Mandatory school lunches - radio show

I was listening to 640 AM on the way into work this morning and they were reporting on a school in Chicago that has banned - yes BANNED - homemade lunches for students. All students at the school must eat in the cafeteria and eat the food that is served to them.  This is an attempt by the school's principal to ensure children are eating healthy meals/fight obesity and she started the program 6 years ago. No report on any measurement of success/progress this has made.   Many parents are up in arms about this - and I'm not sure how I feel about it. In principal a good idea, in practice rather "big brother".  Thoughts?

ETA: news links
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/18/2173232/chicago-school -bans-packed-lunches.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-school-l unch-restrictions-041120110410,0,4567867.story

I understand her wanting to make sure kids eat healthy BUT they should be allowed to bring their own foods from home as long as it's healthy choices.
When I went to high school, it was mostly fried, greasy foods. I am not too sure what the menus consist of these days.

I tend to agree.  It should be optional and the focus should be more on educating the parents on what healthy foods/choices are for their children. 

I think banning home food is a little extreme, but then you know that the kids are eating an appropriate meal and that kids are'nt bringing foods into the school that could cause serious allergic reactions...Im in an area that I wish had a program like this for its schools.  I would be more than happy to pay more on my taxes to have this come in to our schools.

 That's a tough one!  I hated making lunches and my kids hated sandwiches.  We never found a thermos that kept anything hot, (except for the one that was dropped and broken within a week).  I found it difficult to make a healthy lunch that could not be refrigerated etc.  If the school could offer fresh veggies, soup, healthy sandwiches etc., I would have found it great.  Some people can't afford it, but seem to be way more imaginative than I was, with healthy homemade cooking.  

Yeah, don't even ask me how many thermos containers, insulated lunch bags and the like that we went through. LOL  Seems Jess was losing one or the other weekly. I think I would have opted for the program as well, if it had been healthy food they were providing.  Sure would have saved me some time. ha

I think it's a great idea for families that WANT this service.  And hopefully it's low cost or even free to familes that can't afford to pay for extra lunches. But I definately think this is something that should be optional.  I can't even imagine a school principal telling me what I must feed my child. 

I wonder if they have access to the medical background for each child and serve them individual meals based on this? For example a type one diabetic child may have different nutritional needs than other children.  Children who are lactose intolerant need some foods to be substituted etc. Sounds like a liabilty to the school with a lawsuit just waiting to happen.


Cheryl

Apparently exceptions are made for children *****quire special diets or have allergies etc.
Agreed re. the liability - I'd be nervous about that too.

Karen...as long as Jamie Oliver was doing the "makeover" in the cafeteria, I'd be all for it!!  However, with so many food allergies I don't really know if thats possible..Patti K.

Personally, i think the mandatory part is what gets me.

If the school lunches available to purchase were all healthy choices instead of the fries and poutine and such, I could see that as a viable option. Evenhave a plan where you purchase a meal pass for the kids at the beginning of the school year or something.
Or, pay extra on your taxes...or whatever.

But to force the choice is not right. That doesnt teach kids to make good decisions. That teaches them that the school authority has the right to take their power away.

I could see banning certain items from home too....like Little Debbie and Vachon cakes maybe? Or chips and chocolate bars....but honestly, I dont think that banning food items from home is doing anything for the kids. It may be healping parents out, but I think in the long run its not helping the kids. We all know that kids will automatically do exactly the opposite of what we try to force them to do.

Or at least try