As a vegan with celiac disease I find this kind of offensive.
16 Likes
It seems like this is a combination of the “zero tolerance” policy regarding practically everything in schools these days and someone at this school getting tired of parents sending their kids to school with a juicebox and bag of chips and considering it a job well done. Yes, aside from the absurdly punitive action, the food guidelines are bogus. It’s pretty obvious that those kids probably ate better than anyone else at school that day.
6 Likes
Likely some kids would also eat whatever crackers/grains they had in the morning in the hope of getting additional snacks.
4 Likes
Yeah, the kids had a balanced meal in there, so I fail to see what in the world a grain would add to the dish. It already has plenty of carbs from the Potatoes, and the vegetables provided plenty of fiber. Grains don’t provide much else.
This is yet another story where I think there is something being left out of the report. Maybe the teacher had some sort of vendetta against the parent?
5 Likes
It’s simple. A committee has decided what a balanced meal is. If something’s missing, the teacher is not allowed to think for himself/herself. Instead, they must give the child the missing ingredient, and fine their parents.
1 Like
I think since the parents were voluntarily a part of that daycare, they can legally be “charged” (not “fined”) for supplementing a brown bagged lunch, which is probably considered a service, by the school rules.
I’m thinking that since the MCCA is the organization which created this rule for its members, and since it’s membership-funded, the daycare would be happy to get some extra cash to go towards membership fees.
Ugh. My parents would have been fined for not including milk. I once had a school lunch, and the school insisted everyone must have milk, and I threw up all over the table.
4 Likes
Exactly true, but the daycare is only forced to follow the rules of that committee because it’s voluntarily a member of the Manitoba Child Care Association, which is the organization that created that rule about what needs to be in each lunch. The daycare can think for itself, and just opt out of membership in the MCCA if they have a bunch of stupid rules like this. (Unless I’m reading something wrong.)
What surprises me about this is that they managed to sneak it past the ‘disproportionate impact on economic disparity’ test enthusiasts. Kiddo’s lunch not all artisinal fresh because you are poor like that? $5 per kid, per item, per day, suck it down. That’ll teach you to be less poor!
7 Likes
As apposed to what a grain? Sure it’s a starch, but it’s not a grain by any means…of course you could argue that if you ate the entire (or at least skin on) potato that it would be similar to the nutrient content of some of your grains.
A large cranberry brownie and an apple (or other fruit), done.
Just like Bill Cosby said, a cake (or brownie in this instance) has milk, flour, eggs, and a fruit. Epic win all around.
6 Likes
So if they included some wheat (unmilled, whole grain. i.e. a form unlikely to be eaten by most people) would it be OK.
Presumably… Clearly not a well thought-out rule.
I stand corrected. The article says “fined” but the note itself says “charged”.
As a related thought, I would dispute the consideration that Ritz Crackers qualifies as a nutriotious grain.
4 Likes
Surely they should have shown their working, for full credit?
2 Likes
Did anyone else notice that this happened almost a year ago, on Dec. 10?
2 Likes
Ritz Crackers are nasty and unappealing anyway, but these are the ingredients: Ingredients : Wheat Flour, Vegetable Oil, Sugar, Raising Agents (Ammonium and Sodium Bicarbonates, Disodium Diphosphate), Salt, Glucose Syrup, barley Malt Flour. … So it not only has sugar as its 3rd ingredient, but High Fructose Corn Syrup as well? Yep! Real healthy.
3 Likes
I love how despite getting $10 every time they dish out a cracker, the school still reaches for the very cheapest, crappiest option possible for a ‘grain’. There are multi-grain crackers that are maybe a buck more for a box but actually have fiber, less sodium and less fat. Heck, potato chips are more nutritious than Ritz crackers.
4 Likes
This is for both Natalie and Logan, so $20 M.
“Zero Tolerance” = “Zero Thought”
8 Likes
