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Posted on 10/10/2011 1:02:37 PM PDT by Nachum
As a mother, the nutritional needs of her own son would always have been on her mind.
But for one woman, teaching in a Chicago elementary school brought home just how important meals were for growing children, and how badly they were being let down.
Sarah Wu, 34, a speech pathologist working in public schools in the city, began a blog in January 2010 in which she described the school lunch every day for a year.
She secretly photographed each meal, and then described the taste and texture of each dish for her site, Fed Up With Lunch.
In it, she reveals how a couple of bites of one peanut butter and jelly sandwich made her sick, describes eating 'mystery' meat patties and unknown reheated vegetables at her school.
Mrs Wu began her project after she bought a school lunch when she ran out of time to pack her own.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Fixed. Get government out of schools.
I grew up on Long Island in the ‘sixties. I recall that in elementary school our lunches were actually very good. I remember them well particularly Friday’s lunch. On that day, fish was always served as a nod to the Roman Catholic population who did not eat meat on fridays. We had broiled filet of flounder with parsleyed potatoes and tartar sauce. I loved it. The fish was flaky and buttery and broiled!!! Other days we had American heroes which were balogna and cheese with lettuce on a hero roll. There was always carrot sticks, apple sauce, and often a big home made peanut butter cookie. We drank milk. The entire lunch cost 30 cents. The school had a cafeteria where the food was cooked. I also remember we had a version of “pizza” which I still enjoy today. You take an Italian bread portion sliced in half. On top of that you put homemade meat sauce and on top of that you shred cheddar cheese. You broil the sandwich until the cheese melts. It was really good and they served it with a salad. Now that was healthy. Why can’t they make things like that? I know it is a different world now, but if lunches are looking like the author experienced, then all kids should brown bag it. Have nutrition classes for parents and give out something free. They will come. Particularly if you offer some kind of reward at the end of the year. Schools are just not creative anymore. Too interested in what they are getting paid and what they will make in retirement.
I grew up on Long Island in the ‘sixties. I recall that in elementary school our lunches were actually very good. I remember them well particularly Friday’s lunch. On that day, fish was always served as a nod to the Roman Catholic population who did not eat meat on fridays. We had broiled filet of flounder with parsleyed potatoes and tartar sauce. I loved it. The fish was flaky and buttery and broiled!!! Other days we had American heroes which were balogna and cheese with lettuce on a hero roll. There was always carrot sticks, apple sauce, and often a big home made peanut butter cookie. We drank milk. The entire lunch cost 30 cents. The school had a cafeteria where the food was cooked. I also remember we had a version of “pizza” which I still enjoy today. You take an Italian bread portion sliced in half. On top of that you put homemade meat sauce and on top of that you shred cheddar cheese. You broil the sandwich until the cheese melts. It was really good and they served it with a salad. Now that was healthy. Why can’t they make things like that? I know it is a different world now, but if lunches are looking like the author experienced, then all kids should brown bag it. Have nutrition classes for parents and give out something free. They will come. Particularly if you offer some kind of reward at the end of the year. Schools are just not creative anymore. Too interested in what they are getting paid and what they will make in retirement.
I was just talking to my 11 yr old granddaughter about this the other day.
Same for me, when I was in school everything was prepared and cooked by a kitchen staff. We had great food. The desserts were to die for.
At my granddaughters school everything is prepackaged and frozen. All the staff does is heat it up and serve it.
My granddaughter refuses to eat hot lunch and takes her own everyday.
In the Catholic high school that I graduated from back in '62, the cafeteria always served fish sticks on Friday. So, we'd all head down the hill to the local greasy fish & chip place.
There, we were waited on by the proprietor, "Bud", a retired Navy man (looked Frank DiFazio from "Laverne and Shirley", and always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Bud also swore like the sailor that he was, although he tried to curb the real bad words in front of us good Catholic kids - LOL.
He served up the fish & chips in a brown paper sack, soaked with grease. Delicious, although we sometimes had to brush off the cigarette ashes!
***Wasn’t there a school (or was it a state?) that banned children from bringing their own food to eat ****
They have just started that at our local school in Arkansas.
“I grew up on Long Island in the ‘sixties.”
Ditto.
“I recall that in elementary school our lunches were actually very good.”
Ditto
I grew up on Long Island in the ‘sixties. I recall that in elementary school our lunches were actually very good. I remember them well particularly Friday’s lunch. On that day, fish was always served as a nod to the Roman Catholic population who did not eat meat on fridays. We had broiled filet of flounder with parsleyed potatoes and tartar sauce. I loved it. The fish was flaky and buttery and broiled!!! Other days we had American heroes which were balogna and cheese with lettuce on a hero roll. There was always carrot sticks, apple sauce, and often a big home made peanut butter cookie. We drank milk. The entire lunch cost 30 cents. The school had a cafeteria where the food was cooked. I also remember we had a version of “pizza” which I still enjoy today. You take an Italian bread portion sliced in half. On top of that you put homemade meat sauce and on top of that you shred cheddar cheese. You broil the sandwich until the cheese melts. It was really good and they served it with a salad. Now that was healthy. Why can’t they make things like that? I know it is a different world now, but if lunches are looking like the author experienced, then all kids should brown bag it. Have nutrition classes for parents and give out something free. They will come. Particularly if you offer some kind of reward at the end of the year. Schools are just not creative anymore. Too interested in what they are getting paid and what they will make in retirement.
They say it's for the kids, but it's really because their contract with the food provider mandates a monopoly.
That is where I learned the cooks were people too and also had kids in the school system and they absolutely spoiled us. We would get chocolate cake from their special reserve and all we could eat of the daily menu stuff. We even got ice cream. I don't know when that was on the regular menu.
My husband and I were talking about this the other day. When he went to school they had someone there actually making homemade meals from scratch that tasted great. When I went to school my mom always made our lunches. The food there smelled and looked gross. Nothing like what my husband described. That’s what one decade and two different states will do though ;)
I went to that site and saw the pics, they look absolutely disgusting. There is no way any of us would eat anything that looked that bad. I guess that site allows nudity too because I just saw naked butt by those pb&j ‘sandwiches’.
Everyone at our school was pretty damn poor so working in the kitchen was a treat. We had a long list that everyone signed up on and got to work in there for a week. We ate anything we wanted and got our lunch for free. As the kids would say now.....it was the bomb!
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