What they got: Baked ziti, canned green beans, garlic stick, applesauce
At the risk of sounding redundant : 'Where is a fresh fruit or vegetable!!?' Canned green beans, jarred applesauce, pre-made garlic stick and white pasta with cheese and tomato.
I took the following excerpt from the Chartwells link on the Hoboken School districts website:
Chartwells' comprehensive wellness program, Balanced Choices, is in alignment with those of the Healthier US School Challenge and addresses specific areas of wellness policy requirements, including nutrition standards for all foods. Balanced Choices promotes nutritious foods that appeal to children, offering them a variety of fresh, wholesome fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and plant-based protiensTotal disconnect between what they say and what they actually do! It's depressing and as a tax-payer I feel duped regardless of what the other 2000 kids are being fed. We are talking about 100's of kids in our school district being fed this type of lunch daily! In fact, I found out yesterday that on Monday the kids ate breakfast for breakfast and then again the exact same thing for 'Breakfast for lunch'. I'll read it off of the menu for you:
April 12: Breakfast- Scram Egg Patty w/Hash Brown, fruit or juice, low fat milk
April 12: Lunch- French Toast, Scrambled egg, hash brown, fruit.
Okay, so it's not EXACTLY the same- in addition they also had a french toast stick for lunch! What's up with that? I'm realizing that the reason why they don't offer nutritional information and ingredient lists with their meals is that if we really knew what was in them we would all be totally flabbergasted and disgusted! I know I am.
Here in D.C., the schools pleaded with the local lawmakers not to increase vegetable servings in a new "Healthy Schools" bill because the schools (meaning Chartwells) cannot make vegetables the kids will eat. They just end up in the trash. The kids rarely eat the vegetables served at lunch. Mostly, they are terribly overcooked or canned. Not very appealing. Welcome to the world of corporate food service!
ReplyDeleteIt is very frustrating - as I am sure you are already aware of.
ReplyDeleteSo what do we do? I've seen kids eat their veggies or at least try them but only after being encouraged by the teachers. Seems to me we have to get everyone involved on all levels if we are to get our kids to eat real food again.
Next week I will be meeting with our school district to discuss setting up a wellness committee for Hoboken. I am hoping that with the help of the district we can start to implement small little changes in the way we feed our kids. I realize this will not happen overnight but I am glad people are finally taking note. Im just not sure if ppl realize the damage that corporate food businesses are doing. The whole issue grips me and tugs at me inside, almost as if we are running out of time!
Thanks for following my blog Mr.Bruske and as always I welcome your feedback.