That’s likely true, and is part of what it takes to have it be higher quality food. I agree that’s the core issue. The scale of the operation is a solvable problem.
While my son’s school does serve some entrees I wouldn’t consider that great, they also do have good choices. I think their buns are whole grains, they have a vegetable garden that they will use to prepare some meals, they periodically have a chef from the local health provider come and and make healthy meals. Last year his teacher didn’t allow kids to bring in unhealthy snacks. It seems to have come a long way from when I was in school.
When I was in school we had one choice for lunch and the pizza you could wring out like a towel… except it wasn’t water that would drip off. My last year in high school, the cafeteria was torn down so you had to bring a lunch or go to a nearby fast food joint.
The last time I went to a high school where one of my younger cousins went, it almost resembled a mall food court. They had a half-dozen choices, themed.
That sounds similar to mine. Every day there was pizza, hamburger, and one other main entree. I bought my own lunch or periodically went out.
Salads are offered daily too at our high school and they were offered even when I was in school between '86-'89. Different areas of this very large country have different standards and enforcement of said standards.
Not sure what the standards were other than ketchup is a vegetable and the schools were in the pockets of the vending machine companies and/or Coke and Pepsi. Those were the two big issues when I was in school. They were going to replace high sugar soda with high sugar tea, Snapple, and a few schools went full on sponsored by soda to pay for things they needed.
Yeah, it’s not like that around here. Sorry you had to deal with that.
There is the National School Lunch Program. To be eligible, your school needs to meet Federal requirements. I imagine in some of these Red states where they want to eliminate Federal programs that they simply decide not to meet those requirements and hence kids either A) don’t eat or B) eat fast food or whatever all of you are saying seems to be the norm where you are.
I thought I read something once about how soda companies paid good money to get their product into schools.
They did. It wasn’t a small amount. I have no idea if it’s still happening or if vending machines are still everywhere like they were at my school. The news “broke” though way back yesteryear when the soda logos started showing up team uniforms and parents starting asking to remove vending machines but the schools were like… but we need the money.
Of course like any kid that didn’t have much internet, I kind of lost track of whatever happened with all that.
I think (not sure) my kids school went from soda machines to sports drink machines. Of course in many cases you are looking at the same companies providing the drinks and just because something is labeled a sports drink it doesn’t make it good for you.
Yeah… which is why the Snapple, Chocolate milk and juice arguments seemed like just a way for parents to and educator and politicians to pretend to care about health while just replace one sugary drink with another.
… she says as she drinks her Pepsi but at least she is well aware of the fact it’s terrible for you.
Scale certainly is, but that takes money. Schools don’t get that, especially not for lunches.
I was actually fairly close with one of the lunch ladies back in high school, so I saw what they had to work with. She made some palatable stuff in the mornings with what she had, but when it came to lunch and the whole school was eating instead of the maybe dozen or two of us that came in early and had breakfast… yeah no way.
It’s basically the same as prison food at the end of the day. Similar sources, similar investment.
That’s 467 dollars each. That surely can’t be right…
This is depressing…
Food for thought, and body and brain, and therefore thought again.
I have no idea what to actually “do” with that list. Do I now live off almonds, chia seeds and pork fat? Or is too much of those things bad for me?
Frankly, when it comes to food there’s far too much conflicting information out there. And I don’t even understand why there’s so much information. Why don’t health organisations just tell people exactly what to eat? And I’m not talking about something vauge and useless as a food pyramid, I’m talking about publishing a big list of recipes and say “eat that, in order. Start back at the top and work your way down, and when you’re at the bottom start at the top again. Do this and you won’t get fat.”.
Instead I’m left to make my own choices, and my own choices are often terrible.
You could eat the healthiest diet possible and still get fat if you don’t exercise.
Daily exercise, then eat lots of vegetables and eat as little sugar as possible.
Don’t drink or drink only in moderation (think of alcohol as added sugar).
Don’t smoke. Anything.
I think that’s as good as it gets.
The reality is that every person’s body is different. Some people can be 100% healthy and eat literally nothing but meat and eggs. Others can eat no meat at all and be just as healthy.
Most signs point towards the real problems being refined carbs and sugars at this point for most people.
Freedom.