Yet another example of the complete and utter failure of social engineering by do gooder liberals. "We don't want to have the most nutritious waste basket in the state or the country." An investigative report by a Cincinnati TV station finds that the government's new school lunch requirements championed by First Lady Michelle Obama are wasting $4 million a day in discarded food that children won't eat. The National School Lunch Program feeds upwards to 31 million American students a day, spending nearly $12 billion annually, but many of those children are throwing away the vegetables, fruits, and snacks forced on them by the new federal nutrition standards. A new Harvard study of the program, WCPO Channel 9 reported, "shows that 60 percent of fresh vegetables and 40 percent of fresh fruit are being thrown away." "And a recent study released by the National School Nutrition Association found 81.2 percent of schools surveyed indicated an increase in the amount of food being thrown away by students since the new nutrition standards went into effect two years ago," the televised report continued. Nearly 600 school districts have already dropped out of the First Lady's lunch program, Fort Thomas Independent Schools in Northern Kentucky being one of them. Fort Thomas School Superintendent Gene Kirchner pointed out that if the program is resulting in so much waste, then it is not very effective. "I have to think that across the country, it has to be a staggering amount of food going to waste, and I think there are people out there who could really use that food," he said. In fact, according to one government study, over one million kids across the country have stopped eating lunch altogether after the new standards were imposed on their schools.
I recently heard our elementary schools being described as "7-Elevens, with books". I'd like to know what those districts giving up on healthy food are serving their kids in their cafeterias, Pizza Hut?
I agree. If they're not going to eat vegetables, just serve them pizza and french fries every day. It's not like they don't know what's best for them.
Where's the progressivism in that? Force them to eat sprouts and grass or discipline them if they don't.
Lol, sure, they know. Pizza Hut and KFC and candy racks are right there in the cafeteria, giving them the freedom to choose wisely--that's what kids do.
This is what students think of Michele Obama's school lunch initiative. .. Her program does not meet the minimum requirements for students who are involved in afternoon athletics, much less meeting calorie requirements to keep students awake in class. The Obama school lunch initiative is still raising significant protests across the U.S. including from medical doctors and nutritionists who are saying to lunches do not meet the dietary needs of school age children.
Our elementary schools are a battleground between fast food corporations, and doctors, nutritionists, parents, and school staff who care about their kids' health.
And all of these groups agree on one thing ... Michele Obama's school lunch program is a complete failure that does not meet the nutritional and calorie requirements for school age children.