Sunday, February 26, 2012
Food Police
This is the kind of thing that drives me and a lot of other people over the edge. I get it that children should have nutritious lunches but frankly what the school substituted (in both the cases that got publicity on this) didn't sound more nutritious. It also did not take into account that a child eats food over a whole day.
Even more though, it's not the business of school police to dictate parental choices for healthy food. What about vegetarian children? Some children are sensitive to dairy. Sweet potato is an example of a nutritious vegetable? Chicken nuggets, often fried in fat, that's better than the healthy sounding sandwich this mother had prepared along with fruit? Two servings of fruit and/or vegetable at each meal? It sure wasn't how I ate or eat today for that matter. Hope nobody comes around to inspect my choices for lunch!
Culturally is this what we want to have happen to four year olds? When I was in school (and likewise my kids), I didn't like cafeteria food and always brought my lunch which often was half a sandwich and maybe a piece of fruit. That was it.
I know we have a problem with childhood obesity in this country but deep-fried chicken nuggets and sweet potatoes or a doughnut is better than the lunch that came from home? In my opinion, it is not up to the government to send someone around changing what a family believes is healthy-- and charging them for it.
On top of it, we, as tax payers, are paying for these food police operations. This is one state but is it happening elsewhere? You think it's a good idea? I wonder how much of this got lobbied into existence by corporate food interests since many of the school lunch systems are now run by fast food enterprises. I don't see this as the work of left wing, do-gooders (though it could be) but rather by a group who want more of the children eating from the place from which they profit!
It seems to me that no matter where we look, we see more and more invasion into our personal lives, and a lot of these things are coming from corporations who want more control over our lives to profit themselves as much as possible.
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11 comments:
I did read that the pizza was accepted as a result of the food lobby. An even different concern is that my grandson brings his own lunch because standing in line for hot food takes too long and he doesn't have time to finish his meal if he buys lunch!
Rain did you really say that you see more and more invasion in our personal lives ? If so, I agree. Corporations and their government minions do work in concert here to the citizen's detriment.
Big Brother has no business telling anyone what their children should eat. By the same token, parents have the responsibility (in my opinion) to see that their children eat good, nutritious meals.
Yes, I said I see more of it and began complaining about it with the Patriot Act. Last time I went into the doctor's office for this virus/bacterial whatever it is, they wanted to weigh me. I never like to be weighed unless I am there for where it relates which an ear problem does not. But they said it is now a federal law. My guess is for statistics to tell the government how many overweight people are in the country for studies or other things that we haven't voluntarily agreed to do. I kept on my coat, heavy boots, and equally heavy purse and too bad if it skews their 'statistics'. I resented it. I don't mind when I am there for a physical or even more something where weight could be a factor but for an ear infection. Give me a break! There will be others who simply won't go to a doctor if they have to be weighed against their will. We get one thing after another like that and it's not the fault of one party! It's our system and after 9/11, they have made us accept invasions of our privacy that go way beyond the realm of reasonable and yet Americans accept it for their safety. Bah humbug!
The road to you-know-where is paved with the good intentions of the food police and many of the other special issues some others would have us follow with their criteria.
I never before heard the government had imposed a rule or law that individuals had to be weighed every time they visited the Dr. My Dr. does do that, but I welcome it for a variety of reasons, but then I don't see him that often.
I certainly agree there are many matters on which we should have choices. We need to monitor and guard our rights carefully because they slip away little by little, more so than in a large sudden loss as you likely well know.
I wouldn't mind it when the doctor decided it was part of his medical ethics but when it's the federal government, I minded. What other data are they collecting from my doctor visits?
As to this particular case, I think the school handled it badly. According to their own policy, the child should have been able to eat her sandwich and the school could have supplemented it with a piece of fruit and some milk (or a yogurt).
I do understand that the school has an interest in making sure the children are well-nourished, as it makes them better learners. But that school lunch didn't meet MY standards of healthy eating.
I recently read that some schools are now providing dinner in our area, as well as breakfast and lunch, for qualifying students. They serve dinner at 4:30 for the kids who are in after-school care. Some may ask, "why is it the school's job to do this?" but if there are no other public agencies filling this gap, then, as usual, it does fall upon the school. And again, it is in the school's interest, and society's, to make sure kids have baseline good health in order to learn.
Ridiculous! I'm glad they feed kids who don't have regular meals but what next are "they" going to inspect or manipulate? For a few months my eldest son, in the 2nd grade wouldn't eat much but chicken and salad and he was lactose intolerant, no milk or yogurt. I packed his lunch. The whole thing is creepy.
Some years ago Garrison Keillor published an piece telling us it was not so much the big hand of government we had to worry about but the big mitt of big business. And they continue to buy their way into government.
It is important for parents to provide good food for their children. It's very sad to imagine families where the children's peer group become their dinner group but that's reality, I guess. What I do not want is the government, well-intentioned or not-- invading people's homes to decide what that should be. To me that's worse than the children not getting all the vegetables they should have in a day. It's just plain scary, and if it's scary to me as a leftie, you can imagine what it is to a rightie.
There are several ways to gather data on health. One would be from human patients and the other is in the molestation of innocent animals. With the capacity now of computers, it would be possible to calculate the relationship between obesity and the immune system to recover from simple respiratory infections.
On the down side of collecting government regulated information is the autmation of health care. The helath care provider is more involved in collecting data and entering int he computer, that they are not paying attention to the patient's needs. The art of healing is diminished.
About school lunches for children in families where both partners are working, fast overly processed foods, quick preparation, means children are more likely to need good nutrician while in the schools. My grandchildren participate in after school programs while their parents work.
Well said Rain !
the lunch described in that article sounded like overly processed to me. It's all about corporations running things and wanting their school lunches to be eaten by all children to enhance their profits. Once they privatized school lunches, it became a fast food business!
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