Hello Everyone!

I thought I would report back to the list as to the outcome of the meeting
with the school lunch program dietician.  Turns out, the head honcho
dietician who orders foodstuffs and designs the school lunches for over 1700
children in our region of New York came to give our local lunch lady support
(should she have to fend off slings and arrows.)

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to bite your tongue, and the
adrenaline inside your body from wanting to burst out and say something was
so strong that you started to physically twitch?  Well, here's what flicked
my switch:

Mom #1:  "Can you tell me why our children can't have a hot cereal option on
the morning breakfast menu, like oatmeal, rather than fruity loops or cocoa
puffs?

Head Honcho Dietician: Well, honestly, when you look at the nutritional
profile of both those items, with the exception of a little sugar (yes, read
that again - "a little sugar"), cocoa puffs and oatmeal are pretty much
identical nutritionally.

Mom #2:  "I volunteer in the school with the younger kindergarten classes.
I want to know why food portions can't be bigger.  Many of our children are
literally falling asleep by 11 a.m. because they are so tired and they are
not getting enough to eat.  (At this moment, she pulls from her bag a frozen
sample of a lunch tray that  she saved from the previous day's lunch menu).
She these paltry servings.  Why can't our kids get two whole servings of
mashed potatoes - you know, something that will stick to their ribs...

Head Honcho:  Because if the children get salad, that counts as a vegetable,
so they can't get a salad and a potato, because they can only have one
vegetable serving per meal.

"Mom #3:  Why can't we have a hot soup option on the menu, especially when
its cold outside. I for one, would be willing to volunteer one day per week
to help peel vegetables and serve our kids a hot bowl of soup.

Head Honcho Dietician: "Because according to our food pyramid guidelines,
soup is too high in sodium, and according to our union contract, if you
volunteer, you are taking work away from a school lunch employee."

SOOOOOOOO, at this point, the nervous tick I thought I had under control got
the better of me, and I went ballistic.  I stood up and told the honcho that
he was insulting my intelligence, and until he was willing to put childrens'
nutrition before profit or government guidelines, then we were going around
in circles.  I brought copies of the Berkely California School Lunch
program, which incorporates fresh organic produce from local growers, as
well as school gardens into their lunch program (thanks Siobahn and
Rachel!). I brought recipes from the Spirit in Action lunch program which at
least uses whole, natural ingredients in their lunches (albeit not paleo).
I'm sure he filed this information in his own compost pile!!

Stacie, you were right, but I had to try anyway.......

You can all congratulate me as I now have a new title to add to my name....

Cheers,

Judy Genova, cavegirl & homeschooler as of March 8, 2001
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