What they got: Baked BBQ chicken, canned sweet potato, fresh broccoli, a dinner roll and a fresh fruit cup.
Yay! Real chicken! I had given up all hope and resolved Tuesdays to being "processed chicken day". Not so! I must say that our lunches have definitely improved and much effort has been put in to provide fresher ingredients for the kids. They LOVED the drumsticks and with a some encouragement ate the broccoli too.
But boy, are our kids fussy eaters! What happened? I do not remember being this fussy, neither do I remember my brothers being THAT picky. In fact, I don't recall any of the kids in our family (and there are a lot) being fussy or picky eaters! I mean sure there are certain foods you just don't like, for example my one brother just could not stomach okra and would gag if one actually got in his mouth. Fermented vegetables did that for me, especially cauliflower. I ate it, did I enjoy it and ask for more? Hell no!
I'd say most kids today eat a very simple diet which is why whenever faced with a new food they scowl and frown and say very adamantly: "I don't like that!" To which I reply: "have you tried it?", to which they reply : "No, but I don't eat it" and then I reply; "But if you haven't tried it, how do you know you don't like it?". And their answer to that is: "I just don't!" At this point I feel like busting out a few lines from Dr.Suess's Green Eggs and Ham, so I do. They smile and say "I still don't like it! " Phew! All this to get a kid to try a piece of broccoli!
At least this time round they served fresh fruit cups, filled with orange segments, pieces of melon & whole grapes- A nice change to the usual syrupy fruit concoctions, which for the record, I rarely see them eat! But I did see kids going back for second servings of the fresh fruit. The cups are easy to eat & delicious. Definitely a kid-friendly component! 
Okay the canned sweet potato doesn't look great but the broccoli looks great! Like it wont fall apart before it gets to your mouth. Real chicken.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed. My guess is that the potato was not eaten but that the rest was greeted with a smile. My kids would have eaten it.
Do you read Dina Rose's blog? (http://itsnotaboutnutrition.squarespace.com/) She talks about picky eaters and how food habits get developed. Interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteGreat job with lunch!! its not that hard to feed them good food, but it is hard to get them to learn that it tastes good too.....
ReplyDeletekeep up the good work!
@Jessica- I actually read her blog a while back but forgot about it! Thank you for the reminder, I'll definitely follow!
ReplyDelete@Viki...you're guess is right! the canned sweet potato did not get eaten. The drumsticks and dinner roll where most popular, followed by the fresh fruit cup and then the broccoli! My kid would have loved this meal too! Like I said, I might reconsider allowing her to eat school lunch again :)
@Chef Dennis : Thanks!
Great blog! I agree that kids are pickier these days because they are served a limited selection of 'kid-friendly' meals. Also, something that occurred to me recently is this thought: More families eat out nowadays, and when families eat out, each individual can get whatever they want and everybody's happy, right? Well when families eat at home, Mom (or Dad) makes one main dish, and a few side dishes, and everybody has to eat what was prepared. Each person doesn't get to choose their favorites from a menu. And if Mom or Dad makes only what their kids will like then it just reinforces the pickiness, I think.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of real chicken for a change. My only concern is a 3 or 4 yr old choking on the bones. In I believe it was Wallace last week, another student had to help a choking student when no adult noticed the child choking on his food. I believe the lunch is in serious need of being changed. In the case of very young students I would just think foods that are known to be a choking hazard (carrots, grapes, popcorn, hot dogs) be served in a way to limit the risks of choking.
ReplyDelete