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What do you think about these school lunches around the world?
- Thread starter orchid
- Start date
How sad is that? I wonder how many of those countries have to feed breakfast to the students
because so many parents are too lazy or simply not organized enough to get the children out the door with healthy food in their bellies? It takes so little time really to get a good meal into them at breakfast!
because so many parents are too lazy or simply not organized enough to get the children out the door with healthy food in their bellies? It takes so little time really to get a good meal into them at breakfast!
mariadnoca
Moderator
I've seen fast food served for school lunches here...
Hopefully they don't still do it, but when a friend's child (now grown) was in elementary school I went and helped out. They brought in Taco Bell and Pizza Hut as the school lunch. I was appalled. And this was a good school in a rich people neighborhood. It was the norm then, they contracted with the fast food chains.
Hopefully they don't still do it, but when a friend's child (now grown) was in elementary school I went and helped out. They brought in Taco Bell and Pizza Hut as the school lunch. I was appalled. And this was a good school in a rich people neighborhood. It was the norm then, they contracted with the fast food chains.
I'd love to see what the actual lunches that are served to the stuents looks like
instead of the ones prepared by food stylists and professionally photographed.
In our school district most of our menu items are made from some variation of chicken nuggets - serves as is, or with a sauce packet and described as "Tangy Orange Chicken". They do serve brown rice with the orange and teriyaki chicken entrees, but usually twice a week pizza of some form is on the menu - and they regularly get it delivered in mass quantities from Papa John's or Dominos.
They do have a fresh fruit and veggie bar, and serve milk, juice or water as the beverages. If the kids choose juice, it counts as a serving of fruit.
All that being said - there was a very interesting article in the LA Times a a while ago about how much food is wasted on school campuses in the district - the "healthy" stuff ends up in the trash can, and the students buy chips, etc from student stores or bring from home.
Healthy Food Wasted - LA Times
instead of the ones prepared by food stylists and professionally photographed.
In our school district most of our menu items are made from some variation of chicken nuggets - serves as is, or with a sauce packet and described as "Tangy Orange Chicken". They do serve brown rice with the orange and teriyaki chicken entrees, but usually twice a week pizza of some form is on the menu - and they regularly get it delivered in mass quantities from Papa John's or Dominos.
They do have a fresh fruit and veggie bar, and serve milk, juice or water as the beverages. If the kids choose juice, it counts as a serving of fruit.
All that being said - there was a very interesting article in the LA Times a a while ago about how much food is wasted on school campuses in the district - the "healthy" stuff ends up in the trash can, and the students buy chips, etc from student stores or bring from home.
Healthy Food Wasted - LA Times
That is a huge percentage Charley. Not sure what the percent is in this area.
I was horrified at the fact that the kids were given hot oatmeal mix out of a carton, which were quickly cooked in the microwave by a team of volunteers and a few cafeteria staff. They only had so much time to get back to class, the oatmeal cups were very hot and many kids could not eat that fast. Some got burned and cried. They were yelled at to hurry up. I would see kids vomit from time to time. Our children are all in their 40's now, so you see that was a very long time ago. I only remember being appalled at the whole situation and how is was handled, and since I was already volunteering for other places, I did not want to be involved with the program. I have no idea how it is now.
I grew up after WWll and food may not have always been plentiful, but us kids were always scrubbed, hair taken care of, and everyone worked hard and expected no handouts. It is a tough subject for sure, but I can say from my observations in our community, there are a lot who expect handouts and do NOTHING to help themselves. They won't even try to grow a few veggies in the backyard. There is a huge "you owe me" attitude. Of course, I can only speak for my little corner of the world... It is very different all over the US. I am also aware of the homeless families here who need help, and DO try to better their situation. They have plenty of help from the different agencies. This community is very giving in all ways,
I was horrified at the fact that the kids were given hot oatmeal mix out of a carton, which were quickly cooked in the microwave by a team of volunteers and a few cafeteria staff. They only had so much time to get back to class, the oatmeal cups were very hot and many kids could not eat that fast. Some got burned and cried. They were yelled at to hurry up. I would see kids vomit from time to time. Our children are all in their 40's now, so you see that was a very long time ago. I only remember being appalled at the whole situation and how is was handled, and since I was already volunteering for other places, I did not want to be involved with the program. I have no idea how it is now.
I grew up after WWll and food may not have always been plentiful, but us kids were always scrubbed, hair taken care of, and everyone worked hard and expected no handouts. It is a tough subject for sure, but I can say from my observations in our community, there are a lot who expect handouts and do NOTHING to help themselves. They won't even try to grow a few veggies in the backyard. There is a huge "you owe me" attitude. Of course, I can only speak for my little corner of the world... It is very different all over the US. I am also aware of the homeless families here who need help, and DO try to better their situation. They have plenty of help from the different agencies. This community is very giving in all ways,
I'm out of touch anymore, but I have a few friends who still have children in school
they tell me their children won't eat in the cafeteria, and many who are high school age will not take lunches from home. They drive off campus to the fast food places. It is best to stay away from the high schools at lunch time!
they tell me their children won't eat in the cafeteria, and many who are high school age will not take lunches from home. They drive off campus to the fast food places. It is best to stay away from the high schools at lunch time!
This sounds like our school:
We serve lots of whole, frozen pizza that is cooked in our ovens and sliced & packed for serving, packaged "french bread Pizza", lots of formed chicken nuggets/fingers, chicken nugget things that are battered and fried for "Orange Chicken"(on brown rice) or grilled/baked chicken chunks that are put with a (pretty tasty) teriaki sauce (on brown rice again).
We also serve flavorless spicy chicken patties on buns; NO flavor what-so-ever except for the cornmeal/hot pepper taste from the coating. These were re-formulated to be in compliance with new fed regulations for sodium/fat content. These sandwiches come with a small portion of seasoned, oven-baked fried potato of some sort.
Now the kids have choice of at least 3 fruits/veggies of different colors, which must be changed day-to-day so the "ideal" mix to eat is varied. Sad to say, our offerings also include fruit juice, maybe twice a week, or fruit ice--this I feel is truly not well serving the children's diets. I mean come on, juice is basically sugar pumped up with the fruit flavor and has vitamin C added; so sad.
Sometimes we have packaged bean burritos, which are decent, if average. And we also serve packaged PB&J sandwiches, which come in frozen and are defrosted to use for lunches.
All this food that is offered each day is on a menu that is calculated to be within federal guidelines for fat, sodium, etc.
We serve lots of whole, frozen pizza that is cooked in our ovens and sliced & packed for serving, packaged "french bread Pizza", lots of formed chicken nuggets/fingers, chicken nugget things that are battered and fried for "Orange Chicken"(on brown rice) or grilled/baked chicken chunks that are put with a (pretty tasty) teriaki sauce (on brown rice again).
We also serve flavorless spicy chicken patties on buns; NO flavor what-so-ever except for the cornmeal/hot pepper taste from the coating. These were re-formulated to be in compliance with new fed regulations for sodium/fat content. These sandwiches come with a small portion of seasoned, oven-baked fried potato of some sort.
Now the kids have choice of at least 3 fruits/veggies of different colors, which must be changed day-to-day so the "ideal" mix to eat is varied. Sad to say, our offerings also include fruit juice, maybe twice a week, or fruit ice--this I feel is truly not well serving the children's diets. I mean come on, juice is basically sugar pumped up with the fruit flavor and has vitamin C added; so sad.
Sometimes we have packaged bean burritos, which are decent, if average. And we also serve packaged PB&J sandwiches, which come in frozen and are defrosted to use for lunches.
All this food that is offered each day is on a menu that is calculated to be within federal guidelines for fat, sodium, etc.
lana-in-fl
Well-known member
The school where I teach has, I think, 69% of students on free or reduced lunch.
It may have gone down a bit, as we are now a magnet school and draw kids from farther away. We have about 30 families who get backpacks of food on the weekends because they would have nothing to eat otherwise. These same students are helped at Christmas and holidays - it broke my heart when the child I was buying something for included underwear as part of what she wanted for Christmas. I sent my very spoiled daughter who takes pretty underwear for granted to buy her some to add to the gift card I gave her. Children like this really need the breakfasts, and although the food is like the pictured American meal, it is nothing like as upsetting as Karen describes, and most teachers allow late students to finish their breakfast either in the classroom, or just outside it. We always have fresh fruit and salads out as part of the lunch, but I seldom go to the cafeteria (just to buy milk for my tea), so I don't know whether it is eaten or not. I have also found that you can never guess which kids are homeless - they are generally always clean and well-kept, doing their best to pretend their circumstances aren't as bad as they really are. There are always some people who might try to take advantage of the system, but we see so many sad things. Our county offers free breakfast to all students, so you might say that many are taking advantage of the system, but it has two positive outcomes. First, the kids who can't do without the free food aren't stigmatized as 'the poor ones', and secondly, more children do eat breakfast, and they learn much better if they have eaten, regardless of the reason or who gave them the food.
It may have gone down a bit, as we are now a magnet school and draw kids from farther away. We have about 30 families who get backpacks of food on the weekends because they would have nothing to eat otherwise. These same students are helped at Christmas and holidays - it broke my heart when the child I was buying something for included underwear as part of what she wanted for Christmas. I sent my very spoiled daughter who takes pretty underwear for granted to buy her some to add to the gift card I gave her. Children like this really need the breakfasts, and although the food is like the pictured American meal, it is nothing like as upsetting as Karen describes, and most teachers allow late students to finish their breakfast either in the classroom, or just outside it. We always have fresh fruit and salads out as part of the lunch, but I seldom go to the cafeteria (just to buy milk for my tea), so I don't know whether it is eaten or not. I have also found that you can never guess which kids are homeless - they are generally always clean and well-kept, doing their best to pretend their circumstances aren't as bad as they really are. There are always some people who might try to take advantage of the system, but we see so many sad things. Our county offers free breakfast to all students, so you might say that many are taking advantage of the system, but it has two positive outcomes. First, the kids who can't do without the free food aren't stigmatized as 'the poor ones', and secondly, more children do eat breakfast, and they learn much better if they have eaten, regardless of the reason or who gave them the food.
Thank you for a real first hand up close account. All you say is
so true. Backpacks for the weekends. Then in the summer, IF these children can get to a designated site, they can again have the breakfast. If they are too far, they go hungry or have to rely on getting food from a food pantry. It is for this reason that our church has a cereal drive every spring--to stock the food pantry with cereal. The person who takes our contributions each week (maybe every couple of days) comments that the shelves are bare again when she arrives. Imagine being hungry in this great country. It is true.
Also, to expand on Lana's sorrow about the underpants, imagine being a teenager, male or female, and needing personal hygiene products , and the effect on your personal image at not having it.
And think about these children's parents and their inability to be a part of the PTA or school activities because they can't get off work (and they ARE working)--and the effect on the teaching staff because they also have to rely on a smaller pool of parents for activities in which they help out.
so true. Backpacks for the weekends. Then in the summer, IF these children can get to a designated site, they can again have the breakfast. If they are too far, they go hungry or have to rely on getting food from a food pantry. It is for this reason that our church has a cereal drive every spring--to stock the food pantry with cereal. The person who takes our contributions each week (maybe every couple of days) comments that the shelves are bare again when she arrives. Imagine being hungry in this great country. It is true.
Also, to expand on Lana's sorrow about the underpants, imagine being a teenager, male or female, and needing personal hygiene products , and the effect on your personal image at not having it.
And think about these children's parents and their inability to be a part of the PTA or school activities because they can't get off work (and they ARE working)--and the effect on the teaching staff because they also have to rely on a smaller pool of parents for activities in which they help out.