Just How Unengaged are Parents?

The news of how the rights of parents are being usurped is commonplace now. We now have the news that in Chicago, it is up to the principal of the school how children are fed lunch during the school day. The school district allows a person that the parent has no control over the hiring of, to decide if the child can bring lunch from home. Other schools in Chicago have the right to take away snacks if they contain too much sugar or salt. Who exactly decides what is too much? In Fairfax County, Virginia they are playing around with the chocolate milk to get the "right amount" of sweetener. Apparently, this is a concession to the parents who wanted the milk to be brought back as a choice for the kids, as it was removed from schools recently. Children need the vitamins they get from milk and some will not drink white milk. While I wouldn't give my kid chocolate milk with every meal, having it at lunch during the week is not going to kill them.


In the Chicago school system the principal feels that she is protecting the students from unhealthy choices. What she is really saying is that parents are too stupid to make good choices for their children. This is the liberal orthodoxy of the one size fits all. She knows far better what is right for every child in that school than their own parents do. The reporter that went to school noticed that many of the children just threw out the food uneaten.

At Little Village, most students must take the meals served in the cafeteria or go hungry or both. During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten. Though CPS has improved the nutritional quality of its meals this year, it also has seen a drop-off in meal participation among students, many of whom say the food tastes bad.

The reporter also talked to several parents about this program:

"Some of the kids don't like the food they give at our school for lunch or breakfast," said Little Village parent Erica Martinez. "So it would be a good idea if they could bring their lunch so they could at least eat something."

"(My grandson) is really picky about what he eats," said Anna Torrez, who was picking up the boy from school. "I think they should be able to bring their lunch. Other schools let them. But at this school, they don't."

Then we have this parent:

But parent Miguel Medina said he thinks the "no home lunch policy" is a good one. "The school food is very healthy," he said, "and when they bring the food from home, there is no control over the food."

There is no control over the food? This is an elementary school, who exactly is buying the groceries and packing the lunch at this home? You have no control when you turn it over to someone else, not when you are packing it yourself. This is just one further example of the how our society has turned into a bunch of sheeple who are allowing complete strangers to make our choices for us. This sounds more like a man who can't be bothered to take care of these issues for himself. He would much rather than other people make the choices for him.

I am not a big believer in letting young children drink soda. There is far too much sugar in it. I am also not a big believer in many of the so-called "juices" on the market. Many of them of so full of sugar that they may as well drink the soda. But there are good juices out there. You can even buy Kool-Aid and control the amount of sugar you put in the drink yourself. Children can be very picky eaters. If they are being given food that they don't like they just won't eat. I don't eat food that I don't like, why would children be an exception to that?

I know a mom who is kind of a control freak and plans her menu a week in advance. She does most of her cooking on Sundays for the week. Her child gets things like a smoked turkey sandwich on wheat bread with provolone cheese and mustard. Sometimes he gets peanut butter on wheat with spreadable fruit that has no added sugar to it. He gets things like carrots with low-fat ranch dressing for dipping. He is also is given apple slices, crushed pineapple in juice, yogurt, vegetable soup, or sliced chicken breast. He also is willing to eat cold chicken meatloaf. I seriously doubt anything given in a school cafeteria is any healthier than this. More than likely that food contains more fat and sodium, as I am sure much of the food is processed. The budgets for school lunches is very small and they buy in bulk. (Although the school system gets a kickback from the federal government for each school lunch sold....hmm they make money from forcing this policy on parents.)

What I found most annoying about the article about the Chicago schools is that it seems that many of the kids and the parents are not happy with this arrangement, yet they do nothing about it. These are their children. If you don't want your children to go hungry because they don't like the food choices that someone else is making for them then stand up and do something about it. There is no reason that these parents cannot demand that this policy be thrown to the wastebasket where most of the school lunches end up.

There is nothing wrong with schools trying to teach children about the benefits of a healthy diet and exercise. What the problem is that they are usurping parental rights. It is high time that parents start being engaged in what is going on their kid's school and their lives for that matter. They are paying for that school. Public schools are not free, your taxes pay for them. The nanny state is no longer is just creeping into our lives, it has become an all out assault. I, for one, am not going to go quietly. If the majority of the parents in this school system start demanding their rights as the parents of these children, the school will back down. Just ask the parents of Fairfax County. While chocolate milk may seem like a small thing, it is a victory for all freedom loving people.

The Food Police Are Coming

It seems that President and Mrs. Obama had a private chef even before coming president.  His name is Sam Kass.  He is young man who after Obama took office relocated to Washington to become one of the chefs for the President. 

He has recently been promoted to Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives.  I am not 100% certain what it means, except for the fact that we becoming more and more of a nanny state everyday.  I am person who believes that eating healthy is important.  I had very bad eating habits as a child and it took me a long time to get myself to eat better.  Which I did over time. 

There is no soda in my house. I rarely drink anything that is carbonated.  I love veggies that you get from your own garden.  Fresh zucchini is one of my all time favorite things to eat.  I have many recipes, including one for muffins. These muffins are a sneaky way to get kids to eat vegetables.  They don't realize that they are eating something that is healthy and you are giving them a taste for it.  Which will make it easier to get them to eat it with dinner, put fresh veggies in ground turkey and grill a burger. 

At my house, fast food is the Whole Foods salad bar.  I try to live by a 80/20 rule.  I can eat junk on occasion because I overwhelmingly eat good foods.  For example, tonight I went to Baskin Robbins and had a three scoop hot fudge sundae.  I don't feel bad about because I had skinless chicken breast and corn for dinner.  This is how I choose to live my life.  I don't do this because anyone else has told me to.

I am not a big believer in using a television and video games as a babysitter.  When I was young we stayed outside playing until it got dark.  We even went out in the snow and the cold.  Over the summers we went swimming everyday.  I grew up on the water and Jet Skiing and water skiing was just part of the routine.  We played hide and seek and had these huge neighborhood games of Kick the Can.  Again, I realize that the world is different, you don't let your kids run around outside in the same way that I did as a child.  But, parents can take their kids to the local playground, the local school yard or whatever else they may have in their area.   One of the reasons that kids are so fat these days is because they don't play baseball anymore, they are sitting in the house using their X Boxes instead.  If you can afford to pay for these video games you can afford the Wii that will have some games that will at least give their child some sort of exercise. 

I am sick and tired of the federal government trying to tell me what to do.  If people don't realize that eating at McDonald's on a regular basis is bad for you, then we have bigger problems than the government can solve.  They are either willfully blind, or just plain stupid.  Neither of these things can be cured by the federal government. 

Even if you don't have the room for a garden, like I do, you can still buy vegetables.  They sell them in the can in almost every store across America.  They are not as healthy for you when they come out of a can, but it sure as heck better than eating chips.  Even if you are on a tight budget, you can eat things like beans and rice. This not only contains healthy things for you, it is also very filling.  It can go a long way when you don't have much money. 

Many people are obese because of genetics and/or medical problems.  Some people are obese simply because they are to lazy to eat well.  They don't want to cook, they would rather go through the Burger King drive through because it is easier.  The federal government can not and should not do anything about that.  Anytime you buy something in the grocery store it has the nutriental information listed.  If people choose to ignore this, there is nothing the federal government can do.  Although, they want to try.  Nanny Pelosi and her ilk have decided that putting the info on the front of the package is going to make all the difference in the world.  Somehow if they don't have to turn the box around they won't buy it.  It is further proof that Obama truly believes that I am too stupid to make good choices for myself and I am in desparate need to have him make those choices for me.  Well, I say no thank you.  I know all one my own if I eat at McDonald's I am eating something that is unhealthy, I know for myself that you need to get up and do something in order to stay in shape, I know for myself that if you don't buy chips and soda you severally limit the amount of junk that your kids are eating.  I know for myself that if you give them healthy snacks they start asking for them.  I know for myself if you give them juice and water instead of soda they won't ask for it over time.  I know for myself that you can give them apples and dried fruit as snacks instead of chips and ice cream.