Dave, at The Crisper Blog, thinks french fries should remain legal.
Update: I see here that there is talk of banning french fries in schools. Do you think we could get them to ban the fruit pies and candy the schools manipulate our kids into selling every year to raise funds? I sure hope so, because I am tired of my kid looking pathetic and sad that she did not win a party in class because of her poor ability to sell this artery clogging fare endorsed by her principal. Why is it okay to be selling expensive fattening pies "for the good of the school" when it is not okay to provide cheap fattening fries "for the good of the children?" Who do the schools think are buying these fattening pies and candy? Uhhh...could it be the same parents who will serve it to the same kids who are not supposed to be eating this type of food at school? What kind of hypocritical message does this send to kids?
Update: I see here that there is talk of banning french fries in schools. Do you think we could get them to ban the fruit pies and candy the schools manipulate our kids into selling every year to raise funds? I sure hope so, because I am tired of my kid looking pathetic and sad that she did not win a party in class because of her poor ability to sell this artery clogging fare endorsed by her principal. Why is it okay to be selling expensive fattening pies "for the good of the school" when it is not okay to provide cheap fattening fries "for the good of the children?" Who do the schools think are buying these fattening pies and candy? Uhhh...could it be the same parents who will serve it to the same kids who are not supposed to be eating this type of food at school? What kind of hypocritical message does this send to kids?
posted by Helen at 7:12 AM
19 Comments:
The only time it becomes the job of the government to regulate diet is when we have nationalized healthcare.
Then, every french fry counts.
In a pure capitalist system, more french fries eaten are good for everybody. The potato grower;the oil producer; the fry(vat?) manufacturer; the exercise machine maker; the doctor.
Of course children make poor choices, and need parental supervision. If other kids are fat and lazy, because their parents don't make them exercise and study, that's just to benefit of my child.
Besides.... banning french fries only makes them more desirable. It won't be long before some enterprising 16-year-old, is selling MacFries out of his trunk at a 200% mark-up.
The schools say we cannot rely on abstinence when it somes to sex, but you CAN force the kiddos to abstain from french fries.
I'd be thrilled if the school would stop sponsoring sales of any kind. I'm tired of being hit up for ridiculously expensive wrapping paper, plants, pizzas, pies, and whatever else anyone can think of charing 50% more for since it's for "the children."
My son's choir asked for fundraising suggestions. I suggested that they publicize the amount of profit that they make from all this trash and invite people to make a pure contribution of that amount only. I was completely ignored.
HA! Selling fries out of the trunk at a big profit, black-market style!
Big laugh out of that one.
Dave
I was in band throughout junior-high and high school (more than 30 years ago). We had a band director who had us out raising money selling one thing or another (fruitcakes, iron-on transfers, candy, light bulbs, even, at once point, tickets to a rock concert featuring The Raspberries - yes, it was THAT long ago) at least once a month, sometimes more.
Parents along people in the neighborhoods around the school didn't complain to the principal about it. . .they went directly to the Board of Education. A new rule was implemented that stated an organization in the public school system was limited to four major fundraisers per year and that they had to be approved by the school principal. "Major" was defined by purpose of the activity and the dollar amount that was needed.
Needless to say, lots of school organizations were angry with us. But I'm sure the students were a little relieved at not having to spend shoe leather going around the neighborhood trying to sell light bulbs and fruitcakes.
I've bought wrapping paper as part of a couple of fundraisers for my niece's Catholic elementary school, and if it were up to me, I'd get Catholic schools out of the fundraising business. whether it's for wrapping paper or chocolate bars. Half the money goes to the wrapping paper company (or Nestle, or whoever the vendor is). I want all of my money to go to the school.
I never saw the point of buying candy for school fundraisers fiscally, considering that the chocolate bars the kids have to sell for a dollar apiece cost half the price at the grocery store or Wal-Mart.
There was a typo in the first paragraph of my comment ("whether it's for wrapping paper or chocolate bars"). I'll be a more thorough proofreader going forward!
My husband and I recently decided that at the beginning of next school year, we are going to ask the band director how much the band parents' association contributes per child to the band program annually and give him (not the association, the school) a check for that amount and forget it. The fundraiser was more hassle than it was worth this year...When she gets to high school I will probably allow her to participate in the various car washes the band has throughout the year but write a check rather than try to sell fruit and cheese on her behalf. But, at least the fruit is healthy...
The only school fundraiser I've ever really not hated participating in is one where the PTA got an office supply store to sell them the whole supply list for each grade at a discount and then parents buy each child's bag of supplies for a relatively modest mark up that's about $5 more than I could have run all over town buying at different sales.
At my children's private school, they have taken out all sugar, all soft drinks, anything remotely fattening...you get the picture. They say it tastes so bad no one will eat lunch. On a typical day they will eat ice cream and crackers.
But...they know....they know what is best for out children.
g
All the same, I'm grateful the schools I went to eons ago eschewed all this crap, even though the things they did offer seemed a little odd at the time. Between them and my mother's home cooking, I at least developed a taste for foods other than the usual burger-hot dog-pizza-fried chicken rut kids get into if left to themselves.
When I was in high school, the cafeteria offered all the usual fare--pizza, hotdogs etc. but they added a salad bar. All the students, including me, loved it. They didn't take away anything--just added a healthier choice.
Helen asks, "Why is it okay to be selling expensive fattening pies 'for the good of the school' when it is not okay to provide cheap fattening fries "for the good of the children?"
The sales and the menu have nothing to do with each other. One type of good is sold to adults, the other is sold to kids. Schools have no obligation to mimic the local fast food menu. It's interesting that people object to improving the nutritional content of their kids school lunches.
Things must have changed a lot in the twenty years since I graduated from high school. Our frnch Fries, chicken strips, wings and most other things were BROILED. That would be what you call a low fat cooking method, folks. The school did not own a fryer.
We had no soda available, the only machine was in the teachers lounge, the "male" one, which was also the one where they could smoke - so some few female teachers hung out in there too.
The schools should provide normal food which taste good and is healthy. Most people don't have fryers in their homes, is it unreasonable to present good food that isn't fryed?
As to fund raisers, I hated selling the crap and rarely made an effort to do so. I wish I could have done the car wash thing or something similar.
I think gruel should be required through grade 10. Then you can lighten up on the kids and give them some black bread as well, as a treat.
Nutrition aside, as a child and now as a parent I find it strange and borderline inappropriate that the school so readily whores the kids out with these frequent sales drives. I guess it's never too early to teach the kiddies that their main function in life is to Sell Sell Sell. Maybe I'm scarred that as a second grader during my first try selling chocolate for cub scouts I got a door slammed in my face (literally - thanks Mr. Bozak! Maybe that kind of behavior is why your wife left.). I came home crying to my parents and said, darn it, I don't want to sell stuff. Thankfully my parents were sympathetic, so my Dad just sold stuff for me at his job the rest of my childhood, no questions asked. Did this "spoil" me? Certainly not in terms of my school performance or behavior, but perhaps it did send a message that turned me into the anti-consumerist nutjob I am today...
When I was in grad school just a few years ago, the students complained about the pop machines and asked for juice alternatives. Sure enough, they got a new machine. It had one juice and 6 "juice flavored" drinks that had fructose as the primary ingredient. I still laugh about that. And the pure orange juice that they sold tasted really bad.
Sugar sells and makes a good profit so there will always be market forces pushing it. I think it would be good if there was only ONE fried food choice at school and the food was varied and tasted good. I in no way trust the public school system to be able to implement anything like that.
Now the lady who cooks for our Wednesday night church is amazing! She does not fry a thing and uses typical ingredients but her salads are works of art and the main dishes are tasty and balanced. She is from the private sector as she runs a catering firm in real life.
Trey
French fries should be banned from schools.
Freedom fries, on the other hand...
I'm 67 years old and my memories of school cafeteria lunches are that they were bland and tasteless, even the milk. The trays were partitioned and we got dollops of whatever was on the menu, no choices. Still, by noon we were ready for food and ate what we wanted from the trays. Lots of food went into the garbage, though.
None of that bothered me because my mom was such a good cook. My dad kept a small farm just to provide good food for the table -- vegetables for canning, pigs and calves and chickens for meat and a milk cow which gave us fresh milk and butter. My brother and I were even allowed to help my dad with farm chores, and I do mean allowed! We loved it.
My parents had lived through the world flu epidemic, The Depression and the anxieties and shortages of WWII, so their focus was on their children's health, our education, religion and creating a pleasant, anxiety-free life for us. They seemed to feel privileged and entitled to be able to work toward these goals.
This is long-winded but my point is that what kids get at school at lunchtime really is not as important as the food provided at home. I think that goes for everything else as well. My parents did very little 'preaching'...they lived their values in front of us .
As for the school sales, frankly I consider them as training for street begging. The kids won't be so bothered by peer pressure if the parents aren't.
Thank you for allowing me to sound off!
I enjoyed school lunches. They seemed to taste better when I was in Elementary though. In Junior High and High School there were several menus to choose from, but most of the time I just had the main, ever-changing meal. In Junior high there was a line that had croissant sandwiches with fresh meat and cheese that I would get occasionally.
Post a Comment
<< Home