An article in today's Fresno Bee reminds us that it's never too early to start thinking about how to keep our children well-nourished during the school day.
School food experts are constantly tweaking cafeteria menus to tempt the finicky palates of the more than 30 million children who eat at school each day. It's all part of a broader effort to keep students healthy and well-fed, which studies show helps academic performance.Jose Alvarado, food services director with Fresno Unified School District, said students are more sophisticated about their food choices today, so district officials need to figure out what they like.
Do you pack a lunch for your kids or do you send lunch money so they can buy something? If they buy their lunch, are you happy that they are making smart choices about what to eat and drink (or do you even know if they are using the lunch money to buy anything)?
And if you pack a lunch, what do you put in it?
For my 6-year-old, when she was in preschool and kindergarten, I would pack some baby carrots or grape tomatoes (her growing food), a drink and a 100-calorie pack of crackers or cookies. Now that she'll be starting first grade in six weeks, I may add a sandwich to that, since she'll be at school for a full day.
My two older girls are supposed to pack themselves a lunch. There's a portion of a shelf in our pantry where we keep non-perishable sandwich fixings, chips, bags and such. I try to keep a variety of seasonal fruits available. But it seems like some days they don't bother to pack their lunch, then are scrounging for heavy snacks when they get home, which can interfere with their appetite at dinner.
How do you handle school lunches at your home?
Here's a website that has some fun ideas for things to pack in your kids' school lunches.
I don't have kids so can't comment, but I am curious: Is that a real school lunch picture? Do they really use Styrofoam bowls in schools? That's quite wasteful if they do.
That is, in fact, a real photo, shot in a Fresno Unified school, BUT it's not recent. It was taken in 1999, so I'm not sure if the district still uses styrofoam dishes or not. Does anyone know?
Seems children are so much fatter then when I was young. We have a serious problem with obesity.
The Clovis schools send us a menu and I ask my Son what he eats. He isn't obese so I trust he's doing the right thing.
I have watched kids buy the lunches and throw the entire thing away daily in Sanger. My daughter is very picky. She wont take her lunch and wont eat the school lunches either so she sometimes buys something from the student store which is off course usually unhealthy then after school she is starving. She wont take her lunch because if its a sandwich she says the bread gets soggy and she doesnt like the meat to get warm. The school lunches consist or some microwaved burrito or hot dog, chips and maybe a fruit or a cookie. Not very appetizing or healthy so I am not sure what to do for her.
The way the food looks here, I would not be tempted to pig out on it. I did not know that the schools ever served food on styrofoam. Yaaaak, that suff falls apart while eating.
PS Looked at the photo again. What is that brown food in the bowl? I suspect that kids get fat from the stuff they don't eat at school lunch. My daughter (when in Clovis High) left the campus to eat. We were double-payer parents!
When children are really hungry, they will eat any food, prepared in any school district, in America. The rest of the comments speak more about the writers than of the natural hunting and foraging drive of their offspring.
My son is a competitive water polo player. With such a physical sport his body, fit and full of muscle, craves food that is good for him (and lots of it). Given the choice he always opts for the healthy alternative based on his body's cravings. My daughter, also fit but in sports less physically demanding will opt for the junk food when given the choice; likely because she can't get it at home. However, when she is really tired or been really active, she wants the healthier alternative (she really likes soup). It makes her feel better. If healthy alternatives are all that is available at school, kids will eat it. They will get used to it and they will learn to like it. The hold outs will be those who have unlimited junk food at home or money to buy it at the school snack shack. Schools should not cater to kids wants but their body's needs. They should not offer junk food to children. A child's reliance on junk food, begins and should end at home. Even finicky children will eat healthy food when they get hungry enough.
Bart...as a former foraging offspring I concur with your pronouncement.A pork chop bone never went in the trash that had any meat left on it and if we didn't pick 'em clean,our parents did...we were like a pack of(8)wolves ...we were not finicky and ate anything and everything...limited choices and competition honed us.
Hey Brian, ever hear Jerry Clower tell about the dinner guest (I beleive a census taker) at the Ledbetter's when the lights went out. That's what we're taking about!