School lunches threaten national security

[Ghost101]

You also make it sound so easy.

:/ i had an awesome picture that im waiting for mods to approve, but i really honestly cant find too many reasons why someone normal cant do sports to stay in shape

[Skirata]

The reality is that in the US prison food and school food are contracted from the same sellers.

I have known for years now the similarities between school and prison.

[Revoltion]

:/ i had an awesome picture that im waiting for mods to approve, but i really honestly cant find too many reasons why someone normal cant do sports to stay in shape

Its easy to keep off pounds when you don't have them in the first place. Its also much easier to gain them.

[Sigilstone17]

Actually, you want to know what makes schools even sadder? They DO have full kitchen facilities capable of making healthy meals for every student in that school. The fact is that the people who make those meals don't want to do the extra work of actually making something. There's a show on ABC called "Food Revolution", it's really an eye-opener. At least an eye-opener to those too dumb or too unwilling to see just how disgusting school lunches really are.

Now, let's dive into the meat of the issue: How did schools get this way? Let me tell you how:
Long ago, when the public schools were becoming the large institutions that they are today, someone looked over the yearly reports and saw a problem. Feeding the students was expensive. So, this person called a meeting. "How can we lower the price of feeding the students"? they asked. The faculty thought for a moment, looked over the reports, then thought some more. Finally, someone had an idea, "I know! We can buy from this company I heard about! They'll sell us the food for cheaper then what we already get!" The faculty mulled over the idea and decided that they liked it. So, the school struck a deal with the company. Soon other schools heard about this and started striking deals with companies. For some time, the deal was good, but it had drastic effects. Suddenly, the local suppliers who got most of their keep from the school had no buyer and went out of business. So the companies swooped in, bought out the suppliers, and killed the suppliers. Then, the companies had a problem. Someone was looking over the yearly reports. A meeting was held, "We need more money so I can afford another mansion, any ideas?" the Boss asked. "I know!" said the little person thinking he could make more money by earning the Boss's favor, "We have some ways of cutting costs, although it might not be legal." "Leave the legal stuff to me," the Boss said as dismissed the minions. Soon, the Boss made a deal with a Congressman. "You just sign this law and there'll be a bonus for you." The Boss said. "How big a bonus?" The Congressman wondered. The Boss pulled out an envelope full of cash and gave it the Congressman. "Consider this a down-payment." The Boss said. So the Congressman took the money and pushed the law through. Soon, his fellow Congressmen heard of the deal. "I wanna a cut of that!" They said. So they made deals with the other Bosses. For a time, this worked fine. No one noticed, no one cared. Then one day, a man came forth and proclaimed "This stuff isn't healthy for our children!" At first he was ignored, but then others began to proclaim it as well and people began to take notice. So the Bosses spoke to the people, "Look! The food is golden-brown! No icky green stuff! Gold is good, right?" And the people foolishly agreed. Then, more studies were done and people began getting upset again. First, the Congressmen began to demand change, but the Bosses had the upper hand. "You took our bribe, remember? Do you like your job? We'll keep quiet if you will." So the Congressmen balked. Then, the school's began to rebel, but again the Bosses had the upper hand. "Who else are you going to buy your school food from, hmmm?" So the school's balked. But then, new Congressmen came in, Congressmen who hadn't taken the bribe. Then Congress began to stir again. Then, people came forth, "We have better methods of feeding the students, listen to us." The Bosses began to worry, "No! Don't listen to them! They're too expensive! And their food isn't golden-brown!" So many ignored the people. But some listened, and changed. Now, we arrive at present day. The Majority still thinks that "If it's golden-brown, it must be good" but some are starting to wise up, and now a change has begun. A change for the better.

[armbarchris]

The very first step is for people to actually admit that they are fat and it's their own fault.
your-fat-doctor-phil-eat-food-goal-demotivational-poster.jpg

[KittyC]

it's their own fault.

Not always. There are some that do only eat junk and never get off their couch, but some people are more genetically inclined to be heavier and it would take an eating disorder to get them to an "ideal" weight. Some people end up heavier than they would be if they stuck to a healthy diet and lifestyle because they go on crazy diets when they don't need to. You could say that it's their fault for messing up their metabolism, but I would say it's the fault of a culture obsessed with being thin and falsely thinking that thin automatically means healthy.

I'm all for schools getting healthier options, but that alone won't solve anything, or at least won't do much. Maybe if they started forcing kids to eat every single meal there, but that would be insane.

It would be wonderful if people started focusing on health alone instead of focusing mainly on weight. Focusing on the weight so much will not make people healthier and does more damage than good. Weight is irrelevant to health except in extreme cases and even then, it might not be the weight itself that causes the problem, but lifestyle and you can't adequately judge a person's lifestyle based on their weight. If you look at all of the studies on weight and health, it actually shows health benefits to being overweight and even moderately obese, especially in old age. People who are overweight according to their BMI on average have a higher life expectancy than any other category. People who are underweight have the lowest. Only the very few who are 300 or 400 (I don't remember the exact number, but it's one of those two) and above have the same life expectancy than those who are underweight. An obese woman still has a longer life expectancy than a male at a "normal" weight. I could go on and on about this subject forever. I'll stop now before this post gets too long.

[FoxyBunny]

I happen to love how our local elementary school handles this issue. To start with, they don't cook from scratch either, but you can buy some very good quality frozen foods that aren't junk. They bake these in the oven and serve them up hot. At our school, all children are offered breakfast before starting the school day, in addition to being fed lunch. Lunch has some of the traditional "crud" like hot dogs and chicken patties, but they also have a good selection of healthy foods.

In conjunction with the PTA, the school has been "sneaking" healthier alternatives into the menus. All bread is now whole-grain wheat bread. We switched out the standard "alternate" lunch from peanut butter and jelly to fluffer nutters. (For those who don't know, that's peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, which is delicious, and has 1/3 the sugar of jelly!) We switched to a pasta sauce that has very little sodium and instead has things like zucchini and butternut squash pureed into it. For the record, all the kids have reported that lunch keeps getting better! They love the changes, and everyone is happy.

Overall, the big problem here is parental guidance. Just as our school has improved because of parental involvement, that has to continue to occur at home as well. How many parents run through the drive-thru for a happy meal for their kids on busy nights? What does that teach your child? Do you realize that if they don't like the pickle, they probably got zero nutritional value from that meal? Oh wait...lycopene in the ketchup, right? Sigh.

Parents who set a standard for health are the key. Be active, and encourage your children to join you. Shut off the tv and video games now and then, and limit time on them. Eating healthier can not only be painless, but it tastes better and costs less. It costs me 68 cents to make a family portion of mashed potatoes from scratch. Zero sodium, it has calcium and Omega-3 and vitamin D, and they taste amazing. Takes about 10 minutes of my time to cut and peel them before boiling, and then mash them after. How long does someone spend measuring out and making instant mashed potatoes? What do you think the nutrients on that look like? And what does it cost? And ewww.......ever tasted them? Blech!

[Cosmic Fury]

*suddenly develops a craving for whatever food Foxy makes*


I agree with you there.


It's an all-way street, and if any of the parties refuse to move, there will be a jam...

[Viperxiii]

This is so stupid. Lol

Its obvious. The schools do serve things on a healthy basis anyways. Half of their salad dressings are watered down. They meet the requirements calorie wise and everything. The problem is, is kids buying double lunches or a ton of extra stuff.

[acer5200]

This is so stupid. Lol

Its obvious. The schools do serve things on a healthy basis anyways. Half of their salad dressings are watered down. They meet the requirements calorie wise and everything. The problem is, is kids buying double lunches or a ton of extra stuff.

Please, come down to Broward County, Florida and go to a middle school there. Try eating that food. Its total crap, I've seen better food served in a prison.