We're paying for all their kids to eat.

I won't say what great city I live in, but let me tell you what's happening here. Our brilliant school system (which is in financial shambles all around) came out over a week ago saying that they would no longer be providing free lunches to kids who owed money to their food service. We're already paying for these breeders to get reduced or free lunches for their kids, but apparently many of the reduced or regular priced lunch kids are allowed to get free meals when they "don't have the money." So because of that policy, the schools are owed something like $200,000 in food debt from these breeders.

Their new policy is that if the kid doesn't have the money and they owe money to the schools, they will be given one cold cheese sandwich and a carton of milk instead of whatever is on the lunch menu. Personally I think that's more than what they deserve, but the breeders are going NUTS over this. "You're depriving my child! My poor baby! Oh, the embarrassment this causes him!" They're holding a town hall meeting about this tonight where the parents are planning to demand that the school system reverse this policy. How about paying for your own fucking kid to eat? How about making him a lunch to take to school?

One interesting thing to come out of this is that quite a few kids have mysteriously started coming up with the money for lunch. Either the parents got sick of the kid bitching about cold cheese sandwiches, or it's like this. One kid was told he'd have to get the cheese sandwich, and he dug in his pocket and got out the money. When asked why he told the cafeteria he didn't have the money originally, he told them he was saving up all his lunch money to buy something he wanted. So we were all paying for this brat to eat lunch while he goes out and buys video games. Parents today have no clue.

I think I read an article about this topic a while back... Why should the tax payer pay even MORE money to feed these brats? In Australian schools (primary and high school) it's up to the parent or student to bring in lunch. If you forget it, then you don't eat. Simple as that. You can order from the canteen but you have to pay upfront before ordering - no money, no food. The canteen is just an option not a right, and it serves the same food every day, every year. There were a few times in high school when I forgot to bring my lunch, and guess what - I just didn't eat. It was my problem and I just had to deal with it. That's how it should be in American schools - they are babied WAY too much. :gross

Exactly, CherryBlossom. And that's how it was when I was in high school. There were plenty of times I forgot my lunch money, and I would find something else to do during lunch time. You're only in school for what, six or seven hours? You'll survive, kids.


People expect the government to provide everything now, and when you say no, people threaten to sue, or throw a big demonstration and cry about how deprived they are.

I saw a recent article about this in a Denver paper the other day, but this has been going on for quite some time in other areas. In the Alabama public school systems they have been giving peanut butter sandwiches and a carton of milk to those whose "lunch accounts" have been depleted for a week or longer, for at LEAST ten years. In the Denver article it played up the "no hot lunches" slant and of course people (breeders) were generally OUTRAGED. Several things about this make no sense to me. 1) If they are THAT poor, why not sign the kyd up for a free lunch program? It CAN'T be any more embarassing than being denied lunch at the checkout. 2) Why don't they pack the kyd a lunch if they think they are prone to forget the lunch money or that they can't afford the cost? 3)Why don't they PAY the fucking lunch tab?

This doesn't happen "all of a sudden" either as they send home notes, mail letters, call them, etc.........days and even WEEKS after they have still let the kyd eat his hot fucking lunch. I used to skip lunches ALL OF THE TIME, or I picked at my lunch when I was a kyd. . What law says that they need to eat as much as they do anyway? From the looks of it, missing a "hot lunch" of 2-3k calories won't do any damage anyway. These kyds are fed and eat ENTIRELY TOO much. The breakfasts at the elementary schools here are like a lumberjack feast, then the lunches rival a buffet complete with dessert, then they get morning AND afternoon snacks, and God only knows what all junk they gobble up after school and before moomie runs out for Happy Meals. It's no small wonder there are so many fat kyds. Below are some reader comments form the article that I read about this:



"Hmm, our district offers a greatly price reduced program for individuals that have difficulty paying for school lunches. They offer breakfast under this program as well. It's being responsible and getting done what needs to get done. Children suffering because their parents weren't responsible? Not the first time it's happened. Sadly it won't be the last either."



"This is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard. I wouldn't mind paying more in taxes so that children can have a good lunch. Statistics show children preform better with a healthy well balanced meal. These children are the future of this country, and we have the gall to deny them a good meal. This might be the only good meal some of these kids get during the day. When I was younger I remember going to the principals office and a single mother in my neighborhood was denied these "free lunches" for her children, and was embarressed in front of an entire office. Would we deny Bill Gates, Barak Obama, or Oprah a lunch. These are the future leaders of this country, get real people."



"I have a young daughter who is a Type 1 diabetic. This happened to her one time when I forgot to load more money into her account...she did not get to eat. I had to write the lunch lady a note advising her that my daughter's health could be placed in jeopardy if this happens and she has bolused for insulin and received no food (hypoglycemic reaction). I also told her that if ANY child was denied lunch to add it to my bill. I can't afford it either, but the thought of a child being told he or she can't eat lunch because of parental oversight (through no fault of the child's), makes me cringe.":bawl



"Oh no! A child went without lunch! Really, If that's the worst thing that happens to your child, they lead a charmed life. If an idiot parent can't take care of their child's lunch, then they should be shamed in front of their child's classmates and school officials. Regarding students with diabetes or other major health concerns, I'm sure that their parents, if they are responsible at all, would have made prior arrangements with the proper school officials regarding their child's needs. Some reactions are becoming, unfortunately, more and more typical. Blame the school because the parent can't take responsibility. Whatever happened to packing a lunch? I only takes 5 minutes. Oh ya. I forgot. If you pack your child's lunch then you can't blame the school for your child's nutritionally unsound diet.":yeah

"This is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard. I wouldn't mind paying more in taxes so that children can have a good lunch. Statistics show children preform better with a healthy well balanced meal. These children are the future of this country, and we have the gall to deny them a good meal. This might be the only good meal some of these kids get during the day. When I was younger I remember going to the principals office and a single mother in my neighborhood was denied these "free lunches" for her children, and was embarressed in front of an entire office. Would we deny Bill Gates, Barak Obama, or Oprah a lunch. These are the future leaders of this country, get real people."

Give me a fuckin' break. From what my (American) husband told me about the kind of hot lunches he got in school, they sound anything but "healthy and well balanced". Since when have pizza, nachos, chicken nuggets, etc been classed as such? Of course, this is "breeder nutrition" we're talking about, so I shouldn't be surprised.

It's been awhile since I graduated, but during my entire time in school, the only thing I ever saw resembling something nutritious was a tiny piece of lettuce and some shredded carrots that served as a "side salad" to the main course. Oh, and maybe a piece of fruit that usually wound up in the trash. School lunch fare typically consisted of:

Pizza, steamed hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, tater tots, assorted carb-filled side dishes of some sort

Nothing healthy there. I'd wager the cheese sandwich is more nutritious. But then again, Junior's dairy allergy would make it a poor choice, wouldn't it? We all know dairy leads to autism and ADD, right? (Kidding on the last part, but wouldn't be surprised if somehow they tried to make that argument.)

These are probably the same people who always have money for smokes and beer, too.

Yeah, my high school's lunches were also the typical burgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and so forth. I give them credit because they did serve gargantuan salads, usually 2-3 small sides (fruits or chopped veggies) and had some great subs. Most people got the main courses and not the salads...so I don't see where this nutrition is coming from when the only nutrients the kids are getting decent amounts of are calories, fat, cholesterol and sodium. But it's too haaaaaard to pack the kid's lunch or make them pack their own lunch since being seen with a paper bag or a lunch box isn't kewl.

I don't doubt it's the only "good" meal the kids get in a day because their parents probably feed them food that's as bad or worse at home, like pan-fried lard with mayonnaise.

I'll say this much...about 3/4 of the time during my junior and senior years, I didn't eat lunch. I usually went to the art room to work on my projects or to the library to relax. And I never ate breakfast...I'd eat once a day sometimes. And you know what? I wasn't tired, I got all good grades and didn't slack, graduated on time...you get the idea. I was in no way affected by missing my lunch...no negative way anyway. I lost a lot of weight, though, and that helped me get through gym class a little easier.

My school lunches were as unhealthy as you can get, it was basically fried slop drenched in grease. I don't understand why the parents don't make a lunch for their kid, if they're so concerned, it's much cheaper than buying lunch at school.

Cherryice- Did you go to my school? At mine we had the same pathetic lettuce and carrot salad, oh and the kicker was they'd have a sign above the moldy lettuce that said "Healthy Choice" .

Kaye

Every morning I hear the school's lunch menu on the news. I hear things like "beef fingers" (the words alone are sickening), French fries, tater tots, pizza. It's always something that sounds like fast food. If I had kids, I would take a few minutes every morning to throw a few healthy things together.

I remember when I was in school, we used to get total slop. Did y'all ever get Frito pie for lunch? It's a bag of Fritos with chili and cheese dumped into it. It just reeks of health.

Kaye, the only way I know about the school lunches was from observing my friends eat fries so greasy they flopped all over, along with the other above mentioned "foods". (I use that term very lightly.)

I never ate a full school lunch; maybe a slice of pizza once in elementary school, but my mom or I packed my lunch every single day. I would gladly take my mother's turkey sandwiches, apples and a snack of some sort over that disgusting crud they served at school. Never once was I tempted.

How hard is it to put a sandwich and fruit together?

It makes no sense to me that breeder parents have this idea that school lunches are delicious cuisine whose menus mirror the choices being offered at the Sidwell Friends school.

Anyone remember the brouhaha when it was revealed that KETCHUP was considered a vegetable in a public school lunch?! These days, most public schools couldn't prepare a healthy lunch if their lives depended on it! Schools try to hold the line on costs and end up serving the cheapest food possible--pizza, fries, and other processed frozen fare that requires frying, and argue that kids don't eat the healthy choices so they just end up in the trash. Of course, the choices labeled "healthy" are usually the most unappealing and of the lowest quality, like other posters have mentioned, so it's no wonder.

When I was an elementary school student the school cafeteria was an actual working kitchen where meals were prepared from scratch by staff. I usually brown bagged it then, but occasionally would buy lunch. Overall, the food was decent, but at some point, districts realized they could save money and contract out to a food service, so that's what many did. The district I taught at decided on the lunch prices, and then the service told the district what food choices were available. Because half of the students in our rural district qualified for free or reduced price lunches, schools wanted to keep the costs low, which meant only the cheapest food options were ever on the menu. The food was never prepared in the kitchen anymore and was basically either steamed or fried. My classroom was fairly close to the cafeteria kitchen, and the daily stench of cooking grease was nauseating.

There were a few times when I was teaching that I didn't make a lunch, and tried to find something to eat at the cafeteria, and the choices were dismal. Fried selections, full of carbs, salt, and fat, bruised fruit, wilted salad, processed cheese, and sugar laden juice drinks. My experiences are like everyone else's--these lunches are anything but healthy and well balanced. On those days, I called an apple and milk lunch.

One would think that if a family qualifies for free or reduced lunches that they would also be getting food stamp assistance, so there should be some sort of food in the house--simple things like peanut butter and bread. If there is no food whatsoever in the house, maybe that is something the schools should make CPS aware of. I fail to see what's wrong with offering a cheese sandwich to kids for lunch if the bill hasn't been paid--and if parents don't like it, then all they have to do is to pay up.

The breeders in my area are crying a river about the cost of school lunch. Its 2.50 a day for the basic lunch which includes a crappy cup of canned soup or wilted salad, processed crap main entree like chicken nuggets and fries or pizza, and a sugary drink. Of course there are extras like ice cream and crappy snacks that can be bought for an additional fee.

I highly doubt it costs 2.50 a day to pack a lunch from home. The problem is these damn breeders don't want to have to be bothered to plan, shop for, and pack a lunch. Like its a huge deal to make a sandwich or salad the evening before. I remember when I was in school my sister, my father, and myself all took a packed lunch to work or school. We all took turns making the lunches at night. It took less then 5 minutes to put together. If we were out of sandwich fixins, we would throw something together like pb&j, tuna, egg salad, whatever. It was not going to kill us. We also almost always took fruit in our lunches, something most kids don't bother with these days.

I think everyday of my high school career I ate almost the same lunch: sandwich, banana (or whatever the sale fruit was that week) and a can of diet coke. (I know diet coke isn't health food, but my mom discouraged sugary drinks from a very young age and it stuck even to this day)

I have no idea to this day why educational institutions are involved with food service. The food in my high school was greasy crap, there was abysmal food waste, and the whole deal of getting food to school on trucks has an enormous carbon footprint. It's ridiculous. If anyone doesn't have the time to slap together a PB&J, a few carrot sticks, and a thermos of beverage, well, that makes it all the easier to single out the families to call CPS on. I think schools should cut out this lunch service nonsense altogether and ignore the whining from parents who can't even get their act together enough to make sure their precious ones are even fed properly.

That goes for breakfast programs too--the store-brand cans of oatmeal we buy for breakfast cost almost nothing and take 5 mins to cook; c'mon', gimme a break; a hungover chimp could do it.

Soup.

Dried legumes, grains, and whatever vegetables are cheapest. It costs pennies per kid and is better than the junk they get now.

And if the parents are such losers they can't pack a lunch, the kids probably need exposure to actual food anyway. Heck, I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks in taxes to introduce the idea of real food to the little snak-paks before they grow into super-size Dorito bags, glued to the couch and sucking up health care dollars while I'm still alive to pay for it.

There was a big uproar in my city about this very subject a few months ago. Our school district started giving the kids who never seemed to have any money a cheese sandwich and a carton of milk, or something like that. How DARE the schools not give out free hot lunches endlessly? These lazy-assed, cheap-ass breeders are LUCKY the schools even bother to feed their brats at all! They should be GRATEFUL they don't make their precious darlings go hungry.

As if too many brats don't already get free or reduced-priced lunches. Whoever here asked why schools are in the business of feeding the brats is exactly right, right along with the question of why the schools are in the transportation business.

All the mooing and lowing is so ass-backwards, it makes my head hurt.

along with the question of why the schools are in the transportation business.

Yeah, good point; I've never understood that either. There's no reason someone scratching their butt in the school admin office can't collate names by street and send out an email saying "these are the families on your street with kids in our school; you arrange the carpool." Our city has a city bus stop within 1/4 mile of every house within the city limits; it's a good system. If parents moan about the cost of a monthly bus pass (around $15 for a school kid--nothing), well, who chose to have the damn kids? Use existing public transportation and save money for the schools that they can funnel into actual education.

Sample ELEMENTARY public school BREAKFAST in a Florida school system:



Cereal & Biscuit/Jelly
Breakfast Pizza Bagel
Yogurt & Biscuit/Jelly
Diced Bartlett Pears
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Cereal & Biscuit/Jelly
French Toast Sticks
W/Syrup
Yogurt & Biscuit/Jelly
Chilled Peach Slices
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Cereal & Biscuit/Jelly
Sausage Patty & Biscuit/Jelly
Yogurt & Biscuit/Jelly
Baked Potato Triangles
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Cereal & Biscuit/Jelly
Breakfast Pizza
Yogurt & Biscuit/Jelly
100% Orange-Pineapple Juice
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Cereal & Biscuit/Jelly
Breakfast Pizza Bagel
Yogurt & Biscuit/Jelly
Diced Bartlett Pears
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Cereal & Biscuit/Jelly
Scrambled Eggs W/Grits &
Biscuit/Jelly
Yogurt & Biscuit/Jelly
Chilled Peach Slices
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Broward County Florida, Food and Nutrition
January, 2009
Breakfast
BREAKFAST PRICES:
:
Elementary $1.10
Middle $1.20
High $1.20
Adult$1.45





Lunches



Chicken Nuggets or
Tuna Salad/Wheat Bun
Assorted Entrée Salads
Chilled Mixed Fruit
Whole Kernel Corn
Seasoned Green Beans
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw




Oven Fried Chicken or
Baked Fish Filet/Wheat Bun
Black Beans and Rice**
Assorted Entrée Salads
Plantains
Latin Style Black Beans
Steamed Rice
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw




Italian Beef n’ Macaroni or
Fresh Egg Salad/Wheat Bun
Assorted Entrée Salads
Garlic Wheat Bread Sticks
Diced Bartlett Pears
Steamed Broccoli
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw




Honey BBQ Rib/
Wheat Bun or
Turkey/Wheat Bun
Assorted Entrée Salads
Steamed Spinach
Baked Potato Sticks
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw




Cheese Pizza or
Teriyaki Chicken
Assorted Entrée Salads
Chilled Pineapple Chunks
Key West Vegetables
Steamed Rice
Chow Mein Noodles
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw




Flame-Broiled Beef
Burger/Wheat Bun or
Garden Burger**/Wheat Bun
Bean & Cheese Burrito
Assorted Entrée Salads
Sliced Tomato/Lettuce
100% Cherry Apple Juice
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Golden Chicken Nuggets or
Baked Fish Filet/Wheat Bun
Assorted Entrée Salads
Whipped Potatoes
Seasoned Green Beans
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw



Oven-Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Assorted Entrée Salads
Hearty Tomato Soup
Chilled Applesauce
Fresh Fruit
1% Milk-White-Choc-Straw




*Each day we offer freshly made, pre-packaged entrée salads of garden greens topped with fresh vegetables and the chef’s selection of roast turkey or ham,
cheese, sliced chicken patty, tuna salad or egg salad with a choice of dressing.

**Weekly we feature a vegan (no meat/cheese/dairy) hot entrée. Our entrée salads are available daily with legumes and sunflower seeds instead of meat or cheese."


Lunch prices:
LUNCH PRICES:
Elementary $1.90
Middle $2.25
High $2.40
Adult $2.65




JESUS CHRIST :hs . No wonder kyds are so damned fat and getting fatter. I think that this is WAY too much food and it doesn't even count their morning and afternoon snacks and the fact that they are now given free reign over vending machines throughout the day, which we were NEVER allowed to do. These sound like meals that people might eat and over consume on a vacation or something. I don't EVER eat a chef salad, AND a sandwich AND a bowl of soup for lunch and then top it off with fresh fruit. yogurt, juice AND milk, MY GOD. At some of these meals they are eating three or four starches like with the cereals, biscuits, french toast, pizza/bagel, grits, etc......I am sure it's not all that tasty or anything, but it's just TOO much, IMO. I suppose they are feeding them under the assumption that this is all that they will get. For their sake, I hope it is because not even an adult needs THAT much food, unless he is an athlete. At these prices, it's RIDICULOUS that they can't keep their tab paid too. Why do they list "and straw" on there like it's food, I wonder? This is ridiculous.

It's WAY too much food, I agree. Just judging by my own habits, left to my own devices I tend to just nibble a bit of cheese or fruit or meat here and there; the only reason I cook is because of DH. Even our "big" meals (Sundays usually) are pretty modest; tonight it was a roasted chicken that had been sitting in the freezer forever, some mashed potatoes, and gravy, with rice pudding for dessert (and I couldn't even eat all the pudding; and we generally never have dessert). Pretty simple. Usually dinners are just one dish, with a side salad in the summer when we're growing lettuce. When DH is out of town, I just graze on tidbits and don't eat much at all. In general one bowl of soup will do it for me, for any meal. I can't imagine stuffing all that food down my gullet.

Quote
kidlesskim
Why do they list "and straw" on there like it's food, I wonder?

I'll bet those things are those chocolate straws they have out now. I've seen them in the grocery store when I'm buying Quik powder to flavor my milk (I'll admit it, I'm an adult and I have to drink flavored milk. I dunno why, but I've never been able to stand the taste of regular milk. It makes me gag.) They're these tubes made out of chocolate or whatever and they're supposed to flavor the milk as you sip it through. I think they look nasty, and I don't know why they're included on a lunch menu - they're far from a necessity, and since they are trying to keep costs down you'd think they would be cutting out all the frills. As I said, I hate regular milk, but I still don't see extras like that as necessary. Sometimes when I was little I would be in a situation where flavored milk was not a choice, and I learned real quick that in those situations I would either have to bite the bullet and drink the regular milk or just be thirsty. Of course, I didn't have a mother that expected everyone to pander to her child's rediculous tastes, so I learned to handle the milk dissappointments without making a fuss. Kids today don't get to learn those lessons because their parents feel the need to shield them from every possible dissappointment they might ever encounter.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
"Not every ejaculation deserves a name" - George Carlin

The breeders don't want to have to actually work to raise their pups, but they want to have absolute power over the decisions involved in raising them.

Basically they want government provided nannies.

They've got to rule over the schools with an iron fist. They can't be bothered to actually teach their kyds a damn thing, so they want to micromanage what the schools teach to make sure it's perfectly in line with their own beliefs. (My parents, however, were sure to teach me that not everything I was taught in school was necessarily the truth.)

They don't want to bother preparing a lunch for their kids and they certainly don't believe they should be responsible for paying for one. What kind of a world do we live in where parents have to pay for the stuff their children need?

These moo's have unlocked the secrets of the universe and managed to, for the first time in human history, procreate. The least society can do is bow, scrape, and kiss their pregnancy-swollen asses.

Quote
square
Every morning I hear the school's lunch menu on the news. I hear things like "beef fingers" (the words alone are sickening), French fries, tater tots, pizza. It's always something that sounds like fast food. If I had kids, I would take a few minutes every morning to throw a few healthy things together.

I remember when I was in school, we used to get total slop. Did y'all ever get Frito pie for lunch? It's a bag of Fritos with chili and cheese dumped into it. It just reeks of health.

I didn't know cows had "fingers"! I love Frito Pie, though we call it a "walking taco" around here for some reason...probably because they add sour cream for some reason. We never got it in school, but it's a staple at the county fairs.

Why can't kids just make their own lunches? I had no problem putting stuff on a couple slices of bread and stuffing some other munchies in bags when I was little, and still don't.

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me

Sample daily menu for kidlesskim



Breakfast
A bowl of cereal with chopped up bananas OR some cheese toast and possibly some eggs, IF i am really hungry.



Lunch
A ham and cheese sandwich OR a small bowl of something left over from dinner



Dinner
A piece of meat (OR a casserole type dish, meatloaf, OR spaghetti, etc...)
Small salad OR green beans,peas,etc........
potatos or noodles of some sort OR corn, rice, etc........
A roll or toast



These meals are NOT mandatory and many days I don't eat one or more of them. I have snacks like peanut butter, crackers, cheese, fruit, hot dogs, turkey slices, etc.........available IF I get hungry throughout the day. There's always some vanilla icecream around should I get a sweet tooth and occasionally cookies. RARELY do I eat anywhere NEAR what these little bastards get fed on a daily basis at school. I also avoid sodas and either drink water or unsweet tea, It's not because I am on some "special diet", I just don't DESIRE or REQUIRE that huge amount of food and neither does my husband (who is 6 ft 5 and 200 lbs) There is no reason to be so gluttenous and hoggish and they are also learning at a very early age to be programmed to eat huge breakfasts, lunches, AND dinners and of course to snack all day long as well. It makes my head swim to imagine eating all of that food and at the regular intervals that these kyds are fed. I would imagine that they start pigging out when they get home too and then wolf down a pizza or McDonald's for dinner and God only knows what they eat as a late night snack.

I got something like it: in the school where my mom teaches (which will remain nameless- AURORA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN AURORA, COLORADO), they've actually eliminated F's, replaced them with the grade "I" and replaced red pens with purple so that the kids don't feel too bad when they fail.

LOL, Feh, about the Frito pie. I moved to the Southwest in 2007 and have discovered that it is actually a staple food here. I used to think it wasn't so bad when they gave it to us at school, but it cannot be good for anyone.