Sunday, December 30, 2012

School Lunch Program + School Breakfast Program = Obesity

It was a while ago, but there was a big uproar nationally about the changes to the school lunch programs.  Something about smaller portions, higher cost and, (heaven forbid), more vegetables.  No one liked these changes.  There was a local boycott in the Parsippany, NJ schools, though I never did hear about that outcome.  But it brought me to question the role of the school lunch and breakfast programs.

I can understand the point of reduced cost lunches to those who are TRULY needy and certainly there needs to be a cafeteria providing food to all students and staff who would like the option.  But I feel there's a tremendous waste of money and resources here.  Why can't we make school cafeterias privatized and let it be for profit to take the burden off the taxpayer?  Why do I have to foot the bill to feed someone else's children?  People go out for lunch all the time and pay for their lunch, don't they?  They should do the same in school.   Especially now when everyone just laughs at the school lunch options.  (Side bar here:  I've spent a lifetime listening to complaints about hospital meals, airline meals, school meals.  So maybe we can make the first change with the school meals).

First, let's talk about providing free breakfast to students.  Why in heaven's name is any child leaving the house without eating breakfast?  Aren't parents/caregivers/older siblings there to assure small children are getting something to eat before they leave for school?  Yogurt, cold (low sugar) cereal with milk, some toast with peanut butter.  Why is this so hard?  There's no cooking involved.  You just need to have the right ingredients in the house.   Get up a few minutes earlier to take care of "the most important meal of the day."  That goes for the adults AND the kids.  If the child is old enough to prepare something for themselves, then get with the program.   Just Do It!  I see plenty of people in line to get Egg McCrappiness so people have a buck or so for their own breakfast.  And to boot, kids are fatter than ever and some of this obesity is being blamed on the documented junky food that kids are eating for breakfast and lunch at school.  School cafeteria managers complain that kids don't eat the good food--eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, salad and vegetables for lunch--so they are forced to sell what the kids want.  And what the kids want are donuts, bacon, pastries, french fries and such.  Hence, obesity.

Secondly, why are we forcing the school lunch program to provide milk?  I know it helps keep the cost down if you get milk with your meal, but it's a well documented fact that most of the milk is tossed out.   I don't drink milk.  Neither do my kids or my husband.  For that matter, neither does my brother, sister-in-law, etc.  So why are we paying for the milk in school?  It's being pushed from the US Department of Agriculture as a food commodity and I guess it started being pushed because it has calcium.  (I even remember the small cartons of milk when I went to grade school--I think it was 7 cents.  There was no option to refuse.  We just didn't opt-out in 1967.  I took the milk but I never drank it).  But let's get back to the calcium.  We know that there are other foods we can get calcium from.  Kids are certainly eating enough cheese to get their calcium, but we can get calcium from broccoli, kale, (reminder:  eat these) even calcium-fortified orange juice.  So the milk is a waste.  Get rid of it.  (There's also the issue of the majority of the corn and grain farmed in this country to feed cattle and the cattle using our natural resources.  And I'm still trying to understand what a carbon footprint is).
There's also a suggestion over whether low-fat chocolate milk should be a substitute for the "white" milk in the schools.  Now that stuff really goes off the shelf--the kids love it.  But it has additional calories from sugar and is another cause of the obesity epidemic.

I think I'll stop raving here and provide you with what I think we should have.  Home Economics.  That's right.  I think the good old home ec classes should be reinstated.  Teach people how to cook, teach them how to shop wisely and cook healthfully.  Teach people what they should eat to reduce their risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer and other illnesses.  That's what dietitians should be doing.  There would be less obesity if people could make their own breakfast and pack their own lunches.  Let's get with THAT Program!