Chicago school bans lunches brought from home

[YankeeFan]

This is messed up. I assumed it was going to be to protect a child with a peanut allergy or some other reason like that when I saw the headline.

But no, it's because, "Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school. It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve."

Sorry, but that's taking the nanny state a step too far.

Oh, and the link is worth clicking on for the lede alone. Funny as hell.

At his public school, Little Village Academy on Chicago's West Side, students are not allowed to pack lunches from home. Unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria.

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.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-school-lunch-restrictions-041120110410,0,2614451,full.story

 

[Ace]

She's probably correct. Not sure that she's right, however.

 

[YankeeFan]

She's probably correct. Not sure that she's right, however.

Well put.

 

[Small Town Guy]

I lived a block from our school and went home for lunch every day from fifth grade on. My parents weren't home so every day I fixed myself a lunch. Sandwich, chips, pickle, soda. Ate, watched Supermarket Sweep or Chain Reaction, and walked out the door about three minutes before we had to be back for class.

Today of course, even in that small school, kids can't leave the school grounds at noon. I think it's the post-Columbine thing. Not sure about brown-bagging it, though.

We had a kid in our grade, Eric, who went to the bowling alley every day for lunch. And all he ate was candy and Coke. He'd come back with his mouth stuffed with Skittles and Sweet Tarts. Eric did not have the healthiest lifestyle, maybe someone should have stepped in and force-fed him a glass of milk and banana.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Let's see, are there also budget problems involved in this school?

If there is, I can see why they'd be trying to get every bit of revenue they can.

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous. What about families who don't make much money, but fall above the threshold for free or reduced-price lunches? If it's $1.25 for lunch, it's an extra $25 per month that the parents have to take out of their pockets.

 

[JC]

How can you send your kid to school with a lunch that costs under 1.25?

 

[Ben_Hecht]

What utter tripe.

I'd look to get a doctor's note affirming kid's need to eat independently.

 

[Armchair_QB]

The concern about nutrition is a steaming pile of horse****.

This is nothing more than a money grab on the part of the school.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

How can you send your kid to school with a lunch that costs under 1.25?

That's what it cost when I was in school. It was 75 cents when I was in first grade and it went from that to 90 cents to a buck to $1.25 when I was in sixth grade. Nice to see it hasn't budged since then. I am against them forcing people to buy lunch, but it's hard to beat the price.

 

[Pancamo]

Not once did I eat a school lunch.

 

[nmsports]

It is infrequent that nutritious and school lunch belong in the same sentence.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Not once did I eat a school lunch.

My elementary school made a killer grilled cheese. I would buy about twice a month, when they served that and when they served chicken fried steak. Beyond that, I almost always brought my lunch.

 

[Roscablo]

It's $2 at my son's elementary school, and while there are plenty of nutritious options on most days, some days it's stuff like nachos or mozzarella sticks or pretzels with cheese dip (the latter two are actually main dish choices on occasion). We don't even give him the option when it's that type of stuff. Give me a break that for the most part school lunches are more nutritious. Plus, this isn't a decision for a school to make. It's a parent's.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Not once did I eat a school lunch.

My elementary school made a killer grilled cheese. I would buy about twice a month, when they served that and when they served chicken fried steak. Beyond that, I almost always brought my lunch.

Every Friday we had butter sandwiches and tomato soup. It's like something served in a refugee camp. It was after one of those meals I decided to start going home. But I think we too had some good grilled cheese.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

The only times I remember throwing up in school were after I had finished the school lunch.

Looking back though, the only thing I regret was the amount of soda I had with my lunches. It did a nasty number on my teeth.

 

[Batman]

How can you send your kid to school with a lunch that costs under 1.25?

Loaf of bread costs $3, a pack of lunchmeat about the same. Say you get 20 sandwiches out of each, that's about 35 cents per sandwich. Throw in a banana or an apple that costs about a quarter, and one of those flavor packets that you mix in with a bottle of water (20 cents). As a bonus, a lot of the flavor packets are sugar free.
Total cost: $1.15, not counting the bag (can be eliminated with a reusable lunch box or one of those cooler bags) and condiments (negligible cost).

 

[dreunc1542]

How can you send your kid to school with a lunch that costs under 1.25?

Loaf of bread costs $3, a pack of lunchmeat about the same. Say you get 20 sandwiches out of each, that's about 35 cents per sandwich. Throw in a banana or an apple that costs about a quarter, and one of those flavor packets that you mix in with a bottle of water (20 cents). As a bonus, a lot of the flavor packets are sugar free.
Total cost: $1.15, not counting the bag (can be eliminated with a reusable lunch box or one of those cooler bags) and condiments (negligible cost).

How the hell do you get 20 sandwiches out of a pack of lunch meat? Unless each sandwich has like half a slice of meat on it, I don't see that being possible.

 

[YankeeFan]

Let's see, are there also budget problems involved in this school?

If there is, I can see why they'd be trying to get every bit of revenue they can.

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous. What about families who don't make much money, but fall above the threshold for free or reduced-price lunches? If it's $1.25 for lunch, it's an extra $25 per month that the parents have to take out of their pockets.

I would guess that most of the students of this school are eligible for a free lunch:

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.

...

For many CPS parents, the idea of forbidding home-packed lunches would be unthinkable. If their children do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, such a policy would require them to pay $2.25 a day for food they don't necessarily like.

"We don't spend anywhere close to that on my son's daily intake of a sandwich (lovingly cut into the shape of a Star Wars ship), Goldfish crackers and milk," education policy professor Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach wrote in an email. Her son attends Nettelhorst Elementary School in Lakeview. "Not only would mandatory school lunches worsen the dietary quality of most kids' lunches at Nettelhorst, but it would also cost more out of pocket to most parents! There is no chance the parents would stand for that."

 

[slappy4428]

Bologna, cheese, mustard and lettuce on white; chips; a pickle and maybe a couple of cookies -- packed for me damn near every day for 10 eight years from first through eighth grade. Didn't get fat until I drank in college.

 

[Batman]

How can you send your kid to school with a lunch that costs under 1.25?

Loaf of bread costs $3, a pack of lunchmeat about the same. Say you get 20 sandwiches out of each, that's about 35 cents per sandwich. Throw in a banana or an apple that costs about a quarter, and one of those flavor packets that you mix in with a bottle of water (20 cents). As a bonus, a lot of the flavor packets are sugar free.
Total cost: $1.15, not counting the bag (can be eliminated with a reusable lunch box or one of those cooler bags) and condiments (negligible cost).

How the hell do you get 20 sandwiches out of a pack of lunch meat? Unless each sandwich has like half a slice of meat on it, I don't see that being possible.

You're right. My math was off. I was thinking about 20 pieces of bread per loaf. Works out to maybe a dozen sandwiches. The lunchmeat is based on a one-pound package, with two pieces per sandwich.
The new formula ups the price to about $1.50 per lunch. Not quite $1.25, unless you drink water and skip the fruit, but still in the ballpark. Probably just as healthy as what the cafeteria serves, too.