Mandatory school lunches - radio show

The "mandatory" part was what got me too.  It was also implied that parents were "too lazy" to pack proper lunches for their children, which totally pissed me off. lol  I think what people also need to consider is that healthy food is expensive.  There are so many low income families who simply cannot afford to purchase all the right stuff all the time - fact of life. Anyway, I'm rambling. lol

Hmmmm....

I would LOVE not to pack lunches every day.  The kids are old enough to help now, but it's still part of the daily routine that I hate.

I look at the way I pack my kids lunches:  Kid #1- aversion to all foods except bread and chocolate.  Has a peice of bread as his lunch - makes me look like a lazy mom who doesn't care about what he eats.
Kid #2 - hates cold lunches and bread.  Will only take a handful of Shreddies and juice - beef jerky if we have it - again makes me look like ****ty mom.
Kid #3 - loves all healthy stuf - I pack her tuna sandwhiches, a variety of cut up fruits and veggies, yogourt, etc.  Makes me look like Mom of the Year. 

If school lunches were healthy and cheap, I would love it!

I would wonder how they would fund this for low-income kids too.  It would be a huge expense. 

hehehe
I had a picky eater too, and I'm sure some days I looked like "world's worst mom" with regard to what was in his lunch.  Most times, I was happy that he was eating anything!
I wonder about the funding of this in the Chicago school. Surely it must be subsidized in some way as there is no way in hell all families could afford to pay for it.  I would have loved the healthy lunch option when Jesse was in school too - even though he helped make his lunch, it always seemed to be a rushed pain in the ass chore. lol

It would have to be free or close to free for low-income families.  I myself would pay for it, but I wonder how much it would cost monthly for the school to provide lunch for all three of my kids.  Even at $1.00 per lunch, it would be a big cost!

We had the better part of a school year where my son took canned spaghettios to school - every day.  He had special needs, was going to a special school and this was his comfort - he wanted to control what he ate at least.

My god, I was so embarrassed.  And worried about the nutrition/calories.

Imagine what the principal in Chicago would think.

As to the more serious question, I agree with the majority who say that it should be available, but not mandatory.

Hey, at least it was a "hot lunch" lol

I read an article about that, and then also saw pictures of the pre-packaged foods that were included in a school lunch.  Now I am not a picky eater.  I don't dislike caffeteria food or hospital food or anything like that, but when I saw the pictures it looked a little gross to me.  I realize a picture is just a picture, but if someone like me would be very hesitant to try the food, I can't imagine my kids, who are very picky eaters, coming within 10 feet of this food.  That means that my kids would go all day without eating and then scarf down anything they could find once they got home from school.  I can't see how that is helping anyone.

I read the principal's point about some kids bringing a bag of chips and a can of pop for lunch and this idea would eliminate that and hopefully allow each kid to have a healthy lunch.  And I get it.  I just don't think this is the way to do it.

On top of that, there is the cost factor.  I certainly couldn't afford to pay for my kids lunches every day.  Right now my kids have pizza Fridays and with 4 of them still in school, it costs me $20 on Friday for them to purchase 2 pieces of pizza each.  I still have to send along a drink and other snacks to round out the lunch.  I can't imagine doing that on a daily basis.  I bring my own lunch to work to save money, I would hate it if someone was taking away my right to do that with my kids.

There are other options...in my son's school they have a breakfast club which is put on by the Boys and Girls Club.  It offers healthy cereals, oatmeal, toast, fruit, yogurt, etc to children who either don't eat breakfast at home or can't afford a healthy breakfast.  This way they are ensured to have at least one healthy  meal in the day and it is right in the morning to get their little brains working.  Sometimes if my son wakes up late, or doesn't feel like eating in the morning, he will go to the breakfast club and eat breakfast with his friends.  I know he is getting something healthy and I pay back by donating breakfast foods to the club.

I love the breakfast clubs and think they're a fabulous idea.  Best part, they're free to those *****ally do need it.  My son's school (when he was younger, that is) had this too.  Food was mostly donated and it was all healthy stuff.  He couldn't be bothered to eat at home in the mornings, so went to school early most days and ate with his friends - social time. lol  I too dontated food and money to the program.  I wish more schools had this.

I got a kick out of one of the articles I read on the Chicago school - a 7th grade student held a "protest" that they couldn't bring their own lunches. Social justice for all! lol

My kids school actually implemented a "healthy snack" option. I am not sure who the funding sponsor is now that I think about it, but every day the kids get a healthy snack in the afternoon. Its usually fruit or vegetables but sometimes crackers and cheese or yogurt. They also send home a meal option once a month where you can buy kids hot lunches - but these are not really "healthy" options. They have hotdogs, chicken nuggets and pizza as well as spaghetti and subway sandwiches. But like someone else said, it gets expensive.  We use it as a tool to help Kira remember to bring her lunchbag home every day. If she brings it home everyday for a month, then the next month she gets one hot lunch choice.

So far, its only happened once though! LOL!!
(she is a bit of a scatterbrain - I have no idea where she gets that from!)

I have a "scatterbrain" too.  He's managed to make it to 20 though, so it can't be all bad. He NEVER would have gotten that hot meal if that were the deal though! haha

When I was managing all of the camps city-wide here, I changed what was offered on pizza Fridays.  Traditionally, kids were offered pizza, pop and chips.  I changed it to pizza, juice and fruit.  You should have heard the complaints I got from parents!  You'd have thought I was starving the poor children, all 1500 of them who ordered pizza every week. How cruel. lol