packaged rice krispie bars, etc. Our homemade lunches include fresh fruits and veggies, sandwiches on homemade bread, homemade yogurt, homemade soups, salads…There's no comparison!
Both my husband and I work, btw. Sure, it takes time and planning to keep us all well nourished, but considering the alternatives, I don't see how we can afford NOT to take the time to do this.
(Additionally, I'm on my district's wellness committee. What a joke that is. I'd like to think it's going to get better at some point, but for the last year it's been like banging my head into a brick wall.)
Bottom line: if my kids' school implemented this policy, we'd send to them to a different school. Thank goodness for open enrollment and real school choices.– Nancy in MN
What a hot topic, and a wonderful way to focus our attention on what children eat!
In order to eat healthfully, we should NOT force kids to eat school cafeteria food.
Instead, we need to educate kids (and parents) about how to eat well.
For example, there's a teacher in a lower income area of Los Angeles who – together with her students – has created a list of healthy mid-morning snacks. Her class compiled a similar list for allowable birthday treats.
These healthy food lists go home to parents – everyone knows what's allowed – and her classroom enjoys healthier food options every school day. Pretty impressive.
This teacher is a great example of the type of thinking and action required to create change.
As for school lunches, big improvements must be made in taste and nutrition. To do this, we need more money,and food service managers who innovate and partner with local farms and food businesses. Yes, easier said than done, but we need to make this happen.
Thank you for posting exactly what I've been feeling about this situation.
A couple clarifications for the posters:
Academy for Global Citizenship's school lunch provider is indeed Chartwells. To meet the difference between the reimbursement and what it costs to provide the quality of food that AGC serves, they raise funds independently, which is not an easy task. I'm at AGC every month providing nutrition education and cooking classes and I know that their ability to do this is due in large part to a charismatic executive director, which most schools do not have.
Second, as Bob Bloomer of Chartwells confirmed here in his interview with Mrs. Q, her lunch was from Preferred Meals, not the same vendor as Little Village Academy.
Third, I've seen and tasted the new menu unveiled by Chartwells last September. Is it perfect? Not by any stretch of the imagination. In my view, until every school has a chef and a garden, our work is not done. That being said, Chartwells has made significant improvements to the lunch program (more whole grains, more vegetables, less salt, less sugar). They also run either the largest or second largest farm-to-school programs in the country.
Finally,I've worked and talked with 100s of Chicago students. They don't like the new menu – that's true. But what they want is to go back to is nachos every day. High school students who have the opportunity to go off campus are going to restaurants that serve exactly the same crap that was served last year in the cafeteria. So many of them are addicted to fat, sugar and salt and so it's going to be a transition and education is needed. That's where my organization (and others like it come in), but for us to have an impact, we need funding not complaining about one small school that took an extreme step of banning home lunches.
P.S. I absolutely agree with one of the posters above who rightly observed that there are some parents that you cannot change and they are going to send in crap no matter how much the school says that they can't. Does that parent have the "right" to send a coke and a doughnut as lunch? I don't think so.
P.P.S. Would anyone have a problem with AGC (with its organic lunch program) banning home lunches?
Melissa Graham
Purple Asparagus
P.P.S. Would anyone have a problem with AGC (with its organic lunch program) banning home lunches?
You know, organic isn't necessarily better. "Organic Mac & Cheese" is still pre-packaged junk in a box. And while it's great that there's "more whole grains, more vegetables, less salt, less sugar"…more compared to what? Other school lunches? The meals I'm sending from home? A donut and a Coke?
I'm sure what you're doing is great, but I'd have to see menus and nutritional information before I could answer that question. — Nancy in MN
and sometimes the kids bringing the donuts might be 'packing' their lunch themselves b/c mom or dad were working and left them no lunch money. If our school ever got rid of all the 'treats' that they give out in the classroom, then I'd be happier.
Found your blog thru an article on Yahoo.
I live in California and I pack a lunch sometimes or let my child get hot lunch. It has changed drastically thru the years.
Here is a sample of my child's menu: Hummus & Cucumber with pita bread, chrispy chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun, stone ground tortilla chips with refried beans and cheese, yogurt parfait, chicken fajita salad or low fat cheese pizza on a whole grain crust.
We are vegetarian and it is important for her to eat healthy. She will usually get the Fruit Parfait but lately has been taking my lunch which consists of a sandwich, some type of fruit a breakfast bar for snack and maybe pretzles or gold fish. Some days she takes red bell pepper and cucumbers instead of a fruit.
I think as parents we need to be sure our children are eating healthy. Period. Not left up to the school. just my thoughts!~
Visit me if you will: http://zplayhouse.blogspot.com
Yes Nancy, I am well aware that there is organic junk. That is, however, not what's being served at Academy for Global Citizenship as Mrs. Q points out on her post. So my question to you and others remains, would you have a problem with a school that serves nutritious chef prepared meals using fresh, organic and often local produce like AGC does? I wouldn't.
And to clarify, neither I nor my organization provide school lunch. We instead provide culinary and nutrition education to schools
To clarify my last post (typing on iPhone is challenging), have a problem with them requiring students to eat it with limited exceptions.
School lunches are processed food. And reduced fat means, added sugar. End of story. I almost always send all three children to school with a packed lunch. They think the schools apples taste weird. My kids eat fruit at home everyday! Also, most parents should get involved with what the school is feeding their children. You'd be quite suprised to know where that cupped "fruit" comes from as well. It is not an American product, in most schools. Although, it may very well be distributed in the U.S.
I would be extremely skeptical of any mandatory school lunch program.
One of the great responsibilities and privileges of being a parent is to make choices that you believe are in the best interest of your child. We choose religion (or not) for our children, we choose what values to impart to them, we choose what clothes to buy for them, where they live, and of utmost importance – what they eat.
It is obviously in all of our best interests to have children grow up healthy. But instead of mandatory "top down" solutions such as mandatory school lunch of debatable quality we should work for "bottom up" solutions of family nutrition education, free optional high quality school lunch for all, and food/culinary education for students. A school might try to mandate lunch, but they can't mandate health. This is, at best, misguided and, at worst, dangerous.
“If children were a major priority in this country, and food was sacred, and the making of it was a sacred process I would not object to this notion. But this culture is repulsed by the sacred, de-values its children, and cannot fathom the essential quality of food at the government level. So either way the children are screwed.” – Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
let me guess, next we'll be hearing about a rise in supposed eating disorders from this school from kids refusing to eat school lunch and choosing to go hungry.
yes I know eating disorders are real.
I am very much against this as a student. While I am in college right now, I definitely remember how terrible school lunches could be. Tater tots, overly salty fries, those rectangle pizzas Ms. Q ate, and an over abundance of fried foods. My mom would pack my school lunches and it would usually have a soup, spaghetti, lasagna, spinach orzo or something else equally delicious and homemade. I'd also bring a peanut butter sandwich and/or a yogurt (real yogurt, none of that candy colored stuff). I was always full and knew that my food tasted and was better for me than the corndog being served that day.
Not to mention, I really feel for these kids skipping an entire meal. Even now, if I were to skip lunch and not eat until I got out of school at the time these kids did, I'd feel physically ill by the time I got home.
Also, I've dealt with Chartwells twice now. At my high school, which was private, the food was decent but they wouldn't always have a good alternative to pizza or fried foods so you'd be stuck with that. They also do my college's food which has been a much better experience. They have plenty of stations, such as the typical pizza and burger/fries, but also a vegetarian, a grill, Asian, sandwich and soup, fruits, etc. It's really apparent that the quality of food and the options depend on both the amount of money and the chefs working there.
I just want to point out that this is really nothing new – just new to a public school. Many private schools require that students only eat what the school provides. As someone who spent the majority of their K-12 life in private schools, bringing lunch from home was rarely an option – unless there was a field trip.
Was the school food better than what I would've gotten from home? For my personal tastes, no, but I also was fortunate to come from a financially stable home with a stepfather who cooks fantastic meals on a daily basis. But for some other kids I went to school with, what they ate for lunch was many times the best meal of their day, taste and nutrition wise.
I don't know what the answer is, but this article puts this school in the position of being the first school to ever do this, and while its possible its the first public school to restrict lunches to such a degree, there are hundreds, probably thousands, of private or parochial schools across the country that do this on a regular basis.
1. Krista, this policy – which is enacted by ONE principal in ONE school – was put in place six years ago. SIX. Obama has only been in office since 2008.
Is it therefore the fault of the Bush administration, because this ONE school has had this policy since his presidency?
2. Anonymous, taking a weekly bath is normal. It is only very recently – as in, within the last generation! – that people started thinking you should bathe all over once a day or more. If you're not going out and getting dirty doing farm chores, you probably don't need to wash all over every day.
Ok, excuse me for using dirty kids as an example of child abuse.
I have known children so badly abused that CPS was finally tipped off when the kid came to school unwashed and exhibiting signs of rickets. To think of THAT parent having the "it's my child, I feed them what I want, it's my right as a parent" attitude, I feel positively nauseous.
So yeah, if you want to get nit-picky, let's focus on the shitty parents out there who send their kids to school with two donuts for lunch, who blow the food money on drugs, who beat their children, and who embrace the "it's my child I treat them as I see fit" attitude.
My point was not dirty children. My point was that the good parents who read this blog are thinking of themselves as the rule rather than the exception, while the reality is that a large number of kids are sent to school with crap like donuts, lunchables, chips and soda, and go home to eat McDonald's for dinner because the parents don't know a damned thing about decent nutrition for themselves or their families.
Do I agree with the school's policy? No. It seems like a drastic, ill-thought-out solution to a problem that can better be solved by education. Does that mean the alternative should be a blanket "your kid, your choices" attitude? Hell NO.
I heard a lot of indignant posters say that they'd defend anyone's right to feed his own kids whatever junk they wanted to, because it was their kid, their choice. OK. Now proceed to the scenario that your kid, who just ate neon additive-laden and artificially dyed cheezy poofs washed down with Red Bull for lunch, is now bouncing off the walls in my son's class and is so disruptive he has turned the classroom into a holding cell rather than an environment conducive to teaching and learning. Your freedom of choice has just dragged everyone else's educational experience down.
Mrs Q…love your blog. When my daughter was growing up, we sent her to school with a nutritious lunch every day. Every once in a while she would request to get lunch at school (pizza or tacos)and as a treat that was fine. But since we instilled in her, good eating habits at home, those requests didn't happen very often. It bothers me that some parents leave it up to the school or government to regulate or dictate what their children eat. YOU are the parent, your child is YOUR responsibility. And if any school my daughter was attending when she was growing up prohibited or attempted to prohibit lunches from home, there would be serious hell to pay.
I think you guys have made some terrific points. I'm doing another post on this issue tomorrow! 🙂
My mother chose to feed me school lunches all through Jr. High. They were inedible. If they looked nasty, which was much of the time, I didn't buy them: I pocketed the money and used it for other things, and skipped lunch. Really healthy, that. (Of course, with meal cards and monitoring I suppose I couldn't get away with that, now. And that was all-or-nothing, no way to buy just the bits that might have been edible.)