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
Ron Paul is looking better and better…..cut the government drastically. Right now.
Sent my kid to preschool last week with a thick, plain slice of homemade bread and a bunch of strawberries for lunch last week. Go ahead, arrest me now.
Nutrition is a secondary issue here. It is being used to demonstrate to parents that the state owns their children.
This is CrAzY!!! My son is in preschool but has been in special ed (which is it’s own class). They are transitioning him to a regular ed class to see how he will do and after his first day I was informed that he couldn’t have the type of lunch I packed him which was a ham and cheese sandwich, pringles, a cheese stick, carrots a brownie and a carpi sun…. He is VERY specific about his lunch.. I just stared at them.. couldn’t believe it!! They said they didn’t care but if they were to have someone come in they could get into trouble… What will they contol next?!?!
I read an article about this last night. The school took issue with the fact the child’s lunch didn’t have a vegetable, but when given a school cafeteria lunch, she ate only the nuggets on the tray. The mother said she preferred to give her child veggies at home where she could make sure she eats them – and I do the same thing. I seve vegetables as a snack with hummus and also at dinner, but usually not packed in a school lunch.
Also, the mother said she was concerned that she was going to be charged for the lunch (without her consent).
My son has multiple food allergies, so he HAS to take his own lunch. I can’t imagine what would happen if some official who didn’t know him came in and ordered him to eat a cafeteria meal! Any reactions would be on their heads.
She was charged for the lunch. I read the original story and it said in the note that she owed the school $1.25 for the lunch she didn’t want her child to have in the first place.
Until they clamp down on homeschooling…
Kellogg’s bids billions to buy Proctor and Gamble’s Pringles. Need I say more about who’s controlling the process.
What if the child’s mother was packing her daughter’s lunch because the child had food allergies–you KNOW the chicken nuggets contained soy in some form (one of the most common allergens), as well as chemical preservatives, etc…. That state employee was way out of line and totally violated that family’s rights and could have put the child’s safety at risk had there been an allergy. Totally outrageous! I hope the parents don’t quietly sit this one out!
Awful. I’ve tried to encourage healthier choices in our daughter’s school but the fact remains that they work with a very limited budget, and they lack knowledge about nutrition and cooking. PLus, so many kids are so picky that their parents and lunch ladies are afraid they won’t eat anything. It’s a bad situation.
Wow, this is ridiculous!!