WP: ‘It’s embarrassing to the kids’: Students who owe lunch money will get only a cold jelly sandwich, district says

[tshile]

In elementary school they had a large card holder on the wall in the cafeteria. You got your card and they scanned it. Your parents reloaded the card. Pretty sure it still works that way; with the exception that right now it’s all free cause of covid 

in highschool they had a soup/salad/sandwich bar area that cost a little extra. That’s where I loved to eat so that irritated my parents. 
 

I hated and still hate packing a lunch. 

[skinsmarydu]

Work in a restaurant. 

 

You'll learn to love your own food, even if it's Bagel Bites with a couple mushrooms added. 

Trust me. 

 

Back to school lunches...

[China]

Father’s post with photos of his son’s ‘ridiculous’ school meals goes viral

 

A New York father’s social media post with photos of his son’s inadequate school meals has gone viral.

 

Christopher Vangellow shared pictures of meals severed in the Parishville-Hopkinton Central School District in upstate New York, including a number of unappetising beige meals.

 

One had four small chicken nuggets, a lump of rice, and a handful of carrots, another photo had a square slice of pizza and three orange slices. Another shows some fried balls, a bread roll and some jello.

 

 

 

“I got this photo today. It really is ridiculous. Don’t come at me with the ‘you get what you pay for’ or ‘just send them with food’ crap either,” said Mr Vangellow in his viral post last week. “The problem is that not all families can do that. We don’t live in a very rich area. Some kids may not get much or anything when at home and this is what they have to survive on.”

 

Mr Vangellow said that providing free school meals is the right thing for the government to do. “During the pandemic, all school meals are provided to students,”  he said, but added that before Covid the standard was a lot better. The National School Lunch Program claims its meals are “nutritionally balanced”.

 

“It’s not enough, it’s not nutritious enough, it’s not filling enough,” Mr Vangellow told The Independent. “Especially for the students who are athletes, no way is it going to get them through the day, let alone a basketball game.”

 

Mr Vangellow’s 16 year-old-son is six foot five inches tall, “these meals are failing those kids,” he said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

California to become 1st state to offer free school lunches for all students

 

With food prices, inflation, and food insecurity on the rise in California, leaders in education are taking action.

 

Beginning this school year, California will be the first state to implement the Universal Meals program, providing free meals to all schoolchildren.

 

The program will make sure all kids have access to free meals at school.

 

It's a big win for the district and the students.

 

Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) got a head start. Because of the need, the district was already serving free breakfast and lunch, taking the pressure off students in the lunch line.

 

Now, across the state, instead of worrying about packing a lunch, students can get yummy options at no cost.

 

On average, 1 out of every 5 Californians does not know where their next meal will come from.

 

So that's why the MUHSD's director of nutritional services says health and equity are top of mind.

 

"When a student would come through a lunch line and they were considered to be a free student, it would create definitely a barrier with getting meals during the day," says Erin Tassey.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[tshile]

There’s that hellscape California at it again 

[skinny21]

8 hours ago, tshile said:

There’s that hellscape California at it again 

[TheDoyler23]

This is a big chunk of the population as California is a huge state. Interesting to see what comes of it and I hope more states follow. 

 

[gbear]

I hope so too. I know many in MD were trying to extend it. We got it through rhw summer, but I dont know what happens next month.

[SkinsFTW]

On 8/12/2022 at 3:32 PM, China said:

 

On average, 1 out of every 5 Californians does not know where their next meal will come from.

 

 

They do have a lot of choices. Maybe it's just indecision. 

[stoshuaj]

Rachel Cox for Arkansas 9
@rachel4arkansas
Tonight I went to my son's open
house. The cafeteria went over
lunch/breakfast costs. For 1 child to
eat breakfast & lunch daily= $140/
mo. I saw the look of panic in many
parents eyes who didn't realize the
free lunch program had ended.
Universal free meals @ school must
happen.

 

**ok, idk how to imbed the tweet but there’s the text.  Anywho,  the fed program got nixed.  That puts it on the individual state to decide what’s important.  Here’s betting the athletic dept didn’t take a hit…..

FC0BB4E0-F772-4754-8404-F45972C52350.webp

Edited August 22, 2022 by stoshuaj

[Cooked Crack]

You just copy the link (either from the address bar or click the share button and an option to copy the tweet will appear), paste here, and hit enter.

 

 

 

[China]

Missouri governor responds to criticism of state's handling of summer meals program

 

A spokeswoman for Gov. Mike Parson defended Missouri’s handling of its free summer meals program Wednesday, a day after NBC News revealed the state was the only one not to allow to-go meals this summer — leading to a dramatic drop in food distributed to kids.

 

 

An exclusive NBC News analysis based on responses from all 50 states showed Missouri was the only one not to opt in to a federal waiver that permitted program operators to offer grab-and-go meals. The pandemic-era benefit vastly expanded access to the Summer Food Service Program by giving families the flexibility to take meals home rather than requiring kids to eat on site at set times. 

 

Those who ran the program across the state said Missouri’s decision not to take advantage of the relaxed rules meant up to 97% fewer meals were distributed compared to last summer.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[justice98]

I'd be curious to know what the cost to the government would be if free school lunches was universal.  We couldn't siphon off some foreign aid from somewhere and feed our own children?

 

But I'm sure folks would complain about their tax dollars going to some other kid's food.  

Edited August 26, 2022 by justice98

[Llevron]

5 minutes ago, justice98 said:

I'd be curious to know what the cost to the government would be if free school lunches was universal.  We couldn't siphon off some foreign aid from somewhere and feed our own children?

 

You would think so. But see the problem is we have Republicans. And they do not like things that help people. 

[PeterMP]

2 hours ago, Llevron said:

 

You would think so. But see the problem is we have Republicans. And they do not like things that help people. 

 

From what I know (from what my kids say), this is not one of those things that is that simple.  It sounds simple on paper, but it isn't.

 

1.  With free universal lunch at my kids' schools the desire to buy lunch went down.  My kids went from kids that occasionally bought lunch to kids that never bought lunch.  They describe the free lunches as disgusting, and it isn't like I'm packing candy bars or jello cups in my kids' lunches.  A treat is some gold fish crackers when we pack a lunch.  But for the last year plus every day, they'd rather have what I'm packing vs. what the school was giving.  The school used to sometimes bring in pizza or cold cuts from local restaurants but with the rules from the universal lunch that went away.  My kids would always "buy" those days and some other random times they'd decide to buy.

 

Then as part of that, I suspect you've also increased the stigma of actually getting and eating a lunch for people that are poor and need the lunch.  The way my kids at least talk, anybody that is actually getting a lunch to it is going to stand out.  I also suspect those kids are eating less of what they are getting.

 

2.  From what I'm told, I suspect that food waste has gone up.  With lunches being free, the school isn't tracking who gets how many lunches.  So if there is one good thing on the lunch, some kids (I'm told the "boys") will go get multiple lunches, eat what they want, and throw the rest away.  You have to take a whole lunch.  My oldest daughter describes the pudding they get as fake and not good, but apparently the "boys" like it, will get several lunches (go through the line several times), eat the pudding and throw the rest away.

 

So, yes we everybody that needs a lunch should be able to get a lunch.  But we need to balance that against serving food that kids actually want to eat and not wasting food.  And I'm not at all sure that universal free lunch is a good way to do that.  And one way to reduce the stigma of eating the school lunch and being able to pay for meals that kids want to eat, and minimizing food waste is to charge people that can afford to buy lunch for lunch.

[Llevron]

6 minutes ago, PeterMP said:

 

From what I know (from what my kids say), this is not one of those things that is that simple.  It sounds simple on paper, but it isn't.

 

1.  With free universal lunch at my kids' schools the desire to buy lunch went down.  My kids went from kids that occasionally bought lunch to kids that never bought lunch.  They describe the free lunches as disgusting, and it isn't like I'm packing candy bars or jello cups in my kids' lunches.  A treat is some gold fish crackers when we pack a lunch.  But for the last year plus every day, they'd rather have what I'm packing vs. what the school was giving.  The school used to sometimes bring in pizza or cold cuts from local restaurants but with the rules from the universal lunch that went away.  My kids would always "buy" those days and some other random times they'd decide to buy.

 

Then as part of that, I suspect you've also increased the stigma of actually getting and eating a lunch for people that are poor and need the lunch.  The way my kids at least talk, anybody that is actually getting a lunch to it is going to stand out.  I also suspect those kids are eating less of what they are getting.

 

2.  From what I'm told, I suspect that food waste has gone up.  With lunches being free, the school isn't tracking who gets how many lunches.  So if there is one good thing on the lunch, some kids (I'm told the "boys") will go get multiple lunches, eat what they want, and throw the rest away.  You have to take a whole lunch.  My oldest daughter describes the pudding they get as fake and not good, but apparently the "boys" like it, will get several lunches (go through the line several times), eat the pudding and throw the rest away.

 

So, yes we everybody that needs a lunch should be able to get a lunch.  But we need to balance that against serving food that kids actually want to eat and not wasting food.  And I'm not at all sure that universal free lunch is a good way to do that.  And one way to reduce the stigma of eating the school lunch and being able to pay for meals that kids want to eat, and minimizing food waste is to charge people that can afford to buy lunch for lunch.

You know those are all really good points I never really thought of 

[SkinsFTW]

1 hour ago, PeterMP said:

  And one way to reduce the stigma of eating the school lunch and being able to pay for meals that kids want to eat, and minimizing food waste is to charge people that can afford to buy lunch for lunch.

 

But then how do you decide who can afford it or not. I know that my broke parents would have never tried to get us free lunch at school even though they would have qualified for it, and back then it wasn't that bad. My mom always said that they didn't have money to buy the school lunch, never gave money to get it elsewhere, and who wants to bring a sandwich that sits in your backpack 1/2 the day before lunch? So when I was old enough I got a job and ended up eating cheetos, doritos and candy bars for lunch eveyday.

[Larry]

27 minutes ago, SkinsFTW said:

My mom always said that they didn't have money to buy the school lunch, never gave money to get it elsewhere, and who wants to bring a sandwich that sits in your backpack 1/2 the day before lunch? So when I was old enough I got a job and ended up eating cheetos, doritos and candy bars for lunch eveyday.

And look how you turned out.  

[PeterMP]

3 hours ago, SkinsFTW said:

 

But then how do you decide who can afford it or not. I know that my broke parents would have never tried to get us free lunch at school even though they would have qualified for it, and back then it wasn't that bad. My mom always said that they didn't have money to buy the school lunch, never gave money to get it elsewhere, and who wants to bring a sandwich that sits in your backpack 1/2 the day before lunch? So when I was old enough I got a job and ended up eating cheetos, doritos and candy bars for lunch eveyday.

 

I'm not quite sure what your point is here.  Kids for generations have taken sandwiches as a key part of a lunch.  I did.  My one daughter still does essentially.  I used a brown paper bag.  She uses a lunch box.

 

That's how bad the lunch was last year where I live.  She'd rather take a sandwich essentially every day as a part of her lunch than eat anything they were serving for lunch.

 

Always helping people that will refuse help is going to be hard.

 

But if your point is that as a kid you preferred junk over what your parents sent or what the school served as lunch (presumably the money you spent on candy and Cheetos could have been used to buy a lunch), nothing has changed and the universal lunch they offered last year didn't change that.

Edited August 27, 2022 by PeterMP

[China]

Hunger advocates want free school meals for all kids. It's tough sell in Congress

 

When the government made school meals temporarily free to virtually all public school students in 2020, the intent was to buffer children and families from the spike in hunger and economic hardship caused by the pandemic. It also inadvertently turned out to be a pilot project for something anti-hunger groups had been pushing for years: making school food free, permanently, for all public school students, regardless of income.

 

Once free meals were in place, albeit temporarily, many advocates thought that they would at least remain that way for the rest of the pandemic—if not longer. That didn't turn out to be the case; this spring, Republicans blocked an extension of the waivers that allowed schools to serve free meals to all, which made the prospect of legislation establishing universal school meals remote.

 

This fall, schools are once again charging for lunch and breakfast, and people who run school food programs are back to the familiar scramble to get students signed up for free and reduced-price meals — and to the familiar worry that some kids will feel stigmatized for getting free meals, end up in lunch debt or go hungry.

 

Those arguing for universal free meals say that it would put an end to that stigma and to administrative hurdles that can prevent parents from signing their kids up.

 

While advocates say Republican opposition to expanding school feeding programs is daunting, they haven't given up on the idea of making school meals free for all. Instead, they're trying to keep the momentum going by backing state-level efforts that could eventually lay the groundwork for federal action.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[dfitzo53]

I think it's extremely important that we find a way to provide the best lunches for school kids we can on a reasonable budget. 

 

That said, I can confirm there is an *enormous* amount of food waste with current system. (I've been a middle school teacher for 15 years.) Students have to take the whole lunch as PeterMP said, but might only eat one item and the rest goes in the trash. It's a problem. 

[China]

School lunch is too costly for a growing number of families. Will a White House pledge help?

 

The end of universal free school meals has left a growing number of families in a financial quandary: unable to keep up with school lunch payments, yet unable to qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

 

A flood of families have applied for a price break now that school meals cost money for the first time since the early days of the pandemic, and sky-high prices of other essentials constrict parents’ budgets. Many families are within $100 of the modest limit for qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, according to school nutrition directors.

 

“I’ve cried with a lot of families,” said Angie Richey, nutrition services supervisor of Roseville Area Schools in Minnesota. “I had to tell one family of six that they were $33 over.”

 

A dozen school nutrition directors — from districts large and small, urban and rural, wealthy and low-income — told NBC News they have had to reject applications from a mother whose insulin price rose significantly; a father who lost his job during the pandemic and has found only part-time work since; and a mother of five whose only income is disability payments because she has cancer, among others.  

 

The Biden administration last week announced a years-long goal of making universal school meals permanent. But it still requires the approval of a divided Congress, and advocates are pushing for immediate action. 

 

The White House strategy starts by expanding access to free meals to 9 million children by 2032. While anti-hunger experts lauded the proposal, they also said many families could not wait for help.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[dunfer]

“I’ve cried with a lot of families,” said Angie Richey, nutrition services supervisor of Roseville Area Schools in Minnesota. “I had to tell one family of six that they were $33 over.”

 

****, instead of crying give em 33 dollars you ****ing hypocrite

[skinsmarydu]

3 minutes ago, dunfer said:

“I’ve cried with a lot of families,” said Angie Richey, nutrition services supervisor of Roseville Area Schools in Minnesota. “I had to tell one family of six that they were $33 over.”

 

****, instead of crying give em 33 dollars you ****ing hypocrite

I think that meant that their income was $33 more than could be considered for the free lunch credit.  (I do love your "go get 'em", tho)