Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comBy better positioning foods — and even renaming them — the USDA revamps how kids approach school lunches
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I don't get it. Instead of putting the ice cream in freezers without glass, so kids aren't tempted by it, why not just NOT SELL ICE CREAM??
The schools didn't offer ice cream when I was growing up.
Look at the money that could save; don't have to buy a freezer or pay electricity on it.... Wow.... When our children get in school, I'm not going to depend on them for much more than the education they're(schools) suppose to provide. If parents stay on their children to learn and help them when they need it and encourage healthy eating habits at home then the child will take that with them wherever they go in life. I remember school lunches being three choices, take it or leave it or bring your own.
Because some people will bitch and moan about "health nazis" forcing kids to eat healthy rather than what they want. Same as how people bitch and moan about when McDonalds is cracked down on for being unhealthy.
It's a decent enough compromise I suppose, though given enough time, I'm sure you'll see comments below exclaiming how unpatriotic this is, how the government is ruining and indoctrinating our schools, etc..
Stop giving choices. Its a school lunch. Either let them pick what they want without messing with their heads, or take choices away.
And McDonalds should not be healthy. Its junk fast food. If I eat there, thats what I want.
I rest my case.
And yeah, I agree, McDonalds is never going to be "healthy", but I'd be happy if a happy meal didn't have so much fat and salt in it that even mold doesn't grow on it.
Because Kathy they are trying to train the chilren to eat better not to take choices away. READ the article. Children can get icecream anywhere and the idea is to have them make better choices. They are only in school for a portion of the day so it one can change their minds then they will make better choices outside of school.
READ THE ARTICE NEXT TIME INSTEAD OF JUST SHOOTING YOUR MOUTH OFF! I CANT STAND UNEDUCATED PEOPLE MAKING COMMENTS. I HOPE YOU DONT VOTE.
The solution is easy - end public schools. And Chris-2504054, the idea they suggest in the article is to psychologically trick the children into doing what the nanny federal government wants them to do. It's none of their business. Instead of applying their tyrannical grip on our every health choice, they need to remove themselves out of the health care business entirely. Government is the reason health care is outrageously expensive to begin with.
We need to stop virtually breeding stupid people and let them die in their ignorance. Then socialism would atrophy naturally, and the country might become free again.
DARWIN FOR PRESIDENT!!!
It seems the idiots who are trying to hide the chocolate milk and Ice Cream are food idiots! Ice Cream IS healthy. It has lots of calcium for growing bones, potassium and if it has fruit in it, vitamin C, and no sodium. Chocolate milk has just as many vitamins as white milk and it tastes better. I dare any of the idiots who think these two items are unhealthy to actually pick up the packages and read them. Pizza is very healthy, bread, meat, vegetable, cheese all in 1 meal.
Pick up some fruit rollups, granola bars, etc. and compare them...........I think you will be amazed.
I find this article just a tiny bit sad and wonder if someone could explain to me why it is so hard for American schools to stop selling unhealthy items or get kids to eat healthy foods. I read so many articles on this subject with elaborate plans to get American kids to eat better in school and it seems so simple. Only serve healthy foods. Stop with the chips and the soda and the fried everything. I think maybe what US schools might consider doing instead of trying to "hide" all the crap they serve is either 1) just not offer it at all or 2) check on menus and operations in places/countries which don't have such a significant obesity problem and have (sorry to say) a much "healthier" diet. And who also have the same budget concerns. I live in Italy where we have the same issues with school funding (and in not a few ways it is worse here) and somehow they manage to feed healthy meals on a strict budget without all the drama over eating habits and obesity that I continue to read about in the USA. My 5 year old is now in his 3rd year of preschool. The public preschools share the same cafeteria as the elementary/middle schools and the same menu is served daily to all (with portion adjustments for the little kids). The kids are fed nutritious meals and the choices are limited or non-existent; either veggie based soup or a rice (risotto) or pasta serving plus a portion of broiled meat, chicken or fish (or sometimes cheeses) along with at least two portions of raw and cooked vegetables and fresh fruits and bread. About once a month the kids are treated to pizza or breaded fish sticks or gelato for desert. Fried or "junk foods" are definitely not a daily or even weekly offering. You'd be surprised what healthy choices a hungry child will make (and end up liking most of the time) regardless of age if that is all that is on offer. Yes, they don't have many "options" but I would rather the limited choice than the alternative of my child choosing chips and soda every day. Peer pressure also helps a lot. At three my son would not eat most vegetables and wouldn't touch salad if his life depended on it despite all my pleading and begging. After a few weeks watching his classmates eat (and enjoy) their lunches he came around and actually asks for veggies and salad at home and knows not to ask for junk--"junk"is a treat not a right. Bonus!-the kids do bring their eating habits home with them. Other mothers have confirmed the same thing with their kids. I can only assume with the obesity rate such as it is that many children are learning their bad eating habits at home as well as at school. One can only hope that if the offerings at home are not the best at least if they were a bit more healthy at school the kids would bring their eating habits home with them.
Your solution, commentonthissite, is ostensibly to have some government agency make healthy choices for us regarding our entire life. Perhaps you have lost so much of your humanity that such a prospect is attractive to you, but I, for one, would fight and die to stop just such stupidity from further ruining my life.
The health of children is the responsibility of the parents. Parents who don't want their children eating the schools "junk food" could simply pack their lunch and not giver them lunch money. Problem solved. But there will always be parents too lazy, too stupid, or too selfish to care about and for their children. Thus, there will always be some self righteous anal retentive megalomaniac who wants to make all of the rules for all of the people all of the time in order to "save" these poor souls. They can't seem to get enough. No matter how crazy it gets, some socialist wants to make control a little crazier.
Additionally, at some point children need to be taught how to make choices for themselves. They also need to learn that there are consequences to whatever choices they make. Our modern American society seems bent on creating spoiled, stupid, shallow, self absorbed little jerks who want everything taken care of for nothing with somebody else paying for it. I've seen a lot of pampered dogs like that.
I remember in high school for at least two years I bought one or two Honey Buns for lunch every day. Thankfully my metabolism has been able to keep my weight relatively in check but it's been gaining on me over the years and bad habits kept for more than 10 years are relatively hard to change. Thinking back I really wish that my school had implemented a limit on the junk food I could buy daily. I wouldn't have liked it at the time and it would have cost the school money in lost junk food sales and the cost of implementing the system (however they'd end up doing it) but I think it may have curbed my junk food habit some if they had.
How many ads can they post with this goofball "Situation" on one page? I counted 4 here. Absurd. Looking for another news source.
My high school had fries every day. During the morning they sold chocolate chip cookies, 2 for a dollar or something. They always had pizza, fish sandwiches and chicken sandwiches every day. And then a weekly stapled feature like Taco Boat tuesday, Pizza Burger Friday. I don't think they offered salads at all. In the middle of the line was a huge rack of Little Debbie. My friend, who was overweight in high school and has continued to gain since - would get a chicken sandwich and a piece of pizza every day. I can't recall if she got the daily special or not..but yeah. No healthy stuff there. Food was good though unfortunately.
I am sick of all these "studies" and "plans." Kids will eat what they have options of. If you just make it so schools don't have to buy this cheap crap anymore - kids will eat whatever is there. They'll have to go hungry if they won't eat it or start bringing a lunch that their parents either won't worry about shopping for or they'll have to go out and buy stuff themselves (high school kids). I never even bought lunch until I was in high school and had my own money. My mom always packed my lunch as a kid.
They need to look at how lunches were served way back in the fifties.We were given a plate lunch with meat potatoes and two vegetables everyday at school.The cooks actually cooked the food and it was more like a cafeteria line.The smell of the food cooking made you very hungry by the time lunch time arrived.Dessert was usually a choice of jello or fruit salad if I remember correctly.Cost was 25 cents for a plate lunch and milk was a nickel more.There were no reduced or free lunch programs then.You could bring your lunch or go home for lunch also.By the time I got to high school,you were allowed an open lunch hour and most went to McDonalds(new at the time) .You could get hamburger,fries and a drink for 50 cents if you wanted to walk the half mile to get there .Not many walked in the winter,the hot lunch offered usually won out over the cold walk.Soup and salad had been added to menu items by then and cost had gone up to 65 cents a plate with salad and hot rolls 10 cents extra.My grandson said school food was all precooked and just heated up now in schools.No wonder kids hate it.Fresh cooked tastes better and isnt filled with preservatives.
I agree, fresh cooked food does taste better. The experience you described is the same one I had in elementary school in the early '80s. Today's 'pre-cooked' food is no healthier than, say, a Hot Pocket. And it tastes far worse!
Today, I am 5'9" and 164 lbs. I went without lunch for most of the time I was in high school, except on Fridays when I walked to the grocery store that was only 1/4 mile from my school with money I earned from my job. This is so I could get a sub sandwich or a salad from the salad bar. Otherwise I went without lunch, due to unpalatable, severely-overcooked, salt-loaded 'healhy' school lunch food. (Example: carrots that were boiled far longer than they should have been. At least I think they were carrots!)
Remember: Most high schools still have an 'open' campus. This means the teenagers can leave school (like I did) and go to McDonalds, Burger King or (hopefully) Subway. Closing campus will not work, as the Fairbanks, Alaska school district found out. Their drop-out rate jumped to almost 58% for the year they tried it.
The main problem, as I see it, are the parent(s). I blame them for not doing their job, which is (partially) teaching healthy eating habits, limiting video game and Internet time (homework notwithstanding), limiting TV use, and teaching their kids to love being outside. (Teachers who would rather not teach but instead assign gobs of homework are not helping.)
My 13 yr-old daughter is 5'6" and 128 lbs, and loves the outdoors and sports. She also eats her crisp veggies, salads, and the rare Hot Pocket. See the connection to parental responsibility and a healthy child?
Look at that picture.............not one single overweight kid. The Feds need to leave people and their families alone already. Look at photographs of people throughout history, people were not skinny. Hollywood started all this everyone has to be thin bullcrap!
The business of a childs weight is a parent and their doctors concern...........not the government!
Until the government needs to pay for the heart attack or cancer that the insurance companies wont cover because they weigh too much.
At one point in my life someone told me I have a narrow scope of reality. I am not making a personal attack on you but you seem to have a few things mixed up in your head or a picture that is hardly clear at all. Take the time and do some research before you join in a public discussion.
Then get government the hell out of health care entirely Brenda. They are the reason it is so expensive already. They are the problem, NOT THE SOLUTION.
Brenda,
People that eat healthy food right off the farm and never smoked in their lives die of heart attacks and cancer..............stop reading all the paranoia causing media crap that is written by people who are just trying to make a paycheck.
Live and enjoy your life instead of letting the media and government run it for you.
Of course the photo will not have any obese kids; it was chosen to make people believe that the program will work. People tend to dislike looking at photos of obese people, and the Feds did not choose that picture.
If the government is providing said lunches, then yes it is their concern. They are not governing what you cook at home; they are governing what they themselves prepare.
If you look at photographs throughout history, you will see that obesity was the mark of wealth - that you could afford a lot of food. Poorer people would be skinnier.
Now you can see the opposite. The poorest people have a greater rate of obesity due to the quality of the cheapest foods.
Obesity is a huge issue (no pun) with very high economic and social costs tagged to it.
Again, the Feds are not forcing people or families to do anything. They are only forcing their government workers and services to do so. There is no issue.
I agree with you completely.
I agree with you. It is obvious that obesity rates are highest among those with lower socioeconomic status. One idea (although it cause total chaos in the economy) is change the pricing system. Charge more for junk food. Add a junk and convenience food tax. Make it less expensive to eat and drink heathier. Hit people in the purse and you'll most certainly get them thinking and, eventually, changing their eating habits.
A food tax will not go over well. It would be tied up for years in litigation.
Better: Extend the state's 'Luxury Tax' sales tax (if your state has one) to include the foods mentioned above, in addition to jewelry, boats, cars, etc. Europe does this to soda today, but not to juices.
Steven has a point but yet you are going after the food conglomerates who have a larger foothold than you could imagine on our economy, the Gov., and your purse. The tax would never go through and it would be forgotten years later. They want it to be cheap so they can control their market. Taxing would be a waste of time. Just don't buy it. Buy the whole, natural and organic items. That will hit them the hardest.
I take issue with your premise that poor people are fat because of the poor quality of cheap food. Poor people are fat because stupid, lazy, shallow, self absorbed people tend to be poor people as well. There is a direct positive correlation between IQ and just about every attribute imaginable, and a negative correlation with the negative faults. I have found that healthy food is cheaper than crap food. It doesn't taste as good and takes time and effort to prepare. Stupid, lazy people don't want that.
But your answer is mo gument control. They oughta stop serving lunches at all and force parents to take responsibility for their children. But then, government stopped that when they forced public indoctrination, I mean education on them. Yup! Public schools - they teach our kids how to be "cool", where to buy the best dope, how to develop meritless self esteem, and how to have sex. They're not very good with math and science though......
Andrew,
You have passed the government and media "I'm brainwashed test"! LoL, I'm sure you truly believe all that typical textbook verbage you spewed.
I think this is a good idea. You need to actually get the kids to want the good food, not just take the junk food away. If schools don't offer junk food, kids will just bring their own lunches full of junk food or run over to the gas station and eat there instead. People eat differently these days and taking junk food away is not the way to solve the problem because there is always somewhere else to get it from. If schools don't offer it, the students will get it elsewhere, this is why they need to actually get kids to want the healthy food. Healthy food has a bad stigma about it, kids seem to think it doesn't taste good, and that's why it's hard to get them to eat it.
I was in high school two years ago and they stopped offering soda, so kids just walked to the gas station and ate there instead. Kids need to be taught to make their own healthy choices, not just have the unhealthy ones taken away.
It is not a schools job to raise the kids. Its the parents. The school need only provied food. Leave the life lessons to the parents.
You are absolutely right. It is the parents job. But for some families, like those with single parents who work full-time and are STILL below the poverty line, there are times when the meal(s) the kids get at school are the only meal(s) of the day. Those kids need the best nutrition they can get. Surely you would rather your tax dollars pay for meals that help kids grow into healthy adults instead of unhealthy adults who's health care costs are higher and covered by social programs, higher hospital and drug costs, or higher insurance premiums for everyone. Good nutrition, regardless of source, is the best, most far reaching, and cheapest form of preventative care.
My mom was one of those moms you mentioned above. But seriously, how hard is it to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a cheaper wheat bread the night before? You can even throw in some baby carrots and celery and a yogurt. You would probably spend the same amount as you would on a Ho-Ho, soda and baloney and it would take less than 5 minutes. Throw leftovers in a container and sent that off to school, even. You can buy cheap produce off-season, when it is on sale, at farmer's markets or even grow your own if money is tight. I just don't see people's reasons for not feeding their kids better even if they are poor. I figure if my mom could do it, then so can others! I went to the store and bought a 10 lb. bag of potatoes for 1.89 for example. It can be done!
I have not purchased a single potato from the store in over 8 months since I started growing them organically in my backyard. I have Red, Yukon and Blues. They taste better too!
D-Witherspoon - I don't want MY tax dollars paying either for their food or their health care. I am personnally sick and tired of that threadbare excuse being used by every megalamaniacal socialist moron as an excuse for more government control. for everything from the food I eat to wearing my seatbelt. TAKE YOUR GODDAMN HEALTHCARE BACK.
And if you can't afford to raise children - DON"T HAVE THEM. And don't tell me it costs a quarter million dollars to raise one either. It costs whatever you want to spend - no more, no less.
Worked with my kids at home. Winnie the Pooh Gopher Beans were a hit for kidney and garbonzo beans.
Cauliflower and Broccoli were named Cuddle Flowers after the nasty hampster in the scary RL Stine books.
Sugar snacks are put away and fruit is in the fridge, clean and cool as well as on the counter.
Junk food night is once a week and we take turns deciding what to eat. Salad is always added to the meal.
Imagination is the name of the game. My kids still make healthy choices at adult age and I am glad for taking the time to teach it.
I applaud you for a job well done. Honestly. I was beginning to think I was alone.
This is a parent who knows how to be a parent!
@ Cathy why not replace the ice cream with a low fat frozen yogart, instead of sugar snacks put energy bars that kids these days apeal too and instead of chips and salt snacks put unsalted organic chips with very little sat. fat and no trans fat or apple chips
No, nothing organic. Waste of money.
Healthy eating habits begin early and are supported at home. Sadly these kids have been eating little more than colorized sugar, salt, and fat since daycare and preschool, IN daycare and preschool. These kids are smart you can't play Where's Waldo with the tutti-frutti. If they want it they'll find it, and the better food options will be left behind still front and center. But I do applaude the effort ANY move in the right direction will help.
You are exactly right! Teaching kids about healthy choices at home is what is going to help them when they are at school and when they eventually go to live on their own.
If your kid doesn't eat junk, they won't want junk. The few times I have had to take my kid to Mc Donald's because we were starving and there was nothing else, my daughter would barely eat any of it. She also hates soda and has never had candy and if something is too sweet, she doesn't want it. We do not eat meat, dairy, egg or gluten, but sometimes we will eat fish. We choose to eat this way because of health reasons, but once your body and palette is acclimated to real food, the rest is nearly unedible. I was raised the same way and I can attest to the fact that it all starts at home! And before any of you ask, yes she is getting all of the proper nutrients (we went to a registered dietican just to be sure).
I hope you are eating wild fish and not farmed fish there is a huge difference between the two. Better yet, a wild fish you caught yourself. Good job, more people should take note and get involved the way you do!!
I've got it, why don't they just have a subliminal message piped into the school PA system all day. Then when they get to the lunchroom they'll all eat the way they're supposed to and all will be well. And then when they want to alter behavior another way, reprogram the kids with different subliminal messages and there ya go.
Good idea. We can also program them to 'goose-step' while we are at it.
That would be a very Republican ideal, almost to the point of being a disguised Democratic initiative that only shadows an extremist Communist.
It was typed with tongue in cheek, you know, a joke!
When I was in school we didn't get a choice, we took it or left it or brought something from home. Living in a rural community there was not time to walk to the nearest store. I hear some kids now have salad bars. If that had been an option I would have been in that line every day!
Just take the unhealthy choices out and offer a lot of fruits and vegetables. I don't think schools even have cafeterias with real kitchens anymore, but as much as possible, cooks should prepare a meal for the students - and not food like those chicken nugget thingys that are made from chicken skin and fat. That would also be a great alternative for those who eat breakfast at school because the parent(s) leave for work early or are otherwise unable to give kids a healthy start to the day.
And before folks start yelling hand outs or parents' responsibility, this is not so much about the parent as the about what is good for the kid in spite of what the parent does.
There are some really good ideas in this aritcle. Keeping the desserts in freezer instead of out for the kids to see and grab. Outta sight outta mind. I remember when I was in school eatting what the wonderful lunchroom had to offer that day. That was about 15yrs ago and even then they would give you 2 options of both fruit and vegs. If for some reason both of the choice's they had to offer that day, I didn't care for either one. I tried to tell the lunch lady, but BY LAW she had to put it on my tray. I would tell her that I would only throw it in the trash, but she said it didn't matter, if she didn't put one of the options on my tray than she could get a hefty fine. So giving the kids the option to put the fruit or veggie on their tray, in my eyes there is a better chance of them eatting it. Instead of just putting one option on their plate had asked for or not. The cash for desserts, I don't care 4 that idea. I currently have a 10, 8, & 7yr old children in the school system. They eat breakfast and lunch there at school almost everyday. Me and my husband have it set up that we prepay for their meals. If they have to pay for their desserts than that is taking away from the amount we have figured for that month. We do not give them $ everyday for school. The only day we do send $ with them is on Fridays when they have school store, which is a small fundraiser the school. They offer healthy snacks and water for 0.50 per item. All the snacks have been dontated by PTO and each week a different class is asked to dontate the snacks to be offered. So the only thing that school is charged with is time to set up the store and run it weekly. Renaming some of the food like the aticle seems like a good idea, and in thoery it maywork with smaller children, but I don't think it will make a difference over all.
Another $2 Million wasted.
The answer is so simple yet these fools squander money like it falls from the sky. It is no wonder that the country is bankrupt.
Only offer healthy foods and they will only eat healthy foods.
I do hope my check is in the mail!!
See my first post. It might open your eyes.
Don't you people see the truth here? This is just another attempt at control, end of story. The govt' wants to control what we eat, how much we make, what our insurance is supposed to be. This is just another rediculous attack on freedom, and personal responsibility. I love Darwin award winners myself.
In case you don't know, (D) Tom Harkin held meetings last week. What were those meetings about you ask...
They want to take over your 401K's ladies and gents. Yes our idiots in D.C. are going to attempt to take control of your retirement because "they aren't fair for everyone" I CHIT YOU NOT!
IF YOU WANT TO END THIS KIND OF CRIMINAL, YES I SAID CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, GET THE INCUMBANTS OUT, ALL OF THEM. TIME FOR NEW BLOOD, NO MORE CAREER POLITITIANS!
I think you missed the point my about 4 million light years. This is hardly a political debate and has nothing to do with 401K plans.
El Gato,
He's trying to make a point............Our government has gotten way, WAY out of hand over the years. They are attempting to control every aspect of people's lives from birth to death. The brainwashing is almost complete! Thank god there are still some people who understand that government employees work for the people, although they have tried to twist it into the people work to support the government and the banks for the last 30 years.
I hate to tell you this El Gato, but EVERYTHING is political these days. That's because government has it's filthy hands IN everything, even if it's 4 million light years away....
El Gato, you completely missed my point and thank you to the other posters who actually understood what I was saying.
The point is control, END OF STORY. They want to control EVERYTHING, take all responsibility away from you which in essence takes all freedom away. If you were an honest person you would notice that they are working on telling you what you can or cannot eat, what you should make monetarily (Obama's own words... "at some point people have made enough money...) that you can't own seed (food modernization act of 2010/ not yet passed but a man in GA has been fined 5k for giving food away he grew in his own garden). To Healthcare. There are plenty of other examples, the fact that Tom Harkin is having meetings about the government taking over private 401Ks is just another one.
How difficult is it to understand that THEY the govt' BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE have been screwing all of us and are pushing even harder, testing how far we the rightful govt' WE THE PEOPLE will allow 545 people to control every aspect of our lives.
Hey, It is not about the government or control. It is related to psychology and helping people not become so fat using advertising techniques and replacing certain stimuli with others that would elicit an unhealthy choice. If the unhealthy option is not present, then the "would be unhealthy elicited response" to buy that unhealthy option cannot occur. Duh.
Secondly, I think everyone else and their mother is tired of people complaining about a government they do not like. You have the option, which I can clearly see you are NOT taking, which is to leave. If you do not like our country, then leave.
This article has absolutely nothing to do with control, conspiracy, etc. It is pertaining to healthy eating habits and food choices of students and younger populations. I.e., myself.
Finally, I do not believe the government has gotten out of control (especially if they are so very controlling as you put it). I believe it is you all that have gotten out of control with your thoughts, not even well thought out theories, of the government putting their hands in everything. If you have not noticed, that is their job. The government is supposed to look after our well-being. We vote so that things that we want get heard. Sometimes the government does not always appeal to our exact interests, but you must look around you and see that we are a modern, generally safe country, and have an established way of living thanks to the government. They are not so bad! If you have access to a computer right now, you are not in a super bad situation, THANKS TO YOUR GOVERNMENT.
Tight. Thanks for reading.
Really, first off let me disagree with you wholeheartedly on well... EVERYTHING you just said.
It is about control, they are testing exactly how far they can push us. Question: Do you want to be a ward of the state? The reason I ask is because they are pushing you toward that end. The more "dependant" you become on the state the more power they posess over you, END OF ARGUMENT. If you haven't noticed they are trying to tell you what you can eat, drink, what you MUST BUY, how much money you should be allowed. They are pushing the Food Modernization Act of 2010, not yet passed but IF passed will allow the govt' to control ALL FOOD SOURCES. It will make it illegal for you to own seed, sale, trade, give away, grow or even consume food grown in your own garden my friend. They are also pushing for these BS "green" appliances, a bill being drawn up now that will regulate what appliances YOU CAN BUY, California just passed a bill about TV's.
Want more proof? Mark Lloyd, the communications czar has talked about govt' control of all media. They are pushing for internet to be classified as a utility. More? (D) Tom Harkin had meetings last week to push for the govt' takeover of private 401K's as well as IRA's. Why would they want that? It is in a push to fund a govt' controlled retirement plan for EVERYONE... MORE DEPENDENCE on govt' programs. What about teaching our kids WHAT TO THINK instead of HOW TO THINK?
This is MY country, I love it and am fighting to keep the traditions, honor and ideals it was founded on... what are you doing, fighting against those traditions, mocking those who have honor and saying the ideals this country were founded upon have no gravity. So NO I won't leave it, I will stay and do everything in my power to stop an out of control govt', and if you don't believe they are out of control then you are NOT paying attention, BOTH sides are doing it/
The govt' is NOT looking out for our best interests when "they believe they are the ones who give rights", when the govt' "gives" rights they can also take them away. Our Constitution, the FOUNDING document of this country states that our rights come from God.
As for the rest of your comment, funny how actual freedom is what has allowed me to be on this computer right now, not the govt'. I tell you now, the more involved the govt' is in your life the worse you life will be. If you depend on your govt' as the end all be all then you deserve what you get, I myself take full responsibility of my life. I put money away for retirement, pay my bills and DECIDE FOR MYSELF WHAT IS RIGHT FOR ME AND MINE. What do you think is going to happen when YOU aren't making your own decisions?
Really?-2506658
I have other options than to tolerate government tyranny or leave the country. I can do everything in my power to stop spineless mindless cowards like you and tyrannical government officials from raping what is left of my freedoms. For 18 years of honorable, dedicated, meritorious militatry I swore that I would fight, die, kill, or destroy to defend the constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. That includes YOU and the government if it defies the constitution. Bloody revolution, however, needs to be reserved for bloody tyranny. At this point, the free people who still possess a mind need to organize a Lech Walesa type strike to shut down the country long enough to get the attention of morons like YOU. Perhaps then we can demand our freedoms back.
Sounds like a good idea but somewhere someone will profit that shouldn't. I agree that the garbage food should not be allowed in schools, period. They should focus their energies on bringing local, organic produce, that is in season to the cafeteria. This would strengthen the local economy and introduce new items to the children that would otherwise be looked over. Watch "Food Inc.", a great documentary and see where your opinion will turn to...
Just another example of "your too stupid to run your own lives, so we'll do it for you". No thanks Gov., stay out of my business for crying out loud..
As long as you pay taxes, good luck with that.
One more point, I spend the time with my son to educate him on his choices. Why a certain food is a poor choice over another and he takes his own lunch to school so taxpayers don't have to worry about it. They are not trying to control so much as get their target market back. The USDA could care less, just like the FDA (they have picnics with food conglomerates). If they did then they would crack down on the very few companies that control 90% of the food we have. The same foods that end up in school lunch lines. It is very disenchanting to read some of these posts, most of you are unaware of the food industry, who is holding hands with who, how the food is processed and where it goes from there. Some of those healthy choices are not healthy at all, they just look like they are and sound that way.
My suggestion would be to try some psychology in the White House, get these clowns off their butts.
I really don't see the big problem here. When I was in elementary school in 1967-1975 you did not have choices. The school chose the menu, no substitutions, 1 meat, 2 veg fruit bread milk( plain) or water (tap) In Jr high !975-1977 the same was true with the exception that you cold chose a chef salad as an alternative to the plate lunch. In 1977-1980 high school same plate lunch or salad. The local paper published the lunch menu each Sunday so parents could decide if they wanted to let kids brown bag it on certain days( around food allergy's personal taste etc)
These meals were not great but they were descent and had good nutritional value. We did not have an obesity problem in school, not to say some were not but they did not get that way from school food. Instead of throwing money at this problem why don't we use it as an opportunity to save money om school lunches. Go back to the school planning a well balanced menu and offering a chef salad as a choice at the higher grades. Save the money spent in studies, preparing choices, wasted food and personnel.
Of course we were all more active then so you may have to ban vidieo games and computer games. Michelle may not get glory and press for it. The gov can't flex its muscles but this would be a common sense fix.
But you know the old saying if it ain't broke...... break it.
Another "common sense" fix would be to push physical education BACK into the system instead of cutting funding for it and sports. FACT: Kids who participate in athletic activities including organized sports score better on tests than those who don't OVERALL.
I again say the govt' needs to get out of our lives, the more they involve themselves the worse these issues get. Banning video games... yeah just what we need another govt' program that would either tax or fine people for playing games and would somehow cost us another 700 billion or so... sorry, I disagree. The thing here is "common sense", parents have to be more involved of course you will get zero argument on that from me, but it should be UP TO INDIVIDUALS to decide, NOT THE GOVT'.
Dr. Evens, I hear you. In 1982 it was still that way in my school. You either took the hot lunch or opted out for a chef salad. That was the only choice you had. And that was the only choice you needed. Those meals were planned by nutritionalists and cooked with reason to be both healthy and as tasty as insititutional food gets. Kids today have too many choices. They have so many choices that many of them are spoiled rotten.
Personally, I think what this country needs is a good famine. A good famine would bring people back to reality and to be thankful for even a slice of bread and a glass of water.
There are more vitamins in a bag of frito's than there is in a can of soup.
There are just as many vitamins in chocolate milk as there is in plain milk.
A bag of peanut M & M's has more vitamin content than a frozen meal.
Ice Cream has just as many vitamins as milk, and if it has fruit added, even more.
Potato chips have just as many vitamins as a baked potato.
People really need to educate themselves! Doctors and hospitals are the least knowledgable people in the world when it comes to vitamin and mineral content in foods. And, so are most of the people that "sell" diet plans........especially those that provide pre-packaged food to their customers.
Food is BIG business, government is BIG business, Diet plans are BIG business.
Pay attention to your body and let it, and only it, dictate to you what foods you need to eat.
dam, you make too much sense my friend. I myself LOVE food, and if I do say so myself am a pretty damn good cook. My body craves BBQ non stop, Rendezvous BBQ in Memphis is tremendous... Yup road trip is coming... 900 miles or so... should be fun, might even catch some music while I'm there. LOL:)
WOW I am amazed ... it's because of this Thinking that 2/3 of Americans are obese. Way to go. "Don't worry, 10 year old child, you're 4'5" and weigh 160lbs because you're big boned. Here, have this bag of potato chips, ice cream and soda because organic healthy food is too expensive."
There's no money in actual healthy food... so they make you believe that unhealthy is healthy. It's always about the money.
All "Fat Free" or "Diet Foods & Drinks" are laced with more chemicals that make people Fatter than anything... believe that.
Fried foods (potato chips, tater tots, french fries) are heated to such high temperature that the food creates its own chemical called "Acrylamide" ... that chemical is far worse than almost any other chemical they add to it... and they add 1000's of chemicals.
One thing I can promise you... is that humans were never meant to consume cows milk in any form.... it causes asthma, allergies, obesity, and mucus in the stomach and digestion track because it is not digestable.
Cows have been drugged all their life - so when they harvest the milk, it's blood, puss, anti-biotics and disgusting milky substance they make "beautiful" after processing it and tell you its good for you - if you don't believe me go to a government run cow farm and see for yourself.
It's a fallacy that we get calcium from cows milk... especially after it's been processed, homogenized and pasteurized (the fake look and taste you see and drink.)
Drink rice milk instead.
The food processing science labs have tighter security than Fort Knox ... they don't want you to know about the 1000's of chemicals they put into the food you "think is healthy."
1/2 of all people are developing cancer now days.... due to processed foods and chemicals.
USDA organic is the best option we have, or grow your own organic food... period.
Example - have you any idea how healthy asparagus is? Asparagus has been studied and it has been the sole cure to many cancer and diseases in many people. Read up....