The United States of America is in a very sorry state right now, and getting progressively worse. There are so many important issues facing us these days, and one that's been in my thoughts most recently is education. Already our schools are short-staffed, teachers are underpaid (and if you disagree, spend some time in an elementary classroom for a while), and programs are being cut left and right. Years ago our county district cut out music and art, and many sports have suffered as well. Class sizes are out of control. Now we're hearing about an additional $236 million that will be cut from K-12 schools statewide. Where are they going to make that kind of money up?!
I have an idea. What if schools did away with the hot lunch program? Yes, it's been around a long, long time, and yes, many children (and staff members) depend on it daily, especially the lower income sector that relies on receiving free food. Obviously they'd still have to serve something, not only for those children that can't afford to bring their own, but also for the child that forgets to bring his or hers on any particular day. How about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Every day. They could offer them on white and whole wheat bread, both of which are inexpensive, and set up a salad bar with assorted veggies and fruits to round out the meal. Milk would also be available, of course. Once a month, or maybe once a week, a hot selection could be prepared, like pizza or hamburgers or macaroni and cheese. Food preparation times would be cut at least in half, the emphasis on fresh produce would help children make healthier choices, and the savings would be astronomical (both in cafeteria staff time and supplies).
Maybe people would whine about the lack of variety. That's just fine. Let them complain! They would still be free to pack their own lunch. Most children ask to bring peanut butter sandwiches daily anyway.
School districts also own many vacant lots, several of which could be converted into orchards and gardens to help supply the cafeterias. This would be an excellent opportunity for children to be active and have a wonderful educational experience as well. Classes (especially older children) could rotate schedules of maintenance, and community volunteers would donate time as well. The same produce that the kids helped to harvest would then appear on the salad bar for lunch. Talk about a connection to their food! It's been proven time and time again that children love to eat healthy fruits and vegetables that they'd helped grow and harvest. Bingo! Now we're addressing not only budget issues, but also the processed food trends that are so rampant in our American culture, physical education, AND healthy eating. Maybe this kind of thinking is too advanced for our society and government...?
Education is, and should be considered, the most important asset to a city, state, country. All the other programs are important in their own ways as well, but where will we be if we don't invest in our children first? Where will they be in 18 years if they're not given the support and focus that's so critical in their development? Our country will be in even more trouble than it is currently. Now there's a really scary prospect!
In the grand scheme of things, my idea would probably only save a little money. But what if it was enough to hire just one teacher? I definitely think that would be success!
I am also aware that the existing lunches are heavily subsidized and probably don't cost that much in the scheme of things (many products are commodities such as fruit cocktail in heavy syrup that is practically given to the gov't for distribution). My idea is to save on ingredients, yes, but also to save on staff and labor costs and create a healthier meal for the kids.
ReplyDeleteThe menu you propose would be OK on occasion but would lack needed diversity to be considered "balanced" if it was served every day. Peanuts are an incomplete protein so if they become a person's major source of protein, the person would be undernourished. In addition, pairing this high calorie food with jam, another high calorie food, also loaded with sugar, is a bad idea because it biases the developing pallet to favor sweet.
ReplyDeleteSadly, many of our young people could be considered pre-diabetic due to lack of excercise and high calorie, high sugar diets (remember, fruits are needed and desirable but also count as sugars in the diet) so, losing the jam and keeping the fruits from the community orchards would be the way to go. A conscious effort needs to me made to cut sugar and calories without cutting nutrition.
One other factoid regarding excercise: active "work" if constantly recurring (like working in the garden) doesn't completely replace free excercise which is done just for the sake of excercise. Physical play is important too.
I do agree that diversity is very important in a balanced diet. One in four children in America are obese, and the high calorie meals that schools are serving aren't helping the matter. They are bombarded with sugar at both school breakfast AND lunch (chocoate milk, fruit loops, Trix, canned peaches or fruit cocktail in heavy syrup, etc), and the sodium levels are staggering. "Eggs" come as a pasteurized product in large cartons, ready to pour. What they have now is not healthy, even if it is "varied."
ReplyDeleteI do agree, also, that more refined sugar does make children crave more sweet flavors. Many of the kids eating school lunches are filled up with soda and other junk from the minute they walk in their door at home. It seems to me like the schools should be serving as healthy as possible fare to offset this, but they don't. They think that kids won't eat what is served if it's not what they're used to (they WILL if they're hungry!). They focus on high calorie (oftentimes thinking that it may or may not be the only meal a child receives in a day). Yes, pb&j seems unhealthy if it's made how a lot of people make it (Wonder bread, jam made w/HFCS, and high salt, high sugar pb). It CAN, and IS, healthy if made on whole wheat. Those community orchards and volunteers I mentioned could be put to use making the jam or apple butter for the kids. It doesn't take too long, and I for one would definitely volunteer my time for that. I should also mention that jams and jellies do not need to have the typical 6 cups of sugar to 4 cups of fruit like the pectin packages state, and they don't have to substitute artificial sweeteners to set well. I use Pomona's Pectin, and use the least amount of sugar possible for the recipe, usually one cup per BATCH! I have also made it using fruit juice concentrate instead of sugar; both yield a great texture and fabulous set. So it is possible. Fruit butters are just cooked longer to reduce them to a spreadable consistency, no pectin needed. We don't need to serve our children the bulk produced junk foods...there are healthy alternatives out there! That said, on the fruit sugar statement above, many school age kids don't have the option of fresh fruit at home, which is even more important why schools look at converting from the canned variety.
As for physical exercise, it is extremely important, of course, and PE is very valued every day at my son's school. There is talk of making it twice a day in fact, which I think is a bit extreme. They also have 3 recesses to run around outside and play. But even that activity level needs to have the nutrition behind it to succeed. (We also walk to school every day, as do many children in our neighborhood.)
Obviously my little idea is only the tip of the iceburg and was only a vent session for me. Revamping any large system's meal plan is a tremendous task and not one that can be summed up in a few paragraphs. It was simply a few thoughts thrown out there, especially after observing the budget shortfalls that are looming for the upcoming school year and seeing what it actually is that my son's friends are consuming. My point was that there has to be a better way to do things less expensively and still be better for children.
(Also, as a complete extremist health idea, institutions could buy bulk peanuts and grind their own, like in the machines at supermkts. Then there's no salt or sugar!! Or almonds, but those are pricier, of course.)