A sad state: Could Tiny Rhode Island Become a School Lunch Model?

Could Tiny Rhode Island Become a School Lunch Model?

I found this blog as I was searching for opinions / solutions to our school lunch issue. Needless to say I found it nothing less than shocking. So, the pictures I posted yesterday reflect the new, exciting nutrition standards that Rhode Island put in place in 2009? And, if that's the case, how bad was the food before?

I think I will contact the person who wrote this blog and try and find out some more information about how to find out if this was actually implemented. I wonder how things went so wrong.

THIS is precisely why we so desperately need a Food Revolution

My son's third grade class is having a poetry tea this Friday. Parents were to sign up to bring some sort of snack or drink. It's my boy's birthday that day, so I volunteered to bring cupcakes. I got back a letter from the class mom saying that cupcakes would not pass the state's nutritional guidelines. Once I thought about that, I was completely on board. Cupcakes are fun for a birthday, but more appropriate as an after dinner treat with our family. I decided to make mini pizzas. And by make, I meant make the dough, make a sauce, put on real cheese etc. I was told as long as the portions were small it should be OK.

Another option given was to bring veggies and dip. But, it was emphasized it had to be low fat dip. The more I research, the less I am a fan of many low fat things. They put so much more sugar in low fat options to try and make it taste good (check out your yogurt sometime!). I have found a good low fat yogurt ranch dressing that I use at home though, so I will bring that. It didn't seem to be worth the trouble to home make something that would be rejected at the door.

Not too long after this, the class mother had to send out a mass email to the parents saying there were issues with the menu choices we had made. Someone had volunteered to make banana bread. This could not guarantee the serving size, so mini muffins was suggested (which is acceptable), or it was recommended they just pick up some from the store. Having read many of the ingredients in store bought food, I have a really hard time believing that store bought banana bread with all it's preservatives could possibly be a healthier choice -serving size or not!

Chai tea and hot chocolate had been another offer by a parent. This was not going to work either. It was suggested they either stick with 100% fruit juice (fine), or one of the approved dairy products. Since there's as much sugar in a flavored milk as there is in a soda, I fail to see how one that was pre-made and store bought could be a healthier choice? I make hot cocoa for my daughter all the time. With REAL cocoa and just a pinch of sugar. She loves it.

Quiche was also going to be an issue. It should pass the guidelines as long as it was cut into small slices. Kids are only allowed 1.5 oz of cheese and 1 hard boiled egg per serving.

I found this very frustrating. I felt like there was much more concern with the size of the servings than with the quality of the food. I limit sugar, but my kids have pretty much free range on healthy food when they are hungry - with a big emphasis on fruits and vegetables. I try and keep the fruit bowl full on the counter, and keep a plate of fresh veggies out as well so they can grab something quickly if they are hungry.

Today I went to my son's school to have lunch with him and something inside me went SNAP when I saw what the kids were eating.

This I *believe* is 2 pancakes, an "egg", some sort of hash brown? (I looked and looked at the hash brown thing-y and could never make heads or tails of it - scary) and some sort of syrup. Not maple syrup I can be pretty darn sure. At least this kid chose white milk

This is pizza, again that weird hash brown thing-y, some sort of dipping sauce (that I am pretty sure is just ketchup), yogurt and chocolate milk - that says itself that it is udderly hilarious. If it wasn't so sad, it would be udderly hilarious that they serve this to our children.

After all the guidelines we had to follow to have out tea - this is what our kids are eating in school? Seriously???? I find it sickening!

I wandered over to the "kitchen" in the cafeteria, and it was pretty much like a scene from early days of Jamie Oliver's show. There were big trays of reheated food - I can only assume it came frozen. Aside from the unrecognizable hash brown thing-y I also found the "egg" weird. How hard is it to make an egg? But, this looked like no egg I have ever made. And, I know what eggs look like. I drive to a farm and get them the day they are picked out of the chicken coup. You know, at the same time I pick up my milk the day it was milked out of the cow... Amazingly, it's food that looks like food, and I can trace it to it's source.

I wish I had taken a picture of the cafeteria serving it's "food", but by the time I got there, most of the food had been sold. Which means our children ate this "food" and then were expected to go back to their classrooms and think. How can their brains and bodies grow properly with this as their nutrition?

When I was substitute teaching I started noticing the kids who had behavior issues in the morning. It didn't take me too long to notice the pattern. These same kids would pull out their lunch - a bag of chips and a coke - and chow down. No wonder they had behavior issues! How can you think with that as fuel? There was a HUGE corelation between what the kids ate and how they behaved.

Let's face it people, it's time we do something about this. I am writing to the school to make a complaint and then the superintendent after that. This MUST change!

Friendly's - not so Friendly in my opinion

I am sitting having my morning coffee, watching the news. There was just a piece on the obesity crisis in America and how there need to be stricter guidelines to fight this crisis. Actually, as I write this they are doing another piece on the preservatives in our store bought food and how deadly it is for our bodies. Once again they are informing watchers how unhealthy high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats are for us. It is so difficult to buy anything here that does not have one of those two ingredients. Even ketchup and cranberry sauce in regular stores contain these ingredients. Information to me that is obvious, but when I read the ingredients in many things in the store, it is very scary what is being sold out there. Thank goodness I have Whole Foods to shop at.
The other day I was watching TV and actually sat and watched a series of commercials (generally I try and watch recorded shows so I don't have to waste even more time on these advertisements). On came a commercial for a local restaurant - Friendly's. I have never eaten there, but they are a burger joint kind of place - salads and other things too. Here is a picture of their newest burger they are advertising:



It's called the Ultimate Cheeseburger Melt, and ultimate it is. Yes, you are looking at the picture properly. There are TWO grilled cheese sandwiches, with a big hamburger stuck in the middle of it.
I had to look up the nutritional information for this baby.
Total Calories 1500
Fat Calories 870
Total Fat (g) 97
Saturated Fat (g) 38
Cholesterol (mg) 180
Sodium (mg) 2090
Total Carbohydrates(g) 101
Dietary Fiber (g) 9
Sugar (g) 4
Protein (g) 54

Considering I need between 1800 - 2000 calories a day - how can this EVER be a good choice? I mean, apart from the fact that it looks vile, and I find it an overwhelming amount of food! But, I can only assume that because it is on the menu that people are ordering it.
And then we wonder why there is an obesity crisis? Seriously?
Not that I can really afford to eat out anyway (but the cost of eating out is a discussion for another day), but this makes me never want to eat out again! I mean, not only is it obscenely high in calories, but it does not even look like it could be tasty.
Blech!

I am still really proud that my son has banned himself from school food. All it took was one time watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and it changed the way he looked at food. Way to go Jacob (my "little" baby who will be turning 9 on Friday...)

Biscotti

A month or so ago I bought a wonderful cookbook while visiting Boston. It's called The North End Italian Cookbook and so far every recipe I have made has been quite the success.

Although I try and deny it, I have a nasty sweet tooth. I have managed to curb it a bit, and have trained myself (mostly) to portion control. But, every day around 1:00 pm I have the need for a cup of tea and something sweet. I was buying organic chocolate bars and portioning off little pieces. But, I really am trying to make more of my own food. So, when I came across the recipe for Chocolate Walnut Biscotti, I knew I had to give this a try.

Before my sister returned home we spent an afternoon making Biscotti. We made a batch of ginger Biscotti, and a batch of cinnamon toast Biscotti. It took us a bit to figure out how to properly cut the Biscotti for the final trip to the oven, and decided we needed to try and make it thinner. The pieces that I made for the Chocolate Walnut Biscotti were about perfect. I made the loaves narrower and longer so the pieces ended up being smaller. See, I can all myself a piece - but if you give me a bigger piece I'll eat that!

We took the Biscotti over to a friend's house for dinner that night (along with some Ricotta Cookies I made from the same recipe book). They were delicious - but as with all Biscotti, they got better as they aged. It's been a week and they're delightful. Such a great, easy treat. I am going to expand my repertoire and try some different flavors. It has greatly enhanced my 1:00 pm tea drinking ritual.