School Lunch is Served

[Maldina]

I'm just so grateful I never had to eat like that.. also, I don't think this would fill me up for more than 43 minutes..

http://cityrag.blogs.com/main/2007/12/school-lunch-is.html

[greenshamr]

Honestly, those lunches look better than what was served in a wealthy Houston suburb school cafeteria. I almost died the first day I joined my daughter for lunch at school. She had a greasy grilled cheese sandwich, tater tots and rice. No veggies, no fruit. Just carbs and starches. I found out later on that they do have to include all the food groups but whether or not all the groups are used in one meal is another story. They're allowed to make any combination through out a week. So if your kid eats lunch only one day a week--there is no guarantee of fruits and veggies!!

After that day I began packing my child's lunch daily.

[Legeon]

That looks slightly better than what I got as a child but it's basically the same. I was ravenous after school.

[eryalen]

I'm just so grateful I never had to eat like that.. also, I don't think this would fill me up for more than 43 minutes..

http://cityrag.blogs.com/main/2007/12/school-lunch-is.html
It would kill my appetite without eating it.

[Daisymaiz]

Yuck, but at least there were a couple fresh fruits in there-any fruit we ever had in school was drowning in syrup.

[rightnow]

Well that looks better than the school lunches I see at my kids' school. Their version of fruit is canned 'fruit salad' or something like that -- more sugar than a candy bar.

[Demokat]

As a kid, we had whole milk, not lowfat, and seasonal fruit. The veggies, which were typically boiled potatoes, green beans and carrots, or that canned peas/carrots combo :Puke: were overcooked beyond providing any nutritive value. The entrees were things like shepard's pie, salisbury steak w/gravy, spaghetti and meatballs, fried chicken, and on Fridays we had pizza. Most of the time I brought my lunch, which was thermos full of soup, since I didn't like bread until I was in high school (my body must have known back then I was celiac!).

[cartersg1]

EEEEWWWWW!! Not only NOT healthy but not even appetizing. My daughter thought, that by leaving her lunch box at school, that she would get to be a "buyer". NOT! :) It went in a plastic sack...the lunchbox came home today. It's $28 a month to be a "buyer" and it's the same menu recycled from my school days. Most of the time, I couldn't have what was served because of food allergies so Mom would either stash my lunch in the school cafeteria (she was a teacher) or they would fix something up. Thank goodness I loved salads and veggies!! Starch...that's all it is. Cheers!

[KarenJ]

Tomorrow they're serving macaroni & cheese, wheat roll, chilled pineapple, and apple juice. Can you believe that?!
Needless to say, my DD is bringing her own lunch. I let her eat there on Friday (pizza), and whenever they have what looks like basic meat/salad.

I was going to join their school lunch committee, but it wouldn't have made any difference- they still have to adhere to the Food Pyramid. :thdown:

[LAwoman75]

I began making my kids bring their lunches last year and we have continued ever since. They would come home starved because the lunch was so terrible that they didn't eat. I don't consider Pizza, corn, roll, and whatever dessert a healthy meal for my growing boys.

[Zei]

I don't recall anything quite that yucky looking for school lunch. Those ugly foam trays make it look really unappetizing. I think this lunch looks like something for prisoners rather than school kids (um, my kids wonder is there much of a difference between the two?). You know lunch at State Pen, not Penn State? :p

[Mossling]

I was going to join their school lunch committee, but it wouldn't have made any difference- they still have to adhere to the Food Pyramid. :thdown:

Plus the cafeterias have a very limited amount of money to spend on each student per day--including breakfast, snack, and lunch. I HOPE the amount has been increased since the last time (two to three years ago) it was reported in our school district; then, it was $1.63. Per child. Per day. And the cafeteria/food service must work within the federal guidelines (read: "mandates") regarding calories per meal, sodium per meal, carbo:fat:protein ratios per meal, etc., etc. Yes, those lunches look horrible. They probably are the best the food service people can do following all the rules.

[CVH]

Top right meal in the 1st picture and the top left meal in the 2nd picture minus the milk and fruit look EXACTLY like jail food.

Top Left meal and Bottom left meal in the 1st picture look EXACTLY like VA food.

Nasty s***, but good and nutritious....lol :lol:

[rightnow]

Of course, you would only know that from hearsay, right. :D :D :D

[Sweet Tart]

In second or third grade my oldest son (now 15) refused to eat school lunch ever. Even on pizza day. My youngest son (11) has followed suit and has never eaten school lunch. They both think it's disgusting and I can't blame them, although I have wished at times I could just send them to school without having to make lunch. Now that they're older it's not a problem because they can make their own.

I think the lunches are worse than when I was a kid (although they still smell exactly the same - what's up with that) because, at least here, they make them at a central location and then ship them to the schools for reheating. At least when I was growing up the lunch ladies actually cooked the food.

[amberview]

Our lunches were disgusting in K-12. The only place that had a decent lunch is when I went to private school for 2 years, but they were crazy lunatics there. They just had good lunches and breakfast.

How about that nasty pizza that is on the menu once a week at school? That one was the worst!

[kyrasdad]

As a kid, I recall always feeling hungry in the afternoon. It was the kind of hollow, wanting hunger that I now recognize as simple-carb-driven desire. I was ravenous all afternoon. Even in late mornings, I'd smell the baking stuff for lunch and it was maddening. I can distinctly remember the smells of certain days if the classroom was near the cafeteria.

My daughter's current school (day care) serves lunch. They don't even allow you to bring your own, and it's typically a state approved, high carb lunch. She rarely eats most of it because she's picky. Next year, she hits public kindergarten, where we can send lunch with her.

[pengu1]

Isn't ketchup classified as a vegetable now? Those lunches look awful, I would never eat that. In high school, I was lucky enough that I had open campus and could leave to go get some food.\

'Course, it was usually a chili dog from weinerschnitzel and a large Dr. Pepper, or some other fast food.