Schools Change Lunches, changes affect students

I saw this on the television this morning. Several schools back East have made some major changes recently. They have thrown out all the junky school lunches, replacing the starches with salads, and whole breads, and other nutritrious foods. They repainted their cafeterias to resemble different themes, one painted their cafeteria to resemble an old Model T. They increased the lunch time to an hour instead of a half an hour. They took out the long tables and replaced them with smaller groups of tables that sit only 4-5 students. They locked the teachers out of the facilty lunchroom and the teachers now sit with the students. They threw out all the vending machines as well.

The results were that these schools saw an increase in attendance, an upswing of grades, a down grade of violence, the gun and weapons issue went away, the bullying of other students stopped, and at first though a lot of the students complained about the changes, they got used to it and settled right in. It was extremely interesting to hear.

Geez, it's about time!

My sons school has very good lunches. Very nutritious, no vending machines, only milk or water to drink, and they get a decent amount of time to eat. The usual lunch includes a hot meal, a veggie, salad, fruit, and a roll.

He used to brown bag his lunch, but once he started buying he really likes the food and gets the cafeteria lunch almost every day now. Kudos to the school system for keeping our kids well fed!

In this same vein - a judge threw out a lawsuit, against McDonald's, that alleged that they caused a 4'10" 14-year-old to weigh 170 lbs. There's a second kid, in this suit - 14 years old, 5'2", 250 lbs. They each eat at McDonald's every day and, sometimes, twice a day.

The judge laid the responsibility on the plaintiffs and parents. I saw the second kid's mother, on the news. She goes 300 lbs., if she's an ounce. Is it any wonder her kid is HUGE? Besides, who's giving the kids money to eat at McDonald's and why aren't they being supervised?

I hate McDonald's food, never took my kids there and they certainly couldn't have gone without me.

I think what that school has done is wonderful! I really wish that my school would have done this while I was in school. My brother is a Senior in HS and it's amazing to hear all the junk that they are allowed to eat. They can either eat what the school makes (hot meals, milk, veggies and fruit) OR they can purchase chips, brownies, candy bars, ice cream sandwiches, mozz sticks and even more junk. Most of the kids will spend their lunch money on this crap that is absolutely no good for them. The parents believe that their kids are eating a good balanced lunch, but in reality they are eating junk food for their meal. My parents give my brother money for an additional snack (usually mozz sticks) once per week, but they pay monthly for the meals($30!) and the money can not go towards the junk.

Sorry for the rant too...I wish more schools would do this. I'm sure it would help everyone involved tremendously!

That's really cool that they painted the luchrooms like that!!! I remember school lunches...they weren't that bad, but I think some atmosphere would have helped!

School lunches were AWFUL!!!! I was so glad, when I got to junior high - they had snack bars. Of course, I ate things that weren't good for me - burgers, milk shakes and chocolate long johns. Lunch at school wasn't my only meal of the day, though and, back then, I got plenty of exercise.

I wish my district would change lunches. I feel bad for the kids, the food looks pretty bad. The scary thing is that their lunch may be the one solid meal they get.

I too think that more schools should catch on and do this. I heard the thing on television too and was surprised that teachers and principals care enough to do this. I'm sorry, but with everything that is happening with teachers not getting paid enough and whatever, they just don't seem to care anymore. I'm surprised that they would plan and instigate such a huge thing as the cafeteria and then report on it years later. Some lucky kids are getting a great education and I hope it catches on!

My cafeteria was very instition like too, I would always opt to sitting in front of my locker and eat.