What they got: Chicken nuggets, powdered mash, canned carrots, wheat bread and syrupy fruit
Wow! Its looks way better than many of last weeks meals and this time no scary stuff on the nuggets. In fact they were almost 'crispy' and nicely browned. The powdered mash, which coincidentally is the same color white as the styrofoam plate, was less appealing and much of it landed up in the trash as did everything except for the nuggets. Not one fresh vegetable or fruit was served. I have to question the Farm to School program that Chartwells claims to participate in.
Syrupy fruit does not count as a fruit in my household, its more like a dessert, and canned carrots simply lack texture and taste plus are usually high in sodium and sugar. If only we could have a look-see on the label! While I'm okay with this meal on some level I still feel very disappointed in how unhealthy it really is. Every bit of it is processed with additives, fillers and preservatives...I like to call them the silent killers.
Yesterday Princeton University came out with a study that concluded high-fructose corn syrup does in fact prompt more weight gain therefore linking this stuff to rising obesity rates. I call it stuff because once it looked like corn and now its sweet and syrupy. I cannot make that connection. If I had my way I would ban it completely, but I think for now asking the schools to not serve it to our children is a good start.
I dont have official numbers but from what I've heard at least 1/3 - 1/2 of our school district qualifies for free/reduced lunch, that is over 1000 kids everyday being fed breakfast and lunch. (I will reach out to admin for official numbers.) If this is what they are eating daily I'm afraid that they are not getting a head-start in any way. In fact, the odds are steeped up high against them.
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