Another school "seizes" lunches from children, throws the food away by Niki2

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Another school "seizes" lunches from children, throws the food away

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Friday, March 7, 2014 18:17
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Friday, January 31, 2014 2:01 PM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
Dozens of children at a Utah elementary school had their lunch trays snatched away from them before they could take a bite this week.

Salt Lake City School District officials say the trays were taken away at Uintah Elementary School Tuesday because some students had negative balances in the accounts used to pay for lunches.

The district said it started notifying parents about negative account balances Monday. But Lukes said she and other parents were never told about the problem.

"Even if they did try to send the word out, you still don't do that to a child," she told KSL. "You don't take a lunch out of their hands."

Officials are investigating whether guidelines about notifying parents were followed, the district said. http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/us/utah-school-lunches-snatched/

Quote:
Cafeteria manager placed on leave after Utah school lunch seizures

A cafeteria manager has been placed on paid administrative leave as the Salt Lake City School District investigates the seizure of school lunches from up to 40 young students with unpaid meal tabs.

The lunches were taken away Tuesday at Uintah Elementary, a move that has sparked outcry from parents, lawmakers and outraged observers who have created a sensation on social media.

While the district initially said the decision to take the lunches was made by a district-level child nutrition manager, spokesman Jason Olsen now says that is under investigation.

Sens. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, and Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, visited the school Thursday, holding a press conference outside before joining kids for meals inside. Weiler called the incident "bullying."

"To me this rises to the level of bullying," Weiler said. "Children were humiliated."

"I think it’s an abuse of power," he said. "This person came into a school and used her power to humiliate and embarrass children and I think we ought to draw a line and say that’s not acceptable behavior." http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57472249-78/district-lunch-lake-salt
.html.csp

Quote:
"We were all blind-sided," said Erica Lukes, a parent who said her account was paid.
Read more at http://m.ksl.com/index/story/sid/28541664#hTYA9xyh2ReIgtRL.99

Fifth-grader Sophia Isom, Lukes' daughter, was met by a district nutrition manager who was monitoring accounts.

"So she took my lunch away and said, 'Go get a milk,’ ” Sophia said. "I came back and asked, 'What's going on?' Then she handed me an orange. She said, 'You don't have any money in your account so you can't get lunch.’ ”

She said the food was being thrown out. Sophia said the same thing happened to many students, and it was the talk of the lunch period.

"There were lots of tears, and it was pretty upsetting for them," said Lukes.

The district said it started notifying parents about negative account balances Monday. But Sophia's mother says she was not notified, and neither were other parents. hhttp://m.ksl.com/index/story/sid/28541664#hTYA9xyh2ReIgtRL.99

The food was thrown OUT...that absolutely boggles my mind.

KSL’s report identifies how other Utah school districts handle the problem of parents who owe for their children’s lunches. One district will allow the child to charge for up to five days. After that time, the school principal contacts the family. Two other districts contact parents via a phone call and a letter. Those practices are fairly standard across the country. It is also common practice for schools to hold student records for outstanding debts. Students who owe money to the cafeteria cannot receive report cards, do not get their records transferred to another school should they move, are not permitted to go out for sports, etc. Have public schools become so cash strapped that some have forgotten that they are there to serve the students and not the bottom line?

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Friday, January 31, 2014 8:49 PM

FREMDFIRMA

I never comprehended this stupidity in the first place - as I firmly believe public school ought to include at least one, and potentially two meals depending on the length of the day, covered by the same funding as the education.

There's more *TO* education than teaching children to pass standardized tests, and it's proven fact that providing more "downtime" and breaks during the day substantially reduces stress and psychological casualty - not to mention that meals are a time for those kids to learn and practice social skills as well as refuel biologically.

This is just mere folly, deliberately teaching them a kind of cruelty we act all surprised when they learn, and then eventually direct at US.

-Frem

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Friday, January 31, 2014 9:06 PM

ELVISCHRIST

As Fremdfirma noted elsewhere, this isn't new behavior for the right wing; they're just letting it show in public now.

Just watch. They're going to try to shift the talking point on this from "Omigawd! I can't believe they gave those kids a meal and then took it and threw it away!" to (paraphrasing here) "What the fuck is anyone letting these kids have food for in the first place?!"

Anyone wanna put money on it?

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Friday, January 31, 2014 9:10 PM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Where can I wager on your side?

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Saturday, February 1, 2014 1:02 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

It is a not-so-subtle attack on the middle class and poor in this country.
Just think for a minute. These right wing wackos attack food stamps and other social safety nets, like unemployment insurance, to criminalize and negate basic rights to hard-working folk. Only the privileged should get such benefits.

So these imbeciles running the public schools, those with a God complex (ahem, republicans Tea Party) feel free to follow suit. How dare they think they can eat lunch for free? I'm with Frem, public school lunches should be part of the education system. Why don't we put food on the table of the schools from the very farms these Congress people own (since it's paid for by our tax dollars). Check out the Farm Bill, you'll see what I mean.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by ELVISCHRIST:
As Fremdfirma noted elsewhere, this isn't new behavior for the right wing; they're just letting it show in public now.

Just watch. They're going to try to shift the talking point on this from "Omigawd! I can't believe they gave those kids a meal and then took it and threw it away!" to (paraphrasing here) "What the fuck is anyone letting these kids have food for in the first place?!"

Anyone wanna put money on it?

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Thursday, February 27, 2014 5:11 PM

OONJERAH

Rethinking Our ‘Rights’ to Dangerous Behaviors
- Mark Bittman
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/opinion/bittman-rethinking-our-right
s-to-dangerous-behaviors.html?_r=0

"... the City University of New York professor Nicholas Freudenberg
discusses in his new book, “Lethal but Legal: Corporations, Consump-
tion, and Protecting Public Health.” Freudenberg’s case is that the food
industry is but one example of the threat to public health posed by
what he calls “the corporate consumption complex,” an alliance of
corporations, banks, marketers and others that essentially promote
and benefit from unhealthy lifestyles.

"It sounds creepy; it is creepy. But it’s also plain to see. Yes, it’s
unlikely there’s a cabal that sits down and asks, “How can we kill
more kids tomorrow?” But Freudenberg details how six industries
— food and beverage, tobacco, alcohol, firearms, pharmaceutical
and automotive — use pretty much the same playbook ..."

====================== :>

"I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of
regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud."

(If Carl Jung said that, where when?)

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Thursday, February 27, 2014 5:33 PM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
Have public schools become so cash strapped that some have forgotten that they are there to serve the students and not the bottom line?

Yes.

Why? Utah.

We spend the least on education out of all the 50 states, even though our state is consistently in the black in terms of finances. Clearly we have a good sense of priorities.

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Thursday, February 27, 2014 5:52 PM

WHOZIT

All thanks Mobama and her anti fat campaign, you libs love to control other people.

PB & J + Cheetos = Evil

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Thursday, February 27, 2014 11:49 PM

WISHIMAY

I've always done my best to remain neutral (though I admit I found Romney just all manner of greasy) but I can't stand Michelle and I never have. She makes me cringe. I get the feeling she makes her husband cringe too...

I actually sat in on my kids lunches when they first changed over, and the changes actually ensured that kids ate LESS vegetables, because they aren't allowed to let them eat them in ways that taste good because of the calorie restrictions, so they put out this pathetic "veggie bar" that none of the kids would eat and the end of each week they would throw it away. Do you eat your veggies RAW all the time?? Kids just don't... Had to start packing my kids lunch. Oh, and one day she came home and said they ALL had cold bread and cheese sandwiches, and that really was the last straw. At least I ain't buying into their system anymore...

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Friday, February 28, 2014 2:52 AM

ELVISCHRIST

On the bright side, the school has now hired a PR firm to help them rehab their tarnished image. Cost? $50,000.

That's so much cheaper than a few school lunches!

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 8:52 AM

WISHIMAY

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2574157/More-1-MILLION-student
s-expressed-dislike-certain-foods-stopped-buying-school-lunches-Michelle-Obamas-overhaul-government-report.html

I ain't the only one...

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 11:32 AM

STORYMARK

Wait, kids like junk food more than healthy stuff?

Wow, that's a shocker.

Doesn't mean you give in to *children*.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 11:54 AM

WISHIMAY

Doesn't mean you treat children like they don't have taste buds... Mine is eleven and her favorite food? SUSHI.

I'm not kidding- the things they were serving were BAD. We don't know how to make industrial low fat food still taste like food. Producers hear "low fat or low calorie" and use that as an excuse to leave things OUT not put spices or flavorings IN. I literally saw several kids that had stopped eating lunch altogether that were on the reduced lunch program because it was that bad...How many times can YOU eat peanut butter and jelly as an alternative before it make YOU gag??

Once again, it's about treating children like HUMANS, not about discipline...

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 12:30 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
How many times can YOU eat peanut butter and jelly as an alternative before it make YOU gag??

Like forever, but I am weird like that - my mother told me in 1975 that some day I'd eat one cheeseburger too many and burn out on em, and yet, here we are... guess what's for lunch ?

Quote:
Once again, it's about treating children like HUMANS, not about discipline...

Indeed, exactly that.
And what they learn from us, whether we mean to teach it or no.

-Frem

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 1:17 PM

WISHIMAY

Quote:
Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
How many times can YOU eat peanut butter and jelly as an alternative before it make YOU gag??

Since I had to stop eating ANY nuts, I see why it is such a problem for people who are allergic...They are in EVERYTHING. Even things you think wouldn't like cracker sammiches, crunchy things, many many ice creams, and the chocolate granola bars...They use it as a thickener in a lot of things... It's no wonder I was sick ALL the time. And all it takes to set me off is a pea sized amount! And hubby practically LIVES off the stuff!
This planet is trying to kill me....

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 1:24 PM

REAVERFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Doesn't mean you treat children like they don't have taste buds... Mine is eleven and her favorite food? SUSHI.

I'm not kidding- the things they were serving were BAD. We don't know how to make industrial low fat food still taste like food. Producers hear "low fat or low calorie" and use that as an excuse to leave things OUT not put spices or flavorings IN. I literally saw several kids that had stopped eating lunch altogether that were on the reduced lunch program because it was that bad...How many times can YOU eat peanut butter and jelly as an alternative before it make YOU gag??

Once again, it's about treating children like HUMANS, not about discipline...

I can't find it now, but I read an article years ago about a school chef who rejected the canned crap,and made tasty meals using a lot of local and fresher foods. It ended up being cheaper than the "school food industrial sized" crap.

Making food appealing isn't that hard. I've been a vegan for a long time, and I'm never hurting for tasty dishes. It's a matter of learning by doing.

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 6:14 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Quote:

I actually sat in on my kids lunches when they first changed over, and the changes actually ensured that kids ate LESS vegetables, because they aren't allowed to let them eat them in ways that taste good because of the calorie restrictions, so they put out this pathetic "veggie bar" that none of the kids would eat and the end of each week they would throw it away. Do you eat your veggies RAW all the time?? Kids just don't...

This is not true. Kids eat and enjoy foods in a variety of ways. The number one factor is what they are used to eating at home, and what their parents eat. That's why Indian kids eat curries, and Japanese kids eat raw fish and noodles etc etc.

The problem with American/western diet is that its pretty shocking. Kids are loaded with sugar and salt from early infancy. Our diets, on average are over processed, loaded with preservatives and colourings and artificial flavours.

Healthy eating is a habit. If you'ree accustomed to eating over processed, artificially flavoured mush then you're going to have to adjust to the taste and texture of fresh foods. That's kids and adults alike.

Jamie Oliver has been campaigning about school lunches in the UK and the US, and I basically agree with a lot of what he says about diet in general.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/school
-food

school meals are not provided here in public schools generally, although they have had various breakfast programs. I am sure it is an issue in lower income areas.

Most schools have canteens or tuck shops where you can purchase food. In my day, they were filled with lollies (candy?) and junk food, as well as sandwiches. Now they tend to be pretty healthy and the kids don't seem to mind. My son's school runs a canteen 3 days per week, and its all home cooked meals, like fried rice, curry, pasta. He has the occasional lunch order when I run out of bread, like today, and he thinks they are pretty nice. He also has a flavoured milk. Very bad :(

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 7:09 PM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Doesn't mean you treat children like they don't have taste buds... Mine is eleven and her favorite food? SUSHI.

I'm not kidding- the things they were serving were BAD. We don't know how to make industrial low fat food still taste like food. Producers hear "low fat or low calorie" and use that as an excuse to leave things OUT not put spices or flavorings IN. I literally saw several kids that had stopped eating lunch altogether that were on the reduced lunch program because it was that bad...How many times can YOU eat peanut butter and jelly as an alternative before it make YOU gag??

Once again, it's about treating children like HUMANS, not about discipline...

Well, if you think its better to let them have good tasting crap...

And I ate a LOT of peanut butter and jelly. No problem there.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 9:02 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Since I had to stop eating ANY nuts, I see why it is such a problem for people who are allergic...They are in EVERYTHING.

Yeah, especially politics...
Seriously though, dietary restrictions suck, true; I have a loooong list of food allergies myself, and working around them is sometimes a hassle.
But I can usually find a way, not only for myself but for others as well, cause far be it for me not to enable someones sweet tooth - hell, I have a kickass recipe for sugar free, gluten free POUND CAKE, and that was no easy thing to come up with!

-Frem

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 10:20 PM

WISHIMAY

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:

Well, if you think its better to let them have good tasting crap...

And I ate a LOT of peanut butter and jelly. No problem there.

The thing is, the food they were eating before wasn't all that bad, now they've just used the three or four meals that fit in someone's narrow definition of healthy OVER AND OVER AND OVER. They've taken mayo off sandwiches and expect them to eat them dry, they take butter off canned veggies that already taste like formaldehyde, the pita pockets are WORSE than cardboard and what they put inside my DOG wouldn't eat (LITERALLY)and then water down sauces on pasta. If it was happening to adults there would be murders, but since it's kids it's "shut up and be thankful."

I just wish we could cut down on the institutionalizedness of it all. Many of these schools could do MUCH better, but they just do as little as they can get away with. And a LOT of the "food" goes in the trash...

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 11:34 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

sheiser, I lost my post.

All I can be bothered reposting is in response to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

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Friday, March 7, 2014 6:41 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Well, one might remember that for a long time I was desperately starveling poor, and given that I could aquire bread of dubious vintage on the cheap, PB&J was prettymuch a staple for me, I kept the peanut butter sitting on the center of the unused (couldn't afford the gas cost) stove so the pilot light would make it all melty (which makes a surprisingly good sandwich, especially with old bread!) and I could stretch it longer.

Thanks be I never got tired of the damn things, and I think part of my fondness for them is that once they represented life, as in not starving that day, not feeling the achey grind of hunger pangs, yanno ?

-F

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Friday, March 7, 2014 6:17 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

As a food for someone starving, they probably hit a couple nutritional marks. Carbs, protein, vitamin c

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