[Sca-cooks] School Food OOP

[Maggie MacDonald]

At 03:56 PM 1/22/03,Bronwynmgn at aol.com said something like:
>Nowadays, you get things like cheese sticks and dipping sauce called a meal.
>One of the school districts I work in had a lunch called "Strings and
>Sticks".  As I recall, it was two bread sticks, and two or three things of
>string cheese - not the good Armenian stuff, the cheapo processed Mozzarella
>stuff.  This was for middle school - 12 and 13 year olds.  I cannot imagine
>any of them felt like they'd had anything but a snack.  Fortunately, it is
>not appearing on the menu this year.
>
>Brangwayna

Ah yes, the basis for my most famous rant through the school district's
nutrition department.  My son came home from school one day, back when he
would still eat school food (these days that is the easiest way to drive
him to tears, threaten school food), just raving about the most WONDERFUL
lunch he had that day. It seems that for lunch he had chocolate milk,
pre-sweetened faux fruit yogurt, and a white bread roll. Period. (There is
a salad bar offered, but they aren't terribly assertive about it).  I got a
copy of the menu sheet, and sure enough THAT was what was considered to be
a complete meal.  I tried to contact the school cafeteria, and basically
got shrugged off. I then proceeded to contact the school distruct nutrition
department. They tried to do the 'poor silly little you' treatment. BZZZZT.
They then tried to reassure me that the federal government has approved
this menu as being nutritionally sound. I then quoted to them the sugar
content of that meal (in a very grouchy and bristly tone). So they then
passed the buck. It seems all the menus for the school district that year
were being provided by the Hyatt Hotel Catering department, who were
certified experts in nutrionally sound expert meal planning, really they
were. BZZZZT.

 From then on out the poor kid has had to bring (mostly) nutritionally
sound and lower fat (usually) lunches from home. I have become a victim of
my own success, the kid refuses to eat school food.  This raises a quandary
when I am feeling under the weather, because nobody else is capable of
packing lunches. But, I do get those ego strokes of the kid telling me
constantly about how the other kids envy him his lunches.

(white bread, yogurt and chocolate milk indeed, HMMMPH).

Regards,
Maggie