Making School lunches Manatory May make More Kids Fat ! ( an observation)

When I went to school, there was no option of school lunches. We had to take home-cooked lunch when in India and in the Middle East, we were back home for a hot lunch.When my older son started school, I would send home cooked food even though there was a school food option. But when I had my second son, we opted for the school lunch since it was a pain to cook a full meal (which is what my son wanted) early in the morning. It was quite expensive and even though most parents felt that it wasn't worth it because the kids didn't really take the whole meal, our son had a full meal and we were fine. The next year we opted for home lunch again. As a teacher at the same school ...at a different branch where the school snacks were mandatory and homecooked food was not encouraged, I didn't think it was a good idea. Most kids who weren't used to this kind of food refused to eat and though they were going home for lunch, they remained hungry for longer periods of time which made them cranky...and this in turn prevented them from being able to concentrate.

This is awful why would any school implement somethign as bad as this? especially in curretn economic times?

It is a joke to think that the school can provide a healthy lunch that the children will eat. Having worked in schools for years I know that more times than not the children will eat part of the meal and throw the rest away. In one school the head of the food service stood in the serving line and made every child take a certain amount and type of food. This person was written up by the government inspector because not every child was taking the right kind of food. The sad part was that the food the children were being forced to take was ending up in the garbage. Another cook I worked with took food the children did not eat and made it attractive and they could not get enough. She took raisins and nuts and made cinnamon rolls and the students loved them. Another time she took spinach and chopped it up and added it to most of the dishes she served. Instead of congratulating her the federal workers suggested she was stealing the spinach and came to inspect while she was cooking the meals. Then they went out and asked the children how they liked the food with spinach in it. She was ordered to go back to boiling it and serving it that way, which ended up in the garbage.

As a student myself I never ate the school food, I found the scent made me sick each and every day not to mention the food was terrible. So am with you more will definitely fast and will not eat until they go home and binge off of junk they can find in the cupboards and or freezers, which unfortunately will be nothing healthy and it is sad they implement this.

I never though packed lunches would get this controversial. My mom, who wasn't really a stay at home mom when I was a kid, always packed my lunch for school and it was always delicious. She always paid attention to what I wanted, like if I needed more energy for the day, she would add more carbs, not necessarily sweets, but more in the line of mashed potatoes or creamed corn. It's bad enough that students nowadays are so pressured, so for food to become an issue to weigh on their minds is just too crazy. The Kids Must Buy Lunch Or Go Hungry system's not gonna work, it's oppressive and I don't know what the real deal is with that.

As a person who has already graduated and has brought my lunch to school many a time I think it's pure ridiculous for a school or anyone for that matter to tell a child that they cannot bring a home lunch to school. I remember being in the second grade and not wanting greasy bland pizza for lunch so my mom made me a very healthy pita wrap and some fruit to go with it. And not one time did I gain any excess weight from it. There are so many rules and regulations these days just let the kids eat what they want and stop worrying if they are getting fat because it should be up to the parent to make those decisions as to what they are eating anyways. Without my mom packing my lunch those many times i would have not eaten lunch which isn't healthy in the first place if you pay attention to dietary rules. 3 square meals a day :)

School lunches are so expensive and that's an issue for many parents and children now a days. I took my lunch most days when I was in school, but sometimes I bought lunch. I wish that this wasn't an issue in schools today, but I don't think anything will change any time soon.

I read too that if you fast during the day that your body goes into starvation mode and starts to harbor every single calorie it can get..for tough times. That is a lot of the reason that people who are trying to lose weight can't. Their body is in starvation mode. It might actually backfire on them if this becomes the case for most children.

You know if there was more stay at home moms there would be moms homes when some of the kids get home from school! If parents would take time in the morning to do their kids lunches,that a healthy maybe things would be different.Not to mention that if parents would plan ahead with meals and not all buy fast food all the time,kids would eat better and save money in the long run for the parents! I took a lunch to school,first in a luch box then later a brown lunch bag and the the kids who were more well off ate the school lunches! I grew on a farm so I ate alot of potatoes,beef and not alot of veggies. I also remember,at least in the past,school lunches were not that great! It seemns no matter what happens not everyone will be happy!

For me yes it is the business don't understand that we need more health than money ever.

I know what you feel.This is very dificult to think,but we can change it!!!