Michelle Obama's America: Chicago School Bans Bag Lunches to Protect Kids from Themselves
The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that one Chicago public school -- the Little Village Academy -- has banned bag lunches...to protect the kids from their own "unhealthful" food choices:
Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.
"Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school," Carmona said. "It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke. But with allergies and any medical issue, of course, we would make an exception."
Carmona said she created the policy six years ago after watching students bring "bottles of soda and flaming hot chips" on field trips for their lunch. Although she would not name any other schools that employ such practices, she said it was fairly common.
A Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman said she could not say how many schools prohibit packed lunches and that decision is left to the judgment of the principals.
"While there is no formal policy, principals use common sense judgment based on their individual school environments," Monique Bond wrote in an email. "In this case, this principal is encouraging the healthier choices and attempting to make an impact that extends beyond the classroom."\
But reporters Monica Eng and Joel Hood suggest there are other reasons than a nutrition crusade: "Any school that bans homemade lunches also puts more money in the pockets of the district's food provider, Chartwells-Thompson. The federal government pays the district for each free or reduced-price lunch taken, and the caterer receives a set fee from the district per lunch." But if they're really concerned about a learning environment, what if the kids don't eat?
At Little Village, most students must take the meals served in the cafeteria or go hungry or both. During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten. Though CPS has improved the nutritional quality of its meals this year, it also has seen a drop-off in meal participation among students, many of whom say the food tastes bad.
"Some of the kids don't like the food they give at our school for lunch or breakfast," said Little Village parent Erica Martinez. "So it would be a good idea if they could bring their lunch so they could at least eat something."
"(My grandson) is really picky about what he eats," said Anna Torrez, who was picking up the boy from school. "I think they should be able to bring their lunch. Other schools let them. But at this school, they don't."
But parent Miguel Medina said he thinks the "no home lunch policy" is a good one. "The school food is very healthy," he said, "and when they bring the food from home, there is no control over the food."
At Claremont Academy Elementary School on the South Side, officials allow packed lunches but confiscate any snacks loaded with sugar or salt. (They often are returned after school.) Principal Rebecca Stinson said that though students may not like it, she has yet to hear a parent complain.
"The kids may have money or earn money and (buy junk food) without their parents' knowledge," Stinson said, adding that most parents expect that the school will look out for their children.
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Comments
So now government is being
Submitted by Beukeboom on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:39am.
So now government is being more blatant in taking the rights of parents to actually parent their children?
Since the US Constitution does not establish the . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:10am.
. . . right for parents to raise their own children, I think the Left sees more opportunities to assume the responsibility.
Maybe they'd prefer something modelled on the old kibbutzim, where children are removed from the home when the begin school, and live in youth barracks managed by the community government until they reach adulthood. The entire community eats in a big dining facility, and controls what can be sold within its boundaries.
Sounds like what they did in
Submitted by Beukeboom on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:28pm.
Sounds like what they did in the old U.S.S.R.
What we are seeing here is
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:42am.
What we are seeing here is the future of health care. If the government runs the health care then they have a vested interest in the health of the people; to reduce hc costs of course. Soylent green is people.
Wow, wow, wow! We are not
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:46am.
Wow, wow, wow! We are not the crazy ones for seeing how this big government mentality could easily turn out bad. Now we have proof of where the progressive MIND-SET leads! They called Palin crazy for coming to the logical conclusion that you would have to have "death panels" at some point in the plan. Obama's network of people even say so much. What does the raving media do? Attack Palin like a pit bull.
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
Not only that, Dan
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:47am.
The better that the kids learn early to look to Aunt Samantha (Uncle Sam was a patriarchal tyrant) for all their needs.
I hate to think what gubmint issue toilet paper will be like. I remember Navy issue was bad enough.
Phil
Submitted by ricklail on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 2:47pm.
Are you talking about the stuff that came in C-rations? Sears and Roebuck catalog was better than that.
What if the kid lives near the school and wants to eat at
Submitted by VanPastorMan on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:57am.
home? The school will have to have breathalizer tests when they come back on campus to tell what they've eaten at home. Isn't this madness? These are highly educated adults we are talking about here trying to regulate what kids eat. The parents who give in to this loss of freedom are a bunch of wusses. If they really cared about what their kids were eating then they would send them to school with healthy food. Geesh, does it take a rocket scientist to figure this out?
OH, NOOOOOOOO!
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:10am.
No child shall leave the school property during the school day. They have to control that, don't you know. Who knows what kids - and their parents - would be up to "without the schools knowledge"....or their "approval". They might even (shudder) drink a chocolate milk shake.
If this weren't serious, it would truly be laughable; especially the lines "principals use common sense judgment" and "this principal is encouraging the healthier choices". Umm, no, they don't and no, she isn't. There is no "common sense" to this and she isn't "encouraging" anything. She's dictating. Your "freedom" under progressive rule is reduced to doing what your told to do because "they" know better than you what's in the best interest of you - and your children.
Van. MI schools were in lock
Submitted by Zippy on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:17pm.
Van. MI schools were in lock down back in the 70's. You can not leave for lunch.
yeh right!
Submitted by Patriot II on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:52am.
The land of the free and the home of the brave....................yeh right!
They better not put salt
Submitted by ricklail on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 3:19pm.
They better not put salt shakers on the table, either. Mooochele will be on them like white on rice.
$$$
Submitted by MidAmerica on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:53am.
Hey.... this is Chicago after all. Follow the money. Home lunches cut profits from the meal vendor.
It probably means money out of the hands of democrat's
Submitted by VanPastorMan on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:58am.
reelection campaigns. The Chicago way!!!!! Great Pizza. Corrupt politics.
Imagine what a pizza would be
Submitted by Beukeboom on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:30pm.
Imagine what a pizza would be like if the Feds and Michelle M'belle Obama had their way.
Thanks, Beuke!
Submitted by Blonde on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:35pm.
I wasn't sure what to make for dinner tonight...but I'm going to try out my new pizza stone.
Pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, black olive, and onion. This time with thin crust (the troops didn't care for the deep dish crust, alas).
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Dave's going to J's house for dinner
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 2:44pm.
:-)
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Just another reason
Submitted by tdabbs on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:54am.
Just another reason to hate going to school. I did not like school until college.
Funny you should mention that
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:34pm.
The cafeteria food at my college (circa 1972) was the worst I've ever been subjected to on a regular basis. It was worse than my public school meals, and worse than anything I ever ate in 24 years of active military service in the Army and Navy, including C-rations and MREs.
4.5 yrs in the US Navy. I
Submitted by Zippy on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:33pm.
4.5 yrs in the US Navy. I only saw one mess on the Mess Decks.
The CO wanted to serve food while in the Shipyard. So the "Snipes" could go back to work, sooner.
And not eat on the Officer Barge. We worked from 0700 till 2200 everyday. Yea. 8 mos 7 days a week.
That first night, we had some of the worst food ever served.
Until that night, I had never seen a food fight in the Navy. And this night did not disappoint. The Boiler Tech's moved the trash can to the wall. And commenced to throw their paper plates of garbage. At the wall. At first it seemed like a riot. But, the MA looked at the damage. Everything fell it the can.
The BT's had the most "Mess Deck Workers".
Seemed like a riot. But, These guys dropped the garbage. And walked down the passageway. Back to "The Hole".
The CO was promoted to Admiral shortly there after.
The CO also cost the ship a "Battle E" award. He ordered firing a missile in the safety zone.
We should have had 3 "Battle E" awards.
These awards cost a lot. Blood, Sweat, and tears. Some guys could not handle it. We had 2 suicides and a lot of divorcees.
But, I never saw food thrown. Try Mc Donalds's on a Friday night.
Zippy: Thanks for your service!!!!!!!
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 9:10am.
Wow thanks for you service! 15 hour days?! x 7 days week x 8 months! Amazing work.
That makes me think they need to start making able bodied people work in some capacity in exchange for non-earned government "entitlements." It just is not fair. Then O wanted to stop MIL pay so that abortion can not have even a 1% cut. Unbelievable traitor.
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
Chicago public schools are
Submitted by Liberallies on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:59am.
Chicago public schools are some of the worst in the world. Yet they are worried about what children are going to eat? They should be worried about how to improve education. Public school, no school will EVER take the place of a parent. This is socialism, communism through and through.
If schools want to improve the nutrition of children, they should give children nutriton courses and hold voluntary courses for parents on nutrition.
This has to do with schools imposing themselves as the parents. This is constantly done in public school, mainly in the inner city schools as is the one that this article covers.
Amreica is a free country my _____
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:03am.
Yes, and I'm quite sure the stoopid sheeple parents are going to raise Hell over this.
Right.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
I can just picture
Submitted by mustango on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:11am.
I can just picture a much-younger me being told he can't have his beloved peanut butter, honey and wheat germ sandwiches anymore. That would not have been pretty. Especially when, as often happens in school cafeterias, the staff screws up cooking the "approved" lunches.
This has gone waay to far.
Submitted by Hologram5 on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:14am.
My daughter is a vegetarian and the school she goes to doesn't provide food that she can eat and therfore takes her own lunch. Wow, I am just amazed at how some people will gladly waive their parental rights like this as that's all this is.
Did the parents waive their rights? . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:42pm.
. . . Or was this a policy instituted by a zealous school board that took advantage of parental apathy?
It appears to me that whenever we run into these stories, it's a matter of the parents placing a misguided sense of trust in school authorities to do the right thing, only to learn later that they have passively given up more and more control control.
Maybe they need to protest at the new Mayor's office? ;-)
It's parents who take advantage of govt
Submitted by HockeyKid on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 1:28pm.
subsidies so they don't have to spend their dope/booze money on lunches. This BS would never fly outside the cities.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
LOL. I thought enabling the
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 2:07pm.
LOL. I thought enabling the abuser was bad!
One could say spiking the drug supply may not be so horrible an idea as I thought. Using drugs would not be a viable option for very long. It could save all the following generations at the accelerated cost of the current abusers. This is not my idea. Someone said so much & I was pretty shocked to even hear such an idea.
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
federal school lunch program?
Submitted by papadon on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:33am.
"Academy" or not my guess is that most of this is part of the federal school lunch program. I read a few years ago that a school's eligibility for other government hand-outs was determined by the number of kids in the "free" lunch program.
"Atlas Shrugged" coming April 15th
Atlas Shrugged
Submitted by Gothampc on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:36am.
The film version of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" will be opening this weekend. Seeing garbage like this, it looks like Ms. Rand's beliefs on individualism are needed now more than ever.
That's why Ayn Rand has seen a resurgence in . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:38pm.
. . . popularity, especially Americans aged 20-35. Many like my 26 year-old son understand that Medicare and Social Security are ponzi schemes that will break before they are eligible to rely on it. They prefer less, not more government.
"when they bring the food from home, there is no control"
Submitted by Yarbles on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:45am.
"when they bring the food from home, there is no control over the food."..except the parents control, but why let parents get in the way of the government's control.
How about....
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 11:54am.
...the government provide a Michelin rated chef (at least one star) for every home? I might even go for that one.
Too much fat.
Submitted by IdahoJim on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 2:54pm.
Pro chefs use butter, lard, salt,and sugar to prepare meals that people eat on occasion. If I had a Michelin rated chef cooking gourmet meals every night, I'd weigh a quarter ton more than I do now!
As I sit here eating a Carl's turkey burger, I can't help but think that healthy food will never taste as good as this.
IdahoJim
http://idahoandy.net
There's one type of obesity....
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:00pm.
...that the Obamas, the cabinet, most of Congress, and all government employees don't mind.....the bloated leviathan known as the federal government.
And they call us "fascists!"
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 2:41pm.
Let me get this straight: A Chicago City School is banning home made lunches for the students because the school can't "control" what's in those lunches? The school feels the need to control what people EAT? And they call US fascists when a "conservative" school district wants to have a school uniform code! Can you say "hypocrite?"
By the way, Carmona, who appointed you as a health food guru? YOUR job is to administer the staff, not to decide what kids should be eating, which is the job of the parents. Get back to your administrative job and leave the parenting to the parents.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I'd give 10:1 odds
Submitted by Model850 on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 3:29pm.
I'd give ten-to-one odds that if a parent claims an allergy or medical issue exemption the school requires certification from a doctor, just to be sure no one is "cheating" the system, i.e., robbing the food service company of its "fair share" of taxpayer dollars.
Brave New Food
Submitted by MLGoodell on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 4:28pm.
This is yet another example why spending more money on education won't produce better-educated students. If school administrations would spend more time encouraging teachers to teach basics, and less time prying into students' lives, perhaps we could get a return on our "educational investment."
It reminds me of a piece I wrote a few years ago about how mystified Berkeley High School administrators were when their students shunned the state-of-the-art earth-friendly, locally-grown, animal-friendly food court inspired by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in favor of the fast food restaurants lining nearby Shattuck Avenue.
It's called, "Up Against the Wall, Red Meat Mothers," and can be found at:
I agree, but ...
Submitted by Expert Expat on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 4:37pm.
Sure, this is a stupid ruling, but didn't anyone actually read the article?
"Carmona said she created the policy six years ago..." This has apparently been going on since 2005.
We should have been all over this in 05 or 06!
Sorry, but I don't think we can put this one on Lady M - her husband was still in some other country when this started!
So do the parents have to
Submitted by Kat Outta the Bag on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 5:26pm.
So do the parents have to pick up the tab for the school lunches? Sometimes it's more cost-efficient for the kids to have a bagged lunch than pay for school lunches, unless they're on a free lunch ticket or something like that.
That's just it
Submitted by HockeyKid on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 1:33pm.
We're talking inner city federally subsidized school lunch programs here. Even if the parents have the money, they tell their kid to eat at school, because The Man picks up the tab.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
What I want to know:
Submitted by Rycher660 on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 5:28pm.
Is where all the "Fat" kids are at? I have a Simi-retirement job, working for a major retailer... I see a lot of kids there. I also have 3 kids who have gone or are still going to school... that's a lot of school plays, band concerts and sporting events. I just don't see a big weight problem with the kids now days. Nothing any worse than when I went to school 30 years ago. Now Fat adults are a different story...
Aunt Samantha. Your Friendly Neighborhood Dike.
Submitted by Zippy on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 10:15pm.
Aunt Samantha. Your Friendly Neighborhood Dike. And Tax cheat.
That is great.
Somehow I don't remember
Submitted by killa37 on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 3:53am.
Somehow I don't remember school lunches as being particulary 'healthy' - either with myself or my kids!! And.............when that 'baby-got-big-boot' Moochelle drops about 25 pounds from her hefty frame, then maybe I'll start thinking about the phony-ass BS that she is trying to inflict on the rest of us....................
i love grits and hot dogs I
Submitted by ricklail on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 4:08pm.
I love grits and hot dogs I just don't want them served together. They did that once a week when I was in HS. We had cole slaw for 10 straight days. We, the senior class, organized a couple protests First we told all the kids to pay for their lunch in pennies. When we told them to rake the cole slaw off their trays and leave it on the table, we got their attention. Putting up signs like Give the Lunchroom Back to the Rats helped too. The senior class, all 80 of us, had a sit down with the principal and the lunchroom manager and aired out our gripes. It was 2 weeks before we had cole slaw again. They didn't serve any hot dogs and grits the rest of the year.
I understand today grits are a delicacy. There is a place in town whose specialty is grits and shrimp. Grits and eggs with some crumbed up bacon is fine. Grits with sausage gravy on it is fine. Grits with shrimp? Not a Southern tradition.
Wow...i've been thinking the opposite way of late
Submitted by TheDeuce on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 12:07pm.
Considering the TONS of waste these school districts produce (Memphis alone had $2.4 million in wasted food a couple years ago, why not remove kitchens from schools? This reduces the opportunity of those bloodthirsty Big Lunch providers to profit off the backs of our helpless school children.
Give a liberal man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Oh, and you also get called an "a-hole" for not giving him another fish every single day for the rest of his life.
You answered your own
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 1:36pm.
You answered your own question.
Yup...sucks anyways, though.
Submitted by TheDeuce on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 4:18pm.
Our elementary school principal sent a note 'ordering' parents to not send carbonated drinks to school. At the time, we weren't...but we did shortly thereafter. Funny, but there's been no rescind of the 'order' but also, no student as far as I'm aware ever got in trouble over it.
Give a liberal man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Oh, and you also get called an "a-hole" for not giving him another fish every single day for the rest of his life.
Heard on Boortz
Submitted by ricklail on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 1:33pm.
Schools have to spend their money on this, White Privilege Conference It was a good thing I wasn't drinking my Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi or it would have been all over the dash of my truck.