This just in from the Food Police Chronicles ….
A state employee required a preschooler at West Hoke Elementary in Raeford, North Carolina on January 30, 2012 to eat chicken nuggets during lunch because her lunch brought from home was not nutritious enough.
The child’s lunch contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, potato chips, and apple juice.
The state agent decided that the girl’s lunch did not meet USDA guidelines and required that the child be given a “healthier” alternative. Â Furthermore, the state agent apparently inspected all the children’s lunches that day in the four year old classroom. Â No word if other children were asked to eat chicken nuggets as well.
USDA guidelines mandate that all children’s lunches contain one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables even if the lunch comes from home. Â The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires child care providers to supplement children’s lunches with whatever compulsory items are missing.
The mother of the child who ate the three chicken nuggets, who prefers anonymity fearing retaliation, said she received a note from the school warning her that her child’s lunch was not nutritious enough and that noncompliance in the future could result in fees from the school cafeteria.
Since when are industrially processed chicken nuggets (aka “pink goo”) fried in genetically modified, rancid vegetable oils and nuked in a microwave healthier than a turkey and cheese sandwich and a banana brought from home?
School cafeterias don’t even qualify as real kitchens in most cases as cafeteria workers only have access to giant microwaves that quickly heat up the overly processed, factory fat laden, genetically modifed, agricultural dumping ground food they serve.
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, says that bureaucratic rules require that schools buy food only from the cheapest bidder.
The sad truth is that only the cheapest, most nutritionless, most highly processed garbage food makes the cut for the school lunch program.
Many parents are choosing to pack their children’s lunches until better food is served at school, but apparently these efforts are being thwarted by the Food Police who are determining that homepacked meals are not up to snuff.
This story is yet another outrageous overstep by an overly aggressive, nanny style government increasingly insistent on raising our children according to its own standards while ignoring our own.
Only a lawsuit is going to stop this sort of thing from progressing and getting worse in the future. Hopefully, this mother can gather her courage and file a legal complaint immediately to force these overzealous government workers back in their bureaucratic box.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
LMFAO . After reading this i have a few things to say.
#! i took all three of my kids out of Brick and mortar schools.
They graduated and are all either in college or have finished graduating from College.
#2 NO one has a right any where any time to tell you what you can and can not feed your Children unless it is unsafe or causing or your child is allergic to said food.
#3 If this is the way it is going then It seems come a few years from now the Government will be raising our Children for us to match their UN project. Get smart mother’s the longer we all sit back keep our mouths shut thinking someone else is gonna do it the longer we as parents will be walked over. My Children all took Exams when they went to college they were at the top of their classes. Seems to me being home school has more then a better advantage. Oh and how many US Presidents went to Private or Homeschooling classes????
If that had been my child YES i know it doesn’t do much for the school but i would have sued the hell out of that school for infringing on my rights A. as a Mother to make the right choice for my child @2 for forcing my child to eat something not fit for a dog . Yahoo news and FDA Evan brought it up Chicken MN are not healthy for children . So what in hell is the schools serving it for ????? < Make as much Public commotion as possible about this .
To the above commenter on if they feel it is right,
Ok you rent a Luxury car for the weekend of your Wedding . The government steps in and says here you drive a economy ugly piece of crap for the weekend instead. Who has the right ?You or the Government for making that choice for you .
I was on board with the outrage until I read the ridiculous claim about high fat nuggets being fried and that cafeteria workers just microwave prepared foods. I am a manager of the school nutrition program of an elementary school in Columbia County, Georgia. In Columbia Co. we don’t fry anthing except fries and our nuggets are white meat and reduced fat. We make most of our meals from scratch including the meat sauce for pasta, mac and cheese, quesadillas, taco meat, chili, baked chicken, sloppy joe, chicken and rice casserole, rolls, cookies, and many other items. We also prepared fresh salads and use fresh fruit almost daily. I’m against policing what parents want their children to eat for lunch. BUT – I have been in the trenches and have often seen children come to school with a pack of crackers and a juice box. That is suppose to be a child’s meal because a parent is too lazy to pack a lunch, won’t pay off their child’s charges, doesn’t want to pay for school lunch, or refuses to fill out a free and reduced application because of their own selfish pride. I have a serious problem with posts like this because you are charging all school lunch programs with the crimes listed in this post. We do not police school meals. I HAVE on occasion offered to GIVE a child a meal because the meal brought from home was so ridiculous or it wasn’t enough food to satisfy the child’s hunger. I’ve also paid for snacks out of my own pocket because I’ve seen children who are hungry and aren’t being fed properly. There are probably many programs out there that do not offer nutritious meals, but we are definitely not one of them and I think more research should go into a blog before broad generalizations are made about an entire program. I am so thankful for the program because without many children would go hungry. For many children, the meal they receive at school is the ONLY balanced meal they receive all day. I’m proud to work for school nutrition and I take my job very seriously. I attend training classes and conferences throughout the year in order to stay up-to-date on the newest nutrition trends and food safety.
An interview on CNN had confirmed that it was a FEDERAL AGENT who was at the school, inspecting lunches. In fact, the FEDERAL inspector gave the school a failing grade, because too many home lunches did not meet the Federal mandate. And, despite the publicity, the state continues to monitor the same childs lunches, and have given her an unwanted carton of milk every day since.
This is an alarming trend. By reading one of the poster’s blog, it sounds like it’s not an isolated incident. Just reminiscing, I remember that in elementary school, the lunches served were like an actual meal. Still, my mom packed most of our lunches. By the time we were in high school, it was mostly hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and fries. There was a lot of junk like candy and packaged pastry sold at one school I attended. Some schools now have vending machines for kids to go to at snack time. It’s no wonder that now it’s almost all frozen, canned, microwaved, processed foods being offered. And it’s not surprising that the schools have played an increasing role in the government control that pervades all aspects of our lives.
On Friday, an AP Report said the teacher was to blame for the student not having a well balanced meal. They were SCARED to put the blame where it should be, the government idiot lunch police.
Oh my, this infuriates me. If I was that mom, I would use whatever resources I had available to fight the school and state/fed policies. It’s not the food (though…microwaved nuggets? Gross.), it’s the principle. I would definitely go down swinging. My son is 2.5, and I’m leaning more towards home-schooling every day. If only I didn’t need my pesky job. =)
This post is great for several reasons: It points out how ignorant people are concerning nutrition and how powerful our police state is becoming. I don’t see a link to an article here but, I believe that this type of thing goes on in our public schools. They are paid for out of tax dollars and therefore are under the control of the government.
They make children drink MilK? Homogenized, pasteurized Cow’s milk is one of the worst things to make our children drink and is probably the first food that most people are allergic to. I know I am allergic to it and not just cows milk but, all milk. I stayed sick for the first thirty five years of my life because everybody, including mom, believed it was good for you. The doctors only comment about my sickness was that I had chronic bronchitis. Bad food was probably the cause of my tonsillitis and tonsillectomy and also the reason for my appendectomy as a teenager. You won’t get sick from eating good healthy nutritious food.
As far as the other garbage is concerned: that’s what it is and probably it’s only worth is as compost. Maybe even the bugs wouldn’t eat it?
Chris, they have done experiments where rats, mice, and bugs have refused to eat the same kind of crap factory foods that they serve in public schools.
I respectfully disagree that the garbage food has worth as compost. Even plants could not get nutrition from that crap.
I’m a parent who has homeschooled, and I also was a kindergarten teacher. Yes, there were times when we spoke to parents to request that they refrain from packing sugary items (like cupcakes) and try to feed their kids something more wholesome. It wasn’t just because we cared about the kids, but also because we could observe the link between the consumption of the sugar and the ensuing behavior problems. It also had to do with classroom “control!” It is seriously very difficult to respect the rights of the children who are able to focus and generally behave, while one or two kids is consistently out of control. And yes, we could see that it had to do with the food that was consumed.
The parents got upset with us for making these requests. I could understand their viewpoint. In our case, it was not state mandated. It was simply the observations of the teachers, and trying to create an environment that would be good for everyone (limit behavior issues). As well as our general sense that all that sugar can’t be good for developing brains and bodies. But parents do have the right to feed their kids as they wish.
I send whole food lunches to school EVERY day. Always at least a tossed green salad or veggie including a main dish. Today I found a note that I owe $ (50 cents a day) for fruit my son having at school during lunch. He’s on a special diet you can read about at the web address below .. extra fruit is a no-no as it gives him loose bowels. I’m putting up a stink today with the principal.
http://this-newhouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/beware-of-food-police.html
I’m also checking to see if they are making him drink the disgusting school milk.
I’m so sorry this happened to you and your son! until yesterday, I was unaware that this type of stuff is happening around the country. do you suppose it is happening all of a sudden, in multiple places? I have kids in public school, but they are in high school, and so no one is checking anyone’s lunches there. Is there something behind it, some Federal initiative or something? This is pretty scary stuff. I think we need to find out if they are isolated incidents or part of a pervasive pattern. And if it’s a pervasive pattern, then I would want to know why I (as a citizen) was not informed about it. Usually these things happen and are imposed without a lot of announcements or fanfare. We find out about them after they are implemented. I hope it is not such a sinister thing and is actually coincidence. But I’m worried.