Of all the reasons my husband and I homeschool our children, lunch just isn’t one of them. I never stop to think I am saving my kids from cafeteria food or unhealthy additives; I simply want to be around my kids. Due to the implementation of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, I might have another reason to be thankful we homeschool.
“There has been a lot of fuss over school lunches recently. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has been implemented, with a goal of providing healthier meals for students. Portions have been reduced, and age-based calorie restrictions cap out at 850 calories. Apparently a lot of students don’t like some of the new options and are tossing portions of their lunch in the trash-prompting at least one Florida school district to consider installing “trash cams” to study wasted food. There is also concern that active students – such as athletes – aren’t getting enough calories to sustain their activity level.
Kari Beetch, a food server at a Kansas school, is quoted by The Salina Journal noting that they have to serve what they’re told to serve, ‘But the amount of food served should be based on the individual. Every kid needs different calories. You have one kid who’s muscular and athletic and another who’s a small, skinny kid and feed them the same calories. You can’t compare them.’
Perhaps it was predictable that a system built on a one-size-fits-all model for education would eventually implement a similar approach for lunch. And that’s yet another good reason for homeschooling. Not only can you individualize the academics, you can give your children a diet that works for them.”
*(Taken from Home School Enrichment, Issue #61 Jan/Feb 2013)
This is just one more reason I am thankful my children are at home. I don’t have to worry they are eating too much or too little, if they are getting enough calories, or if they like what they are being served.
It does make me wonder though… Exactly how far will the government go to usurp the responsibilities of the parents? Why aren’t parents rising up in protest of these policies? When will parents finally start taking back their responsibilities and stop letting someone else raise their children?
The school’s job isn’t to teach the children morality, it isn’t to make sure they eat healthy and exercise, it isn’t to socialize. The purpose of public education was to make sure every child had an opportunity to learn. Just how far will the people of America abdicate their rights, until they no longer have them?
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
~ I Corinthians 10:31
Your Turn!: What is your favorite go-to lunch during the midst of a busy homeschool day?
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Great post! Our favourite lunches are leftovers from dinner (so easy), soup (thawed from the freezer) or hummus, pita and veggies. We need something easy but still nutritious.
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Lunch contributed to our decision to pull my son out of public school. He was in 2nd grade and I was packing his lunch from home. I noticed he was barely eating anything…maybe one cheese stick or granola bar. And, I would normally pack him a juice box, sandwich, chips, etc. He finally told me that boys who qualified for school lunch would trash all their food and steal his food! My poor son would sit in the lunchroom, with his lunchbox on his lap, protecting it as best he could!!! When I notified his teacher, all she said was, “Oh, kids can’t share lunches because of allergies!” Hello?!?!? He wasn’t sharing…his lunch was being stolen! Then, because his teacher did not allow for snack time during the day, and having missed lunch, I’m sure my son’s blood sugar would drop and he started struggling in school. I’m so grateful to have him home now. He can eat warm meals, snacks, and take his time instead of being rushed. Kids only get 20 min to go through the lunch line and eat. As an adult I couldn’t even eat that fast! Why do schools not realize this???
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Oh, my! What a shame your son had to experience such meanness.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
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My kids are grazers, so instead of stopping for a full-sized lunch they tend to eat smaller portions and more frequently. My oldest at home usually refers to his “second breakfast” like hobbits. We eat a lot of turkey sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, fruit and tortilla chips with salsa and carrot sticks with hummus.
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Second breakfast and elevensies are a must!
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Cristina- I always appreciate your insights! It seems like pb&j is our go-to almost everyday! I try to give ours a little extra specialness by adding cinnamon.
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Wow, cinnamon! We’ll have to give it a try. Thank you for the lovely idea.
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In our school district, lunch was just before recess. The kids were out the door as soon as they could get away with it. Most of the lunch did end up in the trash, except the high carb items, dessert, nachos, etc. The veggie and fruit portion was almost never eaten and were pathetic looking anyway. Sugar was the featured snack at snack time. There is much more to this whole school lunch story. Feeding kids roastbeef, mashed potatoes and gravy with canned peas, back in the 60’s doesn’t look so bad when you start adding calories of what they actually are consuming, now.
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My daughter is anaphylactic to nuts, so school lunches are a concern to us.
We had a neighbor whose kid was given food-like substances to bring home in a backpack each weekend. He wasn’t eating a lot of it, so they were giving a lot of it to us. Most of it we wouldn’t eat. We finally told his mother to quit giving it to us because it wasn’t anything that we would consider eating. It makes me wonder how much of this stuff is going to the people it’s intended for.
I get tired of hearing about kids that supposedly don’t get anything to eat if they don’t go to school, and then you turn around and hear about how we have all of these obese kids and that the obesity rate for kids is increasing.
I had someone I know tell me the other day who is a librarian that now that school is out, they have them serving lunches for the kids at the library. The training and documentation they have to go through is ridiculous. They have to document how much the kids eat, etc. And they can’t allow the parents to have anything to eat. They’ve been told that if the parents want something to eat that they can direct them to a local food pantry. All at the taxpayer expense.
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Our city does free lunches for kids during the summer as well. I think they consider it a service to families who are used to kids being in public school all week with the school providing lunches. For some families this is a blessing, as the added expense of now providing lunches might be a hardship.
To be fair, they wouldn’t be feeding parents during school hours, I can see why they wouldn’t be feeding parents during the summer. And while we understand the taxpaying aspect, these parents are paying taxes as well.
As for the food-like substances. I wonder who is giving the food out to kids and where it’s coming from. I don’t remember being handed food to bring home when I was in school. Hmmm…
Food allergies are definitely one great reason to take care with meals!
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School lunches don’t factor in for me, I would just send their lunch with them, but it’s the food/candy as rewards/treats that bothers me about sending them to school. I think it’s ridiculous to assign calorie intake though in such an arbitrary way.
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We agree with your idea.
It’s interesting to note, however, some schools in our state do not allow parents to send their children with lunch. It’s would create an unfair advantage of some kids over others?
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Wow. No allowing parents to parent responsibly? Marxist insanity.
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‘It was to make sure that every child had an opportunity to learn’. Exactly. Thats why homeschooling, giving our children opportunities to learn, works! (& they don’t grow up eating bologna sandwiches like I did!) in the summer i do buy fruit roll ups, bear paws, and juice boxes for their summer camps tho–just so they know what they are;) my kids eat everything at lunch. Old enough to make their own food, they tend toward cheese quesadillas or grilled cheese (cheese often the common denominator)–or peanut butter–cant do that in school!
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My child’s school was a Charter school and parents were responsible for packing their child’s lunch. We decided to homeschool for other reasons. Lunch at home is usually light. My daughter loves carrots with hummus and strawberries. She’ll add a turkey sandwhich or maybe Nutella. Simple and healthy enough.
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If there are leftovers in the fridge, that is usually on the menu. We are fans of what we call “pick plates”, I’m sure there’s a better name for it. I’ll take a plate, roll up some deli ham or other meat in the fridge, add a handful of carrots/chopped veggies, cheese cubes, pretzels, olives, ranch or hummus….and we just graze off the plate while we work!
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Yes! Oh my goodness. Up here, in Canada, we’ve had schools give children Ritz crackers, because their lunch was “lacking a carbohydrate component”. And the parents are sent a note admonishing them for not packing a complete lunch. Excuse me? If I want my child to eat cheese, grapes, celery, yogurt, etc., but decide not to send a starch for the day, that’s my choice! Meanwhile, if a child brings a lunchable (which is FULL of sodium, simple carbs, and fat), then that’s fine…
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Love this!! I’m also grateful I don’t have to deal w/ school cafeterias anymore. Partly why we homeschool, too.
When my son on the spectrum was in K & 1st in public school, he wouldn’t eat cause he was so overstimulated w/ noise & they had only 20 minutes. He wore headphones, hated cafeteria food, so I sent chkn nuggets every day, then, his teacher gave him a hard time when he asked to warm his chicken nuggets up (like his sweet teachers did w/ no complaints for 4 years). Told him, “Next year in middle school NO one will warm your food.” I thought that was so cruel. Made me so mad cause then he wouldn’t eat & come home dragging w/ no energy.
First thing he said his first year homeschooling was, “We get an HOUR for lunch?” Bless him! I pray for all his friends all the time.
-Marnie
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Love this and totally agree. This will be my first year homeschooling my six and three year old. Totally hear you on the school lunches and parties with tons of horrible food. One of many reasons to homeschool.
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You know, my girls were in public school for the first few years, and always came home starving! They were so grumpy because they were so hungry…and they weren’t allowed to have snack time either. They lunch was so short and so rushed that no matter how much healthy filling food I packed, they never had time to eat it all. Now that we home school, I am so happy I do not have to worry about this.
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This is such a good point! Nutrition is often overlooked when it comes to choosing a place to educate kids. It’s a shame!
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