School lunch prices
May 28th, 2008 by 
Alica
School lunch prices will go up a dime a meal this fall.
Elementary students will pay $2 per meal while meals for middle and high school students will go to $2.30. Adult meal prices will be $2.80.
About 15 percent of the student body is on free and reduced price lunches.
Do you think the new prices are fair? Do your children take hot lunch at school? Do they stick to the regular lunch, or do they buy additional items a la carte? Or do your children take their own lunch to school?
Posted in Uncategorized | 
May 29th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
The prices seem fair to me. I am surprised they aren’t going up more. They serve a decent meal at their current prices.
May 29th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Have you eaten lunch in the schools lately. THe meals are not very kid friendly at all. Sweet potatos for my kids? Get Real. Yes meals should be healthy but do you really think my kid is eating his sweet potatos or just throwing them away. And Pizza that had carrots and vegetables on it. Come on.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Sweet potatoes are not kid friendly? How old should a person be to eat sweet potatoes?
May 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Exposure to new and different foods is a good thing. The school lunch program is how I personally learned to eat and like foods not offerred at home. Maybe your kids would find they like different foods - you might be surprised!
Sweet potatoes are a rich source of vitamin A - a cancer preventing vitamin. Sounds like a good thing to have kids eat.
I am not sure if the school is serving the sweet potatoes or the vegetable pizza on a regular basis or if they were “test” tries. By the way, the “student” council samples new foods on a regular basis. If the SC likes the food items it is then offerred to the entire school.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I would agree it is a good place for children to learn of different foods, however, the faculty can no longer force the children to eat. So I believe they are not trying the foods such as sweet potatoes, they are simply throwing them away. Give the faculty the authority back that they need in order to have the kids eat the meals rather then throw them away.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Go and stand by the garbage at lunch time and see what the kids are eating. They are more interested in getting outside to recess that there shouldnt even be lunch. Get a clue 4. If you think this is teaching our kids to eat different foods you are sadly mistaken, especially when they can’t be made to eat it. You really think there are that many kids that eat this stuff. Get real. Do you have any idea how much food they throw away at the end of the day as well on some days.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:38 am
I personally don’t agree with the concept of “forcing” kids to eat foods or the “clean plate club”. A variety of foods served in appropriate portion sizes is the ticket to healthy eating.
Yes, there is waste of food in the school - I have been by the garbage cans at school. And yes, there is a rush to get to recess REGARDLESS of what food is served. I do know the school district has experimented with recess before lunch and it has worked well (some grades, some schools). Kids are hungrier after recess and do eat better.
Parents also have the option (responsibility) to pack their kids lunches. This is something I have had to do as my kids don’t like some of the foods served. My kids WOULD eat the sweet potatoes and vegetable pizza - they don’t eat hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and other foods that many kids enjoy. One of my kids won’t touch anything resembling soup!
Variety and options are the keys to making the “majority” happy. After all, the district has to “please” around 2,300 kids (and teachers) per day!
It is easy to criticize the lunch program. Planning menus to accomidate a variety of people is very difficult. One must remember to keep costs in line, prep time of food, meeting USDA guidelines, variety to please all taste palates, refrigeration space, etc. Much more difficult than just serving up any old plate of food.
One question for #6. If you are so unhappy with the food served, what constructive things have you done to improve the lunch program? Anything?
June 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
Everyone has different likes and dislikes. My son, even as a toddler, loved squash but hated coconut. I love brussel sprouts but hate watermelon.
The thing is to at least try something. At school, or at home.
Granted, some things are an acquired taste. When I was a kid, I didn’t like chocolate ice cream at all. Now I do. Sometimes you have to try something more than once to develop a taste for it.
(I still don’t like chocolate milk though. Ick.)
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:57 am
We have a rule that you have to try one bite. I’m not sure if my kids follow that at school but I suspect that they might, depending on what the new food is. And some kids must eat at least part of the meal - I doubt that every kid goes hungry all day simply because of the sweet potatoes. I commend the kitchen staff for planning nutritious meals and I would tell my kids if they complained then they should help me make their lunch the night before. I belive as a parent I can either encourage my child to be picky and complain (as I notice in some of these comments) or to be adventurous and responsible. If they look at the menus they’ll know if it’s something they refuse to eat. If they go hungry once because they failed to look at the menu and plan ahead I doubt they’ll do it twice.