Home Vs School Lunch: School wins.

-sigh-

Several years ago, I wrote about the idea of the government providing lunch for school children, how food is inherently political, and just having healthier food around is a good thing, even if snot-nosed little kids make a big noise about not eating it. Unfortuntately, the basic idea of the government feeding children while under their care is a partisan football. Pushing this massive public program forward towards healthier foods and more sustainable choices is a "liberal" agenda, while letting the market determine the cheapest, most business-advantageous foods be fed to children regardless of consequence seems to be the clarion call from the right.

Michelle Obama's agenda as first lady has been focused on children's obesity, because one would think no one would be in support of kids being fat. But while safe-for-business noise is made about kids exercising more, there has also been moves to make school food more centered on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, etc etc. There has been all sorts of push back, with the Secretary of Agriculture blatantly proclaiming that dietary guidelines will not consider sustainability, just "health", though we all know the health he refers to is business health over the health of the consumer. States look for exemptions from rules mandating healthier food because of claims they don't value children's health don't have enough funding, though a few cut through the politics and zero in on getting better stuff on their children's plates.

I don't care about what we can do for the environment, only what the environment can do for us.

A friend of mine recently placed her young child in his first school setting, and she had more than a little consternation about what he would be fed. Up until that point, he had a loving nanny-figure who would make him home cooked meals with a bit of care and soul, and now...Big Government grub? I understand -- packing a home lunch with care and love is probably going to be healthier than whatever a bureaucrat purchased on the commodities market for the best price possible. Well, that was my assumption, anyway...

One study, conducted in 12 elementary and intermediate schools in Houston, found that compared with what is served in school, lunches brought from home contained fewer servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and milk than the national program mandates.

Packed lunches also contained more desserts, chips and sweetened nondairy drinks, none of which can be served by schools that participate in the federal program. “About 90 percent of lunches from home contained desserts, snack chips, and sweetened beverages,” the study found.

A second study, conducted among pre-K and kindergarten children in four schools in rural Virginia, found that calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar were significantly higher and protein, fiber and calcium were significantly lower in lunches brought from home than in the meals served in school.

A third study examined food selection and plate waste by elementary and middle school children in four schools in an urban, low-income school district before and after introduction of the new meal standards. Juliana F. W. Cohen and co-authors found no increase in waste and a significantly greater selection and consumption of vegetables and fruits from the improved menus.

“These results suggest that the new school meal standards have improved students’ overall diet quality,” they wrote. “Legislation to weaken the standards is not warranted.”

It's  a nice thought that a parent's home lunch will always be better than a school lunch, but the facts don't bear that out. The food industry has so catered to a parent's convenience and a child's lizard-brain palate that a home lunch can become a lunchables pack, a juice box, and perhaps a bag of chips, a candy-bar like granola thing, and whatever else is convenient and "friendly". On average, the current state of a federally mandated school lunch tends to be more healthy than a typical home-packed school lunch. That's not to say that my friend's organic, balanced home lunches aren't vastly superior (or even my own whole wheat bagel, local pickle & washed cut strawberries aren't either), but she and I are not typical. 

Some foods should be "21 and over", because if you're going to eat this sh@t, you should be old enough to understand and accept the consequences.

It's a cop-out to say sex ed should be taught at home, not at schools -- the culture is such that too many parents won't do the right thing, diseases will infest the young and teen pregnancies will become a social issue. Once it affects you and me, it's not completely a personal or private issue anymore. Like sex, food is a personal, private choice certainly, but food can have grave impact on the public health, and can not be left to the vagaries of the market, or religion, or personal choice. There are valuable, vital reasons why government exists, and a superior school lunch across our great nation is one of them.

I don't want Big Government out of my kid's school lunch. I want Big Food out of my Big Government.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2975
Oof. A good but high-stress work week, not a happy number but something to consider,  finding a new balance.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2885

SLEPT: 12:30pm - 6am, 5.5hrs

AM SNACK: 6:30 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, vegetarian meatballs, health salad, pickle, soup, 480 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, and cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 685 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/-400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, children's granola bars, 400 ca

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2820

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot with honey, almonds, vanilla, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, chicken meat balls, lentil curry, steamed stringbeans, 550

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, small amount of lomein, kind bar, 2 chicken nuggets, popcorn, 5 children's granola bars, +/- 1300 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2890

SLEPT: 9:30pm - 6am,  8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal
Mili helped me make it as he usually does, but then he spilt it. Looked like  a crime scene. -sigh-

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, slice of pizza, sautéed chicken, pickles, 450 cal
Forgot my salad at home, ate it with dinner, -sigh-

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, poppa salad with dressing, 1080 cal

EVENING GORGE: 9pm, kind bar, 6 kid granola bars, 800 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 3090

SLEPT: 12am - 5:45am,  5.75 hrs

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am,Cabot with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad and dressing, sauteed shrimp & shitakes, pickles, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, kid granola bar, 100 cal

DINNER1: 7:30pm, samomsa chat over sting beans, chocolate, tea, +/- 700 cal

DINNER2: 10pm, fresh pasta with homade sauce, kind bar, +/- 800 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 3190

SLEPT: 11:30pm -2:30am, 4am- 6am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 700 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, hot dog, fries, ice cream +/- 900 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, frozen pizza, 800 cal