What they got: Crisp tortilla rounds, fake meat and cheese, brown rice, lettuce & tomato, fruit cocktail, juice and lowfat milk.
A lot of different components were offered to the kids today....maybe too many. Not sure the kids really need juice AND a fruit cocktail AND milk.
Of course the thing that bothers me is the Cheez Whiz and the commodity beef. In fact the beef infuriates more than I can even express especially in light of the recent news.
Here are some of the headlines:
Government Report Finds Dangerous Residues in Meat- Source: Alternet.org
Dirty, contaminated beef fed to children through school lunch programs - Source: NaturalNews.com
This is totally unacceptable. Why are parents allowing this to happen? Why are our schools not putting their foot down and saying 'NO! We will NOT feed this to our kids' Somehow feeding our kids veterinary drugs, pesticides and heavy metals had become okay.
The activist in me wants to do something radical, like break into the kitchens and destroy all the meat...or I'd like to walk into the kitchens and dump out all the meat products being served on the floor in front of the kids, teachers, cooks and lunch ladies! Yes, drastic! Seems to me drastic times call for drastic measures. When will our government step up and put a stop to this farce of an FDA??
Where do we go from here??
Yum.
ReplyDeleteEven if the meat is clean it may be mixed with soy (which is cheaper and is an easier way to reduce fat without spending money on leaner meat). Soy has been proven to delay development in boys, speed development in girls, and cause reproductive problems down the road (in addition to suppressing the thyroid which leads to obesity, heart disease, and a number of other health problems). Because, surely, cheaply reducing fat is much more important than children's health.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't you think the kids would be much more likely to eat the veggies if they served it piled on top of the chips? As is, I picture kids scooping up the meat and cheese and leaving the rest.
@WordVixen Actually, the majority of the kids don't eat the cheez whiz- they complain its too salty!! As for the meat- it gets eaten so-so. They land up eating the brown rice, tortilla chips, fruit cocktail and either milk or juice.
ReplyDeleteGood point regarding the soy- Im against fillers and additives.
My oldest wouldn't have been able to eat this meal anyway or any meal with meat fillers or extenders which are usually soy based. She is allergic to peanuts and soy.
ReplyDeleteThe more I read about school meals the more worried I become. What will the tipping point be before ALL parents become concerned enough that our voices are heard.
Between big government and big business our kids have lost.
Part of the problem is the parents...I have had some tell me that why should their kids suffer since theirs are not obese or have any kind of a health problem. This attitude is our problem. First IT'S NOT HEALTHY!!!!! I am a personal chef and sub at the local school district in the nutrition (?) dept. As an employee I can eat free each day as do the other employees. I take my lunch daily because I won't eat that stuff. If you could smell that meat, the sausage turns my stomach anyway it's all about the money..it has nothing to do with what's good for the kids. It's about turning a profit. That so called salsa that you showed is commodity picante or salsa...it all looks the same..you would be so surprised to see what the government sends the schools to use..whether they need it or not and alot of it gets thrown away...our tax dollars at work. Parents NEED to get involved. Need to learn about nutrition. Need to care what their kids are eating. Need to learn about the rise in juvenile diabetes and what that means for their children. Need to learn about the rise in juvenile cancer. NEED TO GET INVOLVED!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete