Feed Those Hungry Kids

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

Congress sends child nutrition bill to Obama - Yahoo! News

"The $4.5 billion bill approved by the House 264-157 would also try to cut down on greasy foods and extra calories by giving the government power to decide what kinds of foods may be sold in vending machines and lunch lines."

Vending Machines? I never had vending machines. Cheap fix. Ditch the vending machines.

$4.5 BILLION. Now taxpayers are going to be on the hook for dumb lazy parents. Obese kids?? Whatever happen to recess. Thats a cheap fix.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

How about this for a fix. Fire the cafeteria staff. Everyone brings their own lunch. Let mom and or dad decide what Suzie and Jonnie are going to eat. Get the schools out of the food business.

 

[Brandon]

our township doesnt even hire the staff anymore. some company comes in and does all the work and I am not for certain, but i think its either the school board/higher up staff or the company that does the work to decide on the food. what the students pick is up to them still.

 

[rjstew317]

Congress sends child nutrition bill to Obama - Yahoo! News

"The $4.5 billion bill approved by the House 264-157 would also try to cut down on greasy foods and extra calories by giving the government power to decide what kinds of foods may be sold in vending machines and lunch lines."

Vending Machines? I never had vending machines. Cheap fix. Ditch the vending machines.

$4.5 BILLION. Now taxpayers are going to be on the hook for dumb lazy parents. Obese kids?? Whatever happen to recess. Thats a cheap fix.

 

[rambone]

More top-down dictating instead of self-governance from the bottom.

 

[level.eleven]

How about this for a fix. Fire the cafeteria staff. Everyone brings their own lunch. Let mom and or dad decide what Suzie and Jonnie are going to eat. Get the schools out of the food business.

That is brilliant. I tend to strike the root and advocate for getting .gov out of the education business, but that certainly is a branch to lop off. In addition, it makes sense for the purpose of cranking out worker bees. No one is going to buy your lunch during your break at a private sector job.

 

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

How about this for a fix. Fire the cafeteria staff. Everyone brings their own lunch. Let mom and or dad decide what Suzie and Jonnie are going to eat. Get the schools out of the food business.

I can agree with that. But don't school systems hire nutritionist to come up with the food plan?

 

[level.eleven]

I can agree with that. But don't school systems hire nutritionist to come up with the food plan?

Yeah and they determined ketchup to be a vegetable.

 

[Leadeye]

The education/industrial complex is not interested in anything that will cause them a loss of money or power. These are their only goals, education of your children is seen only as a tool to achieve what they really want.

 

[moischmoe]

How about this for a fix. Fire the cafeteria staff. Everyone brings their own lunch. Let mom and or dad decide what Suzie and Jonnie are going to eat. Get the schools out of the food business.

Let's be realistic here. Money is tight in these hard times. We are on the free lunch program. By time I pay for their cell phone bill, a bigger and better plasma TV, new games for the X-Box 360, and our weekly trips to Chuck E. Cheese, there's not much money left for things like food.

 

[jblomenberg16]

How about this for a fix. Fire the cafeteria staff. Everyone brings their own lunch. Let mom and or dad decide what Suzie and Jonnie are going to eat. Get the schools out of the food business.

I'm not one for social welfare in general, but one area that I do get concerned with is the free and reduced lunch kids. I've seen it with my own eyes, and as a father, I can't help but feel compelled to help out. Unfotunately for a lot of kids, mom and or dad cannot afford, or chose not to feed them.

School provided food is often the only food the kids will get during the day. Many don't get any food on the weekends because the food during the week is their only source of real food. Take away school lunch programs and these kids would most certainly suffer the effects of malnurishment, making it hard for them to pay attention in class, meaning they are more likely to struggle in school, and so on and so forth.

Now, can school lunches be improved? Heck yeah. Should they be elminated altogether? In my opinion, no.

 

[littletommy]

I'm not one for social welfare in general, but one area that I do get concerned with is the free and reduced lunch kids. I've seen it with my own eyes, and as a father, I can't help but feel compelled to help out. Unfotunately for a lot of kids, mom and or dad cannot afford, or chose not to feed them.

School provided food is often the only food the kids will get during the day. Many don't get any food on the weekends because the food during the week is their only source of real food. Take away school lunch programs and these kids would most certainly suffer the effects of malnurishment, making it hard for them to pay attention in class, meaning they are more likely to struggle in school, and so on and so forth.

Now, can school lunches be improved? Heck yeah. Should they be elminated altogether? In my opinion, no.

+1 I think in my local school district, at least 40% of the kids are on the free lunch program, it may be higher. Sadly, the crap these kids get at school is the best meal they get. It breaks my heart to think about it. Too many skanky assed "parents", that probably don't even know what school the poor kid goes to, much less cares what, or if the kid has eaten lately.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

My intent is not to deprive anyone of food, but the government of the power to control what is eaten. I have no problem helping. I would donate money at the local grocery store so that people could get food to take to school. Let parents decide what their kids will eat.

 

[jblomenberg16]

+1 I think in my local school district, at least 40% of the kids are on the free lunch program, it may be higher. Sadly, the crap these kids get at school is the best meal they get. It breaks my heart to think about it. Too many skanky assed "parents", that probably don't even know what school the poor kid goes to, much less cares what, or if the kid has eaten lately.

Not to jack the thread, but if anyone is interested in helping these kids (so the government doesn't have to) check out the "Backsacks" program. I believe Gleaners Foodback runs it out of Indy, and a lot of smaller communities do something similar. In short, backpacks with nutritionally planned meals are sent home with kids that are free and reduced lunch on the weekend to help with the issue littletommy and I mentioned. These meals are simple enough that most kids can make them for themselves, or with the help of an older sibling, and are the bare essential calories and nutrition that they need to come to school on Mondays not hungry.

 

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

I'm not one for social welfare in general, but one area that I do get concerned with is the free and reduced lunch kids. I've seen it with my own eyes, and as a father, I can't help but feel compelled to help out. Unfotunately for a lot of kids, mom and or dad cannot afford, or chose not to feed them.

School provided food is often the only food the kids will get during the day. Many don't get any food on the weekends because the food during the week is their only source of real food. Take away school lunch programs and these kids would most certainly suffer the effects of malnurishment, making it hard for them to pay attention in class, meaning they are more likely to struggle in school, and so on and so forth.

Now, can school lunches be improved? Heck yeah. Should they be elminated altogether? In my opinion, no.

I see your point. But how do you separate those who truely need it from those who work the system. Maybe if the "Smiths" didn't smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, or have to have the latest and greatest gadget, or whatever, they would have enough money so their kids can eat. The glass half empty part of me thinks that there are more freeloaders than those who really need it.

 

[moischmoe]

Too many skanky assed "parents", that probably don't even know what school the poor kid goes to, much less cares what, or if the kid has eaten lately.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I see your point. But how do you separate those who truely need it from those who work the system. Maybe if the "Smiths" didn't smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, or have to have the latest and greatest gadget, or whatever, they would have enough money so their kids can eat. The glass half empty part of me thinks that there are more freeloaders than those who really need it.

That's the tough part, and where I get frustrated as well. The way I look at it, most kids (especially those that aren't in their teens yet) haven't made the choice yet for themselves to be free loaders. Sure, mom and dad are, but they can't help it and aren't chosing that lifestyle intentionally.

The other piece is that to qualify for free and reduced lunch, it is based on income, not necessarily how you chose to spend that income. If you make less than $XX,000 a year, you qualify regardless is how I think it is set up.

 

[littletommy]

I was acquainted with the superintendant of the local school system here a few years back. He was telling me of an 8 year old girl who just quit coming to school, and after several days of trying to reach a parent, he and another school official went to her house to see what was up. When they knocked on the door, the little girl answered, and he told me he was just speechless after finding out what he found out. She was staying home with her 3 or 4 year old sibling, in a house with absolutely zero furniture, a few dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, no food in the house at all, utilities shut off, and momma hadn't been heard from for days. This is an 8 year old kid, who goes to school with my kids! That changed my way of thinking. These kids can only do what their "parents" give them the means to do, and, god forbid, there are "parents" out there who do not deserve to breath the same air as the rest of humanity. I don't like the idea of handouts either, but there are kids within 100 yards of just about all of us who are damned into a life with sub human "parents".

 

[hornadylnl]

What do people expect for $1-1.50 a meal? I've went to school to eat lunch with my daughter several times. I'd say that half of the food they serve goes in the trash. Some of the kids regularly don't touch a single thing on the tray. They could serve 5 star healthy meals but they can't force it in their gullets.

My wife works in the local school cafeteria. They run pretty short handed on help as it is throwing processed foods in the oven. They'd have to hire 3 times as many people to actually cook real food. I'd like to think our food service director cuts costs to be responsible for the tax payers but I think it's more about job security for her by providing a back door slush fund for the school.

 

[John Galt]

Fundamentally, it is my belief that the government does not care about feeding kids, only using them as the perfect weapon to expand itself. If it really cared, why are all of the "help" programs increasing in size? I have witnessed more food being thrown away than what is eaten in school cafeterias and it is my suspicion that really hungry people don't throw away food. However, the compassionate side of me truly feels sorry for those children that belong to scum parents and who don't have a choice regarding their care (or lack of). So, in the spirit of compromise, how about a PB & J or bologna sandwich, an apple and a carton of milk, it's good enough for my kids!