Comments on: Speaking With…: “Mrs. Q”

By: Rob Poulos

Rob Poulos — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:57:32 +0000

She seems like an interesting lady. I don’t remember my school lunches being that bad though! Pizza and tacos were my favorites, although they certainly could have been much healthier and environmentally friendly.

By: Andy Bellatti

Andy Bellatti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:51:13 +0000

Patti,

I hadn’t made that connection. I love it.

By: Andy Bellatti

Andy Bellatti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:50:42 +0000

I don’t agree that anonymous information is misinformation. It is the content that matters — not what Mrs. Q’s real name is.

The photos speak for themselves. What difference would it make if, when reading the Fed Up With School Lunch blog, you knew that Mrs. Q’s name was, say, Jane Doe?

As for the argument that parents need to take ownership — no one (especially not Mrs. Q) is denying that foods eaten at home are important. However, think about the fact that this is what children are eating during the schoolday. Food — whether negatively or positively — affects mood, concentration, and energy levels. This is one of many reasons why school food is SO important.

By: Andy Bellatti

Andy Bellatti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:47:49 +0000

I agree, Lynn — it IS commendable that Mrs. Q. has undertaken this project. She should be awarded a “Teacher of the Year” award!

By: Andy Bellatti

Andy Bellatti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:46:58 +0000

I agree with everything you say, Cheryl. There are some programs (such as S’Cool Food) that empower cafeteria employees by providing them with cooking skills and fashionable uniforms. They feel like they are PART of a process (ie: chopping and cutting vegetables for a soup) rather than a person who pushes a button to heat up the pre-made pizzas.

By: Andy Bellatti

Andy Bellatti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:45:21 +0000

Kaytee,

The second half of your comment was anger-inducing. I can’t believe food could not be donated to a homeless shelter because it was ONLY for the lunch program. Argh!

You make an excellent point about the problem presented by whole apples. They should be served sliced (unpeeled)….

By: Andy Bellatti

Andy Bellatti — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:43:39 +0000

Aileen,

Fascinating. I love the analogy you make about fueling one’s car and feeding one’s children.

By: Aileen

Aileen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:02:33 +0000

I am a former supermarket owner who started a “Shop’n Learn” program for school children.. where they came in as a field trip and learned about nutrition. I can tell you that the parents needed the education as well as the children. I toured over 1,000 local children a year, and still saw their parents making “cheaper” food choices, telling me that they cannot afford good food. Parents have to realize that cheap, processed foods are costing their children good health – many of my customers would never think of putting cheap oil in their cars; substandard gasoline; you get it…. but put processed cheap food into their children. Yes, Soda is cheaper than milk. But who called that nutrition? Lets view food as nutrition, not filler.

By: kaytee

kaytee — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:33:07 +0000

What I noticed about school lunches when my kids were in elementary school– a lot of the kids who were getting them “free”, did not eat them. Some even went directly from the exit door of the food line to the trash cans to dump the whole tray. Very few kids liked the 1% milk, so most of that ended up tossed, even when the rest of the lunch was eaten– about the only time milk was consumed, was when they had chocolate milk. Another problem– they insisted on serving whole apples. Kinda hard for a kid with no front teeth to eat… or for some of the littler ones to even open their mouths wide enough to bite in… and of course, a kid can’t bring, or get from the cafeteria, anything to cut food with.
Briefly, the cafeteria was collecting the unwanted milks and apples– and giving them to a homeless shelter (which sent somebody to pick them up). Then, they were told they couldn’t do that because the food had been purchased with federal money specifically for the lunch program….

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:22:06 +0000

Todays school lunches are reheated & prepackaged !! My mom was a school COOK!! She had to PLAN the means –ORDER the food (from REAL food suppliers ) They BAKED the bread,rolls, hotdog/hambuger buns — pizza crust — cinnimon rolls ( the class mates I see from elementry school STILL talk about her rolls LOL ) they baked the turkeys – - had REAL meat for the spaghetti sauce from scratch !! The GOV gave them flour — rice -cheese (remember the Gov blocks of cheese?? ok ok WE did have fish sticks on FRI –LOL My mom didnt have a degree but she did attend classes — and food shows — the smells of COOKING were all over the school — plus we had RECESS- – and 30 min to MOVE – STOP !! use common sense — kids NEED a break! or they CANT get up and move — we needed that play time after lunch- –

PUT the COOKING back in the schools- GET rid of the mass market pre heat FAKE food!!!