Never heard of a school serving liver, usually they try to stick to kid friendly foods, but most of those aren't really as healthy as they should be.

A lot of the problem is industrial food is often kind sad and sometimes the most processed parts are the most edible. It can be hard to get kids who are not ever asked to eat a veggie at home to eat the veggies you have to put on the plate to make it a regulation meal.

The liver was on the Head Start menu in FL (course that was 15 yrs ago so); maybe liver wasn't a good example.

& I agree that the preparation of the chicken nuggets etc is a big part of why the kids won't eat it. Who wants rubbery nuggets?

Saw an episode of "Chopped" that had 4 lunch ladies on it.
They were creative in producing dishes; but I wonder if they would be allowed to change up the recipes at the schools.

*commercial interuption*
Mmm, tater tots.

-Handcrafted by RollDdice

If the government is paying for the lunch, then they probably should have some say in what they're serving, no?

And if the government is paying for the Welfare, then they should be able to force birth control on the moms w/ Welfare babies, right?

And if the government is paying for the Welfare, then they should be able to force birth control on the moms w/ Welfare babies, right?

No.

Just as I do not think that children should be forced to eat what is offered to them. Even if they are enrolled in voluntary, state-subsidized programs which include nutritional supplementation as part of their guidelines. The extra food items are given as an option to supplement their lunch. It is still the child's choice whether to eat it.

I do support birth control offered as an option as part of receiving welfare assistance. It's up to the recipient to take it or leave it.

But let's be fair. The the school lunch "nutrition" offered is the equivalent to welfare recipients being given a Bayer aspirin to hold between their knees and calling it "Birth Control."

LAST EDITED ON 02-15-12 AT 04:19 PM (EST)

My only surprise on Story #2 was that it didn't happen in NYC.

Yes, there are parents out there who send their kids out with a juice box and a pack of Twinkies. And those kids need help. (More the parents than the kids in the long-term, but for mealtime, both.) But the lunch described in the article sounded passable.

I just don't think there's any court of even first resort here: when the battlecry is 'for the children!', anyone who disagrees with the results is seen as going beyond merely hating America. Protest all you like: CPS will just arrive that much faster.

As for Story #1... well, he can't say he wasn't warned...

ETA: The callousness of the tourists doesn't surprise me: that's the society and in Las Vegas, anything could be a staged event. On the other hand, eating free if you weigh 350lbs or more... huh. Wonder if they inspect for F/X bodysuits. Come to think of it, how good is that food? I smell a Face/Off Season #3 challenge cooking in the back room. Can you get your model in without a second look? Start your padding now!

I happen to follow a lot of news and writers on matters of nutrition and, specifically, school nutrition programs. This story made the rounds pretty quickly. I initially thought that there was something fishy about the story, and as it turns out, a lot of other people thought so, too. Some people dug into it a bit, and at best, it is a piece of highly embellished and inaccurate reporting.

Here's one article that shows a good summation of the digging-into:
A North Carolina Non-Troversy

In short, what seems to have happened is that someone noticed that the child didn't have milk, and told the girl to go through the lunch line to get a carton of milk. The child ended up with a whole chicken nugget lunch. Which her mother has not been - would never have been, and will not be - charged for.

No "state agent" inspecting lunches.

No confiscation or forced replacement of her home-brought lunch.

She was simply offered additional food to supplement her lunch, which is one of the guidelines of the program in which she is enrolled.

The child is enrolled in an optional daycare program, which is fully funded by the state (hence, free for the child) which is for at-risk children who either have special needs or are from low-income families. The children have to qualify for the program. One of the guidelines of the program is that they are authorized to offer the children additional food if the lunch that they bring from home is lacking in nutrition. For children in low-income families who may be food-insecure and not be able to afford to pack nutritious lunches, this is a rather important option for the school to be able to offer. The adult who suggested that she go get some milk was trying to do a good thing for her.

The whole "preschooler's homemade lunch replaced by cafeteria chicken nuggets" story is pretty much a re-ordering of facts, and liberal and incorrect use of a thesaurus, to produce very little story and tons of sensationalism.

And as with most sensational headlines, no one will bother learning the real story when the made-up version is so much more interesting.

Are you claiming Faux News would report an inaccurate story? Why, that's just unbalanced!

I think my favorite part of the story is how the "state agent" (who didn't exist) in the original story morphed into a "federal agent" when the story was reported by Rush Limbaugh.

Does it make me naive if I wish for some journalistic standards?

Stop laughing.

Since school lunches are one of the topics, I will tell a little story about my YDD. She was about 8 and came home asking me if there was anyway I could check the amount of money in her lunch account (at her school, you send in money once a month and they debit it). Apparently, she ordered chicken nuggets for lunch, sat down, took one bite, and decided that they were inedible. She took them back to the counter and demanded a refund to her account. She came home and was hopping mad about the whole thing. I promised I would call so I did. The principal was so amused - he had never heard of sending back a lunch.

LOL! I see a future lawyer or food critic in your family.

-Handcrafted by RollDdice

But, we sent out Jamie Oliver to try to help, and you sent him away with a flea in his ear

you sent him away with a flea in his ear

This must mean something different where I come from.

Sweet! Thanks to Ag!