A long time friend of mine had a Facebook post this week that drew a lot response. Normally this is no big deal. His posts are pretty popular. The first few words “Colin” and “school” caught my eye. I thought it was another charmingly funny post about his son Colin. I, not unlike many others, love to hear about his grade school experiences. My favorite being the picture of his butt he drew in school that the teacher didn't quite appreciate. Anyway, this time it was a note about the upcoming school year. According to Sean it read, “In order to comply with state and district nutrition policies we no longer permit celebratory snacks for birthdays or class parties.” Almost immediately the comments stated pouring in. They all had the same tone. People stated how fed up they were with the state and government stepping in to fix a problem with the wrong solution. I have to admit my views are not much different.
I remember back in the day celebrating birthdays and holidays in school. I would bring less for lunch on those days because I knew I would be eating all the yummy cookies and cakes the moms brought in. I also remember going outside for recess and running till I couldn’t run anymore. Today, recess is much more structured. Some schools feel it is necessary to organize play time in order to get all of the children moving. It is true that kids don’t get out and play enough because television and Xbox keep them occupied most of the time. Let’s face it. It is not just the kids that are occupied by the flat screens. So are the adults. The truth is we all need to move more. We all need to spend more time away from our computers, TVs, and video games, but that is only part of the problem.
We get angered when the state imposes rules on us especially when it regards our children. When it comes to kids’ health, there is no one in the world that has a child’s best interests in mind more than the parent, and we don’t need the government to step in to force rules on us. The politicians need to learn how to do their own jobs before they start telling us how to do ours. So when the school district sent that letter home regarding celebratory snack food, I felt that the government was fringing upon our rights once again. But before I started to bash this policy, I needed to see just what the states position on nutrition was.
| This is protein according to the USDA. |
Reading the USDA’s policy on the school lunch and breakfast program is very taxing. It is 78 pages long, and it covers not only the dietary requirements as defined by the USDA but the cost of EVERYTHING, which is understandable. As I read past the first 10 pages, I kept thinking that nutrition doesn’t have to be this hard. Then I realized this is the government and everything really does have to be this hard. Everything needs to be worded so that maybe, just maybe, you will get tired of reading (as I did), and just give in (which I didn’t). I started to sift through the crap looking for what the USDA thought was nutritionally sound food. A few things caught my attention. I was reading the daily recommendations of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat and meat alternatives, fluid milk, calories, and saturated fat from calories, sodium, and trans fats. It all sounded good. Then I got to the definitions of whole grains and fruits. A whole grain was defined as whole grain rich. It said nothing about being 100% whole grain or made with 100% whole grain flour. If you have not read our blog on White Bread vs Wheat Bread, you may find it interesting to know that if a product only says whole grain, it may as well be made with white flour. In turn, whole grains can equal a lot less nutrients and empty calories. The same concept applies when they talk about enriched macaroni as a substitute for protein. Yes, you read that right. Enriched pasta can be used as a source of protein. But its white pasta we are taking about here, and it goes through the same process as white bread because it is made with white flour. Then they put nutrients back in to make up for what they took out. Doesn't make much sense does it? It just equals more empty calories. Then we come to the fruit requirements. Fruit doesn't always have to be fruit. Fifty percent of the daily requirement can be in juice form. We also did a blog on that. Once you remove the juice from the rest of the fruit, you remove the sugar from the nutrients that help your body digest, utilize, and properly dispose of the sugar. This is why a diabetic can drink orange juice or eat a piece of candy when they are low in sugar. It is absorbed quickly into the blood stream. There was no mention of water intake. We did a blog on that too! Water is one of the basic things the body needs yet not one word about it in any of the 78 pages.
It seems like a good portion of the requirements are based on calories. Americans have been counting calories for at least 50 years and we have gotten fatter every since. If you go by this standard some of the healthiest breakfasts would not stand up to these requirements, but some of the crappiest breakfasts would pass. Example: the following breakfast would not be enough caloric intake even for a kindergartener
1extra large egg 2 pieces of whole wheat toast | 8 oz glass of milk 15 grapes |
Total 340 calories | |
If you take this same meal and substitute the nutrient rich whole wheat bread for the empty calories in white bread and add 1 slice of bacon (assume this could count as protein even though it is the fat of a pig) then maybe it would an acceptable breakfast for K-5. My kids would never have eaten this much for breakfast at that age. Then, we would have to add another 100 calories for the grades 6-8 and another 200 for the high school kids.
Then of course we come to the center of all the FB comments: the state’s policy on foods with minimal nutritional value. It is called Title 7. You can read the whole thing on our FB page. From what I can figure out chocolate is still ok if it doesn’t contain corn syrup. I find that strange because a lot of enriched foods like bread have corn syrup in them. Soda is a no go but not because it contains loads of sugar but because of the carbon dioxide. Water ice is not expectable unless it contains fruit juice (I believe we covered the whole fruit juice thing) or real fruit. So I don’t know how Rita’s was allowed into the school lunch room last year.
I could sift through this policy for hours and find more problems with it, but the bottom line is that the state doesn’t need to tell us how to feed our kids. The government loves to put band-aids over bleeding wounds. The reason the government changed the policy on the school lunch programs is because they wanted to make fruits and vegetables more available in school meals and to help fight the obesity problem that plagues America. So they make it appear like they care by imposing regulations on schools (who are already stretched by budget cutbacks) about what they can or cannot serve and what parents can or cannot bring in to the classroom. Meanwhile big business gets to brainwash our kids by constantly bombarding them with ads and images everywhere you look. It’s not just enough to limit the TV and computer time. You would have to keep them isolated from them completely. How about a drive down the road just passing a fast food joint? You can’t escape the oversized advertisements. And forget about taking them to the super market. The focus on kids is ridiculous with movie characters on the box, toys inside, chances to win computers or an Xbox, etc. Then they hit you with the 1/3 less sugar or no sugar added so you feel good about buying it. But what you may not know is that a favorite trick of the trade is to make the portion size smaller so the 1/3 less sugar refers to sugar per serving size and the no added sugar means they added a new kind of chemical sugar to keep the taste sweet. The snack food today is nothing like it was 20-30 years ago. The food today is grown from seeds that are genetically engineered with things that don’t have to be proven safe for human consumption. The meat that is served in fast food restaurant and big restaurant chains, even the meat we buy in the super markets, is loaded with hormones. It won’t say so on any food label or warning because the corporations responsible for this food don’t have to tell you if they inject their meat with hormones. The government agencies that are supposed to regulate what goes into our food are run by the same big business that make and grow the food. The same people who run corporations that grow genetically modified foods in this country are the same people who run government agencies like the FDA and the USDA. Each year they change jobs and bounce back and forth from the corporations to the government positions. It is like a game of musical chairs only no one is left standing. They all have a seat at a new job: different position; same crap.So you are right, all you angry posts on Sean’s FB comment, the state should not be poking their nose in what we feed our kids. We need to protect our children from the government. I urge everyone to become an avid label reader and find out what is really in that food you are feeding your family. It may take time, but it is time well spent. Nothing is more important than the health of your family. When things break, like your car or something in your house, they can be replaced or fixed. It may cost money, but it can be replaced. It is not so easy to replace good health. Once it is gone it can be very hard to retrieve. You may need the help of a professional. With all the pitfalls and food traps on the market today, it is understandable that the average person would need help with such an important issue. Let us know if you have any question. We are more than happy to offer our assistance!
Written by Joan Agoglia
Edited by Robert Marshall
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