*WG Pepperoni Pizza (offered) OR
Turkey and Noodles (not offered) OR
Chef Salad w/ Crackers
Broccoli
WG Hot Roll (not offered)
Seasoned Broccoli
*Fresh Garden Salad
Peaches and Apricots
*Variety of Fresh Fruit (apple, tangerine, nectarine)
The sign says Balanced Choices -- 1st time I've seen one of these!
The dreaded pizza day. Before this day arrived, I was warned. I was encouraged to pick something else on the menu. Anything else. "Just don't eat the pizza!"
To be true to my personal investigation of what exactly is being fed to the children in the OKCPS district, I daringly chose the Pepperoni Pizza. It's been more than an hour since I ate and I'm still paying for it.
The pizza had a metallic taste to it. The texture and overall looks reminded me of the frozen pizza's we used to get in college . . . Tony's Frozen pizza or something like that. You know, the basic cardboard with some cheese like food sprinkled with unidentifiable meats bits on top that cost next to nothing (but was a step up from Ramen Noodles). Basically the same, just a different shape. Of the kids that chose pizza, a lot of them scraped the toppings off in order to eat the bready part.
There were a lot of chef salads on trays today. With their side of fresh garden salad.
Broccoli tasted good. I'm not sure what it was seasoned with, if anything. It was full of stem pieces, which I personally don't mind, but I am aware that most kids do not like the stem parts. It would go over better if it were mostly broccoli flowers and less stems.
Fruit choice: tangerine. It was delicious!! My only complaint was how cold it was. My teeth hurt biting into the pieces. I would like to have had time to let my fruit come to room temp.
I only mention the temp because the kids don't have time for the fruit to warm up and they are not allowed to take any part of their lunch from the cafeteria. If they didn't eat, they have to throw it away. Today I watched one child try to hurry up and eat the rest of his pizza while walking to the trash can. Walking and eating.
After eating, I stepped into the teacher's lounge. One of the teachers who is on duty during breakfast said I should have had the breakfast pizza instead of the lunch pizza. "It tastes a lot better." What?? Kids that get both of their meals at school had pizza for breakfast AND lunch?? Hopefully most of those kids chose the chef salad for lunch.
This makes me think that at some point I might want to see what they are eating for breakfast for an entire month.
Another tidbit I learned today. Some schools give the meals to their teachers at no cost. Our elementary school charges everyone. I wonder how some schools can do this, but others do not?
I've had teacher friends at other schools telling me they are not getting the same lunch choices we are at our elementary school. This is confusing to me. I thought all elementary schools had to abide by the same lunch menu (within the options above).
Yesterday I received: "Again at my OKC school cafeteria, we had a different meal. BBQ ground turkey or a hamburger, with french fries and sliced strawberries. " I didn't know that BBQ ground turkey was on the menu? And at yet another school: "we had the wannbee bbq turkey sandwich . . .and fries and peas. . and a cup of applesauce. . ."
It would seem that there are two different menus floating around. I pulled my menu directly from the OKCPS Child Nutrition Service website.
What is being served at your elementary school?
Posts
Looks like my school is not following the scheduled menu. Today it was a sack lunch (sandwich) or chicken on a bun.
ReplyDeleteAs I posted on day 2 one cafeteria manager told me they were told to follow the menus for the days our schools were closed due to the weather, because they already had this food in their freezers. I asked a teacher friend of mine to ask the cafeteria manager at her school about the difference in the menus. My friend said she had told some of the teachers about this blog and they were discussing it and the different menus when a teacher said she had heard thru the grapevine that Wilson cafeteria was told to follow the current menu because of the parents at their school. After I heard this I talked to the cafteria manager at lunch and she thought all the schools were following the previous menus. The school I was at today and my children's school also had BBQ Turkey on a bun. The lady serving the lunch said I had a choice of SHREDDED BBQ TURKEY ON A WHEAT BUN, Hamburger/Cheeseburger or a Chef Salad with baked fries (that tasted like fries), carrot coins and applesauce or fresh fruit. Oh, I just heard that the pizza has a whole grain crust!
ReplyDeleteI am not trying to offend anyone posting on this blog but I do work part time for OKCPS as a sub and my children attend an OKCPS, therefore, I feel like I should defend them as best I can. As I said in a previous post I do agree that our school lunches could use some improvement, but to bash almost everything that is served at our schools is totally absurd. Guess I will wait and see what kind of complaints are posted tomorrow.
Dear Parent, Have you ever worked in a school cafeteria?It is alot different than fixing dinner for 4-5 people.The health department does not come to your home to make sure that your temps are correct on your cold and hot food and they aren't there checking to see how clean your kitchen is to make sure it meets standards.You also don't have the federal government telling you what you can and cant put in food.In a school cafeteria you have federal regulations that you have to follow. No if ands or buts.Also do your meals you fix at home meet all balanced choices? Do you have the correct amount of protein vegetables fruits and breads? Are you meeting these requirements when you fix your childs lunch to take to school? How much fat content is in your meal that you fix at home? Federal guidelines regulate all this in school meals and more.You say the food is bland. You are eating at a school where the children are 5 to 10 or 11.If those chicken rings were spicy flavored would that 5 year old still eat them? You say the salsa looked like ketchup would you rather that it burn the mouth of that 5 year old? Yeah salt, butter, sugar and other things could be added to some of the food but then you would not meet federal guidelines. And what about the children that are diabetics or have food allergies? You start adding things and you could be messing with a childs life. How about if you make the menus? You have to stop and make sure they meet federal requirements, see what kind of commodities are available or what the warehouse has in stock, figure the cost of each meal (you cant go over budget that money has to last the whole school year) and try to fix something that the kids want to eat because we dont want the children going hungry. You say you were still hungry after you ate but did you eat everything on your tray and drink all your milk? If you start putting more food on the tray you will just be adding to the problem of childhood obesity.These food trays have to meet federal standards.You want butter out for the rolls but then your adding more fat to the menu and adding to the problem of childhood obesity. You took flavored milk out of the school but you want to give them a choice of iced tea with caffeine and what, sugar. That really makes sense there. As for not having enough time to eat and let your fruit come to room temp do you even know who makes the lunch schedule that says how long a class has? Do you know who decides if 1,2 or 3 entrees will be offered at that site? Its not the cafeteria manager.And they sure don't have anything to do with how long recess is.Have you ever ate there when the kitchen was short staffed and could not get any help? They still had to meet requirements and they still had to feed the children? Have you ever told the kitchen workers thank you for feeding the children? They dont work there because they make alot of money they work there because they love children and want to make sure they get something to eat. Some children dont get anything else to eat when they get home. I was always taught if you cant say something nice to not say anything at all.It seems that other people should take this advice or find something to keep them busy.
ReplyDeleteSharlene:
ReplyDeleteLet me see if I understand this. A conscientious mother volunteers to eat lunch at her child's school every day for a month and to post her thoughts and pictures of the lunch. You think it's appropriate to call her a complainer and you feel the need to defend OKCPS because you work for them.
Quila:
You spend most of your comments explaining that it is really hard to work in the school lunch program and that you have lots of federal regulations to comply with. You conclude by saying that if you can't say something nice you shouldn't say anything at all or find something to keep yourself busy.
Ladies:
Ms. Tree has not personally attacked anyone in her postings. She is simply informing all of us about the lunches and letting us know her opinions. If the tater tots at your school are fabulous, good for you, and please continue to let the rest of us know about it. But, unless you are eating what she is eating on the day she is eating it, you are in no position to discount her report about it.
Ms. Tree is trying to light a candle here while the two of you are apparently content to live in the dark. You seem to agree that the school lunch system could use improvement, so why not try to help? If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem
I’m so happy to see all of you are as concerned about school lunches as I am. The more people that are watching the less likely the lunches will go back to what they were a year ago.
ReplyDeleteA year ago we had almost No whole grain breads, virtually no fresh fruit, canned fruit served with heavy syrup, all high sugared cereals, junk food in the a la carte line (that could be purchased after not choosing vegetables on your lunch tray), and more!
My chief “complaint” about the school lunch program is that it is mostly processed foods; nothing is prepared at the school anymore. It’s all heat and eat. The lunches look like fast food. Our children are learning that a “healthy” meal looks like McD’s or Taco B’s.
Anything in moderation is okay to have and considered healthy. So yes, even a small pad of butter would be okay on occasion. I see the mistake I made was in assuming that a roll would be served occasionally. Since it’s served several times a week, butter for it could become an issue.
In the world of flavors there are many, many, MANY more than bland and spicy. Many herbs are available to season foods without the addition of fat or sodium or sugar. Regarding your comment about the salsa burning the children’s mouths; The MILD salsa that I occasionally purchase at the local grocery does not look like ketchup. I’m not sure how it NOT looking like ketchup would make it spicy.
I never meant to imply that children should have the option of having iced tea. My concern is for those children who don’t take milk. They have nothing to drink until they are allowed to get a quick drink at the water fountain. It would be nice to see a choice of cow milk OR water or perhaps even soy milk.
I and many other parents at our elementary school have worked in the cafeteria when they have been short handed. I can tell you that it’s very hard labor. I am sure though, that most of the workers do not work there for the love of feeding children. They work there to get a pay check. And to my understanding it’s not all that great of a paycheck – they could make more if they were employed at a fast food place. I am grateful they are willing to work at our school (or any public school).
I am very aware that the cafeteria manager has little say over what is put on the menu. Our café manager is one of the hardest working persons I’ve ever met. The problems lie beyond the café.
I always tell the café workers and manager thank you. At our school we provide a food tray twice a month just for them, to show our appreciation. We know what a service it is they provide. It’s not much but it is heartfelt.
OKCPS has one of the best lunch programs in the nation. However, there are many out there that are better. MUCH better. OKCPS can and should do better. Even the OKCPS Child Nutrition Services director agrees with this.
Just a note about the teachers eating free thing- I can't speak for anyone else, but at our school, the Head Start teachers get their meals comped by Head Start- because one of Head Start's goals is for teachers to model healthy eating choices for the kids- which can be a little tricky when there aren't any healthy choices to be made.....
ReplyDeleteAt our school all other staff pays for their lunches- and many eat it.
I am pleased with a lot of changes that have happened in our cafeteria this year- we are seeing more fresh fruit, and the whole wheat rolls at my school are WONDERFUL! I do however think we have a LONG way to go...and I totally agree about the "fast food" appearance of even the "healthy" options (i.e."sensible" baked doritos-in bas with logo....can you say marketing?1?!?!?).
I was thumbing through a seed catalog with my kiddos the other day, and came to the sad realization that they do not know how to identify even the most basic vegetables when presented in a whole form....scary! I have some work to do!
-Signed, a concerned Pre-K teacher
Dear concerned Pre-K teacher,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your wonderful and helpful comments.
One of my friends told me about a Head Start program one of her children attended saying that they had a COOKING kitchen. All the lunches were prepared ON SITE.
Also, has the school where your children attend, considered a school garden? It is a fabulous experience at learning what vegetables look like in ALL stages -- well, except the processed stage. LOL!
Thanks again for your comments!!
Hi Ms.Tree,
ReplyDeleteToday is Feb. 17, but I am posting on this day as it seemed to be most deserving of support.
I personally have been enjoying and appreciate your adventures into our children's lunch room. It has really brought to my attention a subject I long since gave up on. I am forever grateful that there are still people like you that are willing to take on the hard subjects and do it with such grace and tact. It is the only way change can happen! Obviously, your presence has already had an impact with improvements. I don't hear you saying everything is terrible, I hear you saying, "Lets make it better!" I don't hear you accusing any of the lunch staff of making the decisions, rather observing what is. I don't hear you wanting to get anyone in trouble, rather raise awareness so that those that have a strong voice can begin to use it! I applaud you. and thank you again for being our eyes and ears. I will continue to follow you. Lynda