Kids who cannot afford school lunch are given a cheese sandwich and a juice box.

[mfcorey1]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41631002/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition

At the turn of the new year, the Lee County, Fla., public schools were losing about $2,000 a week on school lunches. Then came the cheese sandwiches.

When classes resumed Jan. 3 after the winter break, the district — the 40th-largest in the United States, with about 80,000 pupils — had a problem. Up to 1,100 pupils weren't paying for their meals, school officials say.

An msnbc.com-NBC News special report

[JVS]

1. Ok.

:popcorn:

[petronius]

43. It's like the unlooked-for return of an old friend...

:)

[JVS]

55. It seems less controversial now. Austerity has been taking its toll on our standards.

[fizzgig]

47. budge up and pass some of that popcorn

is it too early for a beer if i don't have to work?

[NoPasaran]

61. That's what holidays are for

:beer::popcorn::beer:

[rfranklin]

2. Fire one contractor in Afghanistan or Iraq and you can feed these kids...

for an entire school year.

[KittyWampus]

19. free lunch IS AVAILABLE. It's up to the parents to apply for it.

[Gormy Cuss]

53. and if the parents don't, the kids are singled out with the cheese & juice box special.

Yeah, that's a good policy.

[proud2BlibKansan]

75. Many don't qualify.

[CreekDog]

79. does it sound nutritionally adequate to you?

:shrug:

[lonestarnot]

3. But give those richies their tax cuts. Big oil needs the dough more than kids need something other

than a cheese sandwich. Less water use that way. :hurts:

[Statistical]

5. Funding wasn't cut for NSLP. Parents were (negligently) not using it.

[lonestarnot]

10. So the money evaporates? Where did they put it?

[Statistical]

15. Most govt programs are "use it or lose it".

The budget allocates $X for program if it isn't all used then it doesn'r contribute to the deficit.

The point is there is money available for free and reduced cost lunches. All parents need to do is apply for it.
That is a far better solution than sending their kid to school without food or money. It has to be horrible on kid self esteem AND it burdens school districts with an unnecessary cost.

[lonestarnot]

23. A cheese sandwich every day could be hard on a kid's butt. Why make a spectacle of a kid because he

or she doesn't have lunch money. Opens doors to bullying too.

[Statistical]

28. Personally I would charge each parent with child neglect

but maybe the school figured this is an easier solution. It seems to have worked. 750 parent finally got off their lazy assees and got on the NSLP.

A win-win-win.
Kid gets good lunch.
Struggling parents get reduced/no cost.
School isn't burdened with unnecessary cost.

That being said what the parent did is child neglect and should be investigated. Sending a kid to school without money, voucher, or food from home is neglect. Period.

[lonestarnot]

30. Totally agree with that! Maybe they were overwhelmed with paperwork of homelessness and let it

slide. Seems like a large number of overwhelmed if that is the problem. Sounds like something further or :shrug:

[Phentex]

41. or just outright ashamed...

at some point in elementary school, we went on the free/reduced lunch program. I ate breakfast and lunch at school. But something happened by high school and my mother did not complete the forms. I think she was too embarrassed or maybe we stopped qualifying because she worked 3 jobs. So we just didn't have lunch money unless I paid it myself... which I did but not all the time. I think my mom was overwhelmed and embarrassed AND in denial about so many things.

[Bill McBlueState]

54. another angle on the pride thing

I know of a couple families who are obviously eligible for various benefits but don't take them because they imagine themselves to be Upstanding White Citizens™, not "welfare bums."

Their kids could be enjoying a higher quality of life but for their parents' philosophy.

[Phentex]

57. True...

Parenting is hard no matter how you slice it.

Still, I'd rather have welfare bums who eat than any single person going without food.

[proud2BlibKansan]

76. They changed it this year.

Many who used to qualify don't anymore.

[KittyWampus]

20. There are free lunches. For families who apply for it. This is about parents who fail to.

[Dappleganger]

35. Yes--typically it's a family in denial.

[WatsonT]

37. There is money available for free lunches

other than cheese sandwiches.

The parents chose not to sign up for it for whatever reason.

Its the whole leading a horse to water thing with the added caveat that after the horse refuses to drink he blames you for his thirst.

[Statistical]

4. Looks like it worked ....

"Within two weeks of instituting the new rule, Lee County schools had cut their losses on unpaid meals by 80 percent, Nagy said. Nearly 750 pupils signed up for free or reduced-price meals, the district reported, and now the district serves an average of only two alternate lunches a day at each of the system's 87 schools."

-----------------------

If you can't afford a school lunch you apply for benefits and get a reduced or free school lunch. However instead of doing that some parents (hundreds of parents) simply chose to send their kid to school knowing the school would feed them anyways. There was unused money on the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) but at the same time schools were facing unpaid lunches.

So federal money was not being used (because parents didn't apply for benefits) and school budgets were getting crushed.

[Aerows]

7. Can they not

bring a sack lunch from home? That's what I did as a kid. I know times have changed, I was just wondering if you weren't allowed to do that anymore.

[lonestarnot]

9. A in case you haven't noticed, groceries cost dough, people don't have dough to buy a fucking sack

let alone a peanut to put in it. WTF!

[Badfish]

11. You are implying people don't eat

because it costs money.

P&J is pretty cheap , if you can't afford that , then you aren't eating ,school has nothing to do with it, lunch is lunch, no matter where you are sitting.

[lonestarnot]

13. That would be true. Kids are not eating. Where have you been?

[KittyWampus]

14. then make sure you apply to have your kids get a free hot lunch.

[lonestarnot]

31. I wasn't talking about my kid. My kid never stops eatting. He's an eat'n machine!

}(

[Aerows]

27. Just asking!

I was just wondering if you could still do that. It's been a while since I've been to school LOL.

[lonestarnot]

32. I would imagine they still do that, but don't bring the butter knife for the PBJ. 0 tolerance

[shimmergal]

44. Yes. At least my granddaughters

carry a lunch to school every day. They say the food served for school lunches is horrible. I don't know whether this is true or not, but it seems to be a common complaint. Anyway, if they're going to eat anything at lunch, we have to pack one for them.

[Aerows]

58. Lunches at my school were awful

I brought lunch in self-defense. Even the milk tasted sour to me, and believe me, I've drank enough milk in my lifetime to know when it doesn't taste right.

I was just wondering because I didn't know if the policy had changed and you were forced to buy lunch or something. If it was anything like what I saw them serve at my school, aw, hell no.

[rucky]

6. They need to get these families on Title I.

I hope this news story helps let families know of their options, and there's no reason for the schools to hide this from parents - and I don't think they are. So in this situation, a grilled cheese is an appropriate short-term solution.

[Le Taz Hot]

8. I don't understand the reason

fresh meals aren't prepared anymore. They're CERTAINLY much cheaper and much better for you. I'm in the middle of the Boomers and overcrowded schools were the norm yet the cafeteria managed to make home-made, nutritional meals. Replacing the ready-made, pre-packaged chemical-laden crap with fresh ingredients will cut the food budget and enable more students to eat at little or no cost.

[Dappleganger]

34. Quite true...

right now what passes as "food" is mostly processed-carb junk.

[SoCalDem]

70. You have to hire cooks & have cooking facilities

Many of the "newer" schools are awash with microwaves & steam-tables for reheating

You also have to hire REAL PEOPLE to prep, cook & clean up.

Using the "system" they have now, you only need people to nuke it, pass it out, and the the custodians clean up the mess..

Here's what MY high school menu was:

(from a thread the other day.. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=431222

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts)
Thu Feb-17-11 11:30 AM
Response to Reply #477

480. Ours had:

every day:
home made chili
home made vegetable soup
home made chocolate cake
green salad
assorted jellos
little cuplets of choc or vanilla ice cream (with the little wooden spoon on top)
home made parkerhouse dinner rolls
hamburgers (not frozen & reheated)
hot dogs
cooked corn
green beans
scalloped potatoes
macaroni & cheese
small bags of chips
apples
oranges
peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
iced tea (unsweetened)..and there were no sugar packets, or salt & pepper on the tables
water
milk (no flavored milk)


and then every day there were a few "specials"
(some of the ones I remember)

lasagna
goulash (to DIE for)
sloppy joes
spaghetti
ham & beans
baked chicken
ham
roast beef
meatloaf

Our cafeteria was SO good, that we had three tables to one side that the people from nearby businesses used .. They paid $3.00 for lunch & augmented the lunch program.

Our "lunch-ladies" showed up in three shifts:

the bakers & prep people showed up at 2:00AM and left around 7
the next shift showed up then, and cooked the main dishes..they left around 2
another shift showed up at 10AM and stayed for clean up ..left around 3PM

[WatsonT]

12. Ok . . . ?

What's wrong with a cheese sandwich?

[Aerows]

59. If there is something wrong with it...

... it didn't impact me, because I always brought my lunch. It was either PB (don't like J) or cheese and mustard. If anything, I think I got a better deal eating that, in retrospect, that what I saw other kids eating.

[Bunny]

16. It's good to see the cheese sandwich replace circumcision as the hot GD topic.

We haven't had a good cheese sandwich thread in ages. :thumbsup:

[redwitch]

52. DUZY!

Honestly, the things we fight about!

[HockeyMom]

17. We made our own spaghetti sauce from scratch

We cut up, cleaned, breaded, and baked our own chicken. Besides fresh salads, I even made potato salad and cole slaw from scratch. However, this was about 10 years ago on LI when I worked in the cafeteria. The majority of the food was fresh and made from scratch. Yes, the majority of the kids weren't on free/reduced meals there, but some were. Actually, my own kids were when my husband was out of work. These kids weren't given cheese sandwiches. They got the same food as everybody else.

I now work in a Title 1 school in Collier. The majority in this school DO get free lunch. While the food isn't as freshly prepared as that school in NY, they DON'T just give these kids cheese sandwiches. Isn't the whole purpose to provide a healthy, nutritious lunch to poor kids who may not be getting it at home?

I work-now 1:1 with a disabled boy who I have to feed. His Mom, before she knew about the free lunch, used to send in Kraft Mac and Cheese EVERY SINGLE DAY. That was IT. He ate this for over a month. This was a major reason why we got her son on the free lunch program.

[Statistical]

21. You misunderstand. Kids on NSLP getting free or reduced lunches didn't get cheese sandwhich.

Some parents simply never applied to NSLP. They just sent their kids to school with no money, no reduced/free lunch, no food from home and expected the school to handle it.

There IS money available by NSLP but the schools can't just take that money. Parents need to apply. So kids who
a) didn't have money (because parents didn't give them any)
b) AND aren't part of NSLP (because parents negligently didn't sign them up)
c) AND didn't have any other food (because parents sent them to school without any)

got a cheese sandwich. According to the article the plan caused 750 parents to sign their kids up for NSLP.

A win-win. Kids get hot meal AND school gets the funding they need.

[proud2BlibKansan]

77. And you misunderstand. Many children who are poor don't qualify.

Their parents still can't afford to pay for a lunch. But they earn too much to get it for free.

[Statistical]

84. Hardly.

The cutoff for in 2010 for family of 4 was $28K for free lunch, and $42K for reduced lunch.

The article even indicated that after starting the cheese sandwich program 750 parents signed up for NSLP and no-payment rates dropped 80%. That would indicate it was eligible parents who simply opted to do nothing (send kid to school with no NSLP access, no money, no food).

Sorry that is child neglect IMHO.

[LuvNewcastle]

18. This is parenting issue.

If a child is not eligible for a program and doesn't have money for lunch, the parents should be notified and it should be determined why the parents aren't feeding their children. If it isn't a poverty issue, there should be an investigation as to what they are doing with their kid's lunch money. Some of these kids might have parents who are unfit to care for them.

[Statistical]

22. Even worse is that the overwelming majority of the kids WERE eligible for free/reduced lunches.

Parents simply didn't give enough of a shit to apply. As a result they just sent their kids to school without money, NSLP free/reduced lunch voucher, or food. They just figured the school would "deal with it".

The school said that within a couple weeks 750 parents had signed their kids up for NSLP and non-payment rate declined 80%.

[LuvNewcastle]

29. In my opinion, that kind of irresponsibility

is criminal. A parent's top priority is to make sure the kids are fed. You don't send your kids out to forage like wild animals.

[WatsonT]

36. There is something wrong with this country

parents get outraged that their kids are getting served what would we be a fine meal in most of the world for free because they couldn't be bothered to sign up for a slightly better meal for free.

Sucks that the kids get stuck in the middle of it but the entire blame for this seems to fall on the parents.

[exboyfil]

39. It is better than that

For several years I ate lunch at the elementary my daughters attended on Good Friday (I have it off - they do not). You would be amazed at the amount of food which is thrown away. We are talking good food here. I was frankly disgusted by the situation.

The same happends in the nursing home my grandma is in.

It is also my observation that many kids treat their high cost education in the same fashion. My daughters have had a number of classes in which the level of disruption has made teaching impossible. We are spending over $9K/yr and, in many cases, it is like throwing the school lunch away.

[Gaedel]

51. Agree

My niece is on the free breakfast and lunch program and she says a lot of kids take a bite, decide they don't like it, and throw most of the food away. She was amazed by the waste. Tehy also f=get several choices each meal, so they should find something they like.

[WatsonT]

60. Yeah, throwing away food that is still edible

has always bothered me. Considering how much work went in to producing it and what it represents just go ahead and finish your plate and order less next time.

[exboyfil]

67. My family absolutely cannot

throw food out. We bag everything when we are at restaurants (including the bread which would be pitched). We keep a very close tab on what we have in the refrigerator and make sure that older things get moved to the top of the list for consumption. We were both raised that way I guess.

The other thing we are working real hard at (me more than the rest of my family) is minimizing the purchase of processed foods.

[WatsonT]

69. It's a good way to save money

I had a roommate once who absolutely refused to eat any food once it had been put in the fridge. Weird thing was she would cook a tremendous amount of food that she couldn't possibly finish in one sitting. It worked great in the beginning when we got along because she'd offer me all the leftovers (which I never mind, I'll eat food until you can actually tell its gone bad).

But then when things soured (long story) she stopped sharing. Fine with me, it was her food, but then she'd leave it in there until it rotted and when I threw it out because of the smell she would get livid that I was stealing her food. It was a bizarre mentality.

Long rant, only tangentially related, but this reminded me of it.

/love going out to eat with other people because I generally get their leftovers! Hate the times I forget and leave it on the table.

[Ilsa]

73. I tend to agree. It's the parent's responsibility to make certain their child either

Takes a lunch to school, has money for lunch, or gets into a program for free or reduced-cost meals. I can understand if there was something that happened, like a recent job loss, but some parents aren't paying attention. Either they need guidance or they need help raising their kids. And the help won't be coming if Assemblies and Legislatures are slashing budgets for social services.

[WolverineDG]

24. not this again

:eyes:

A cheese sandwich is a lot more healthier than the glop the cafeteria normally serves. And a fuckload more food than most people on this planet eat in one day.

And besides, they only do it to kids whose parents refuse to either add money to their lunch account or apply for reduced/free lunch program and only AFTER sending out notices.


dg

[woo me with science]

25. Ah, memories. Links to the "CHEESE SANDWICH OF SHAME" flamewars here:

That was a helluva fight: :rofl:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5145253

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3755446

[Dappleganger]

33. +1 for linking the old threads!

Those were good ones.

They used to give out PB&J but with these peanut allergies everyone seems to have it's been reduced to cheese sandwiches. What is wrong with a cheese sandwich, btw?

[WolverineDG]

38. Apparently, it's tantamount to child abuse nt

[WolverineDG]

49. now it seems not so outrageous

but it's early yet....

dg

[adamuu]

26. 3 of 5 food groups covered... n/t

[jillan]

40. Well it could be worse,,, Dairy, fiber and fruit. It's better than nothing.

[CreekDog]

81. You're calling a Juice Box "fruit" and sliced bread "fiber"?

really?

[eShirl]

42. is it a Toasted Cheese Sandwich?

[Iggo]

46. What?!?!?!?!

How can you shame a dang socialialist child with a dang hot meal?

Everyone knows conservatism is best served cold. Jeez!

[tammywammy]

45. That's what we got when I was in elemetary school back in the late 80s

If my lunch card ran out, we were given a cheese or peanut butter sandwich and carton of white milk.

No big deal, and then I'd remember to tell my mom to give me money.

[OhioChick]

86. Same here....

This has been going on for years here. Nothing new.

[KamaAina]

48. I mean, I know we want to support Wisconsin, but this is ridiculous!

:P

[madfloridian]

50. Ha ha ha....oh boy was I attacked for my stance on cheese sandwiches.

It's not about a cheese sandwich at all.

495 comments, a record for me. Not very nice comments either. :evilgrin:

Good luck.

[woo me with science]

71. Another classic thread.

Boy, there were a lot of them. DU was focused on cheese!

[aikoaiko]

56. Cheese sammiches are fine....

Unless the Feds want to change the requirements for signing kids up for the free school lunch.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

62. Public school lunches should have the same price tag as the classes.

I.e., $0.

[NickB79]

63. Get rid of the juice box and give them a cup of water. Juice boxes are sugar water

And use the money spent on juice boxes to buy some apples or bananas. It'd be healthier and probably cheaper.

[uppityperson]

64. Glad they are given something but would prefer not juice boxes as are high sugar & wasteful of

resources.

[Brigid]

65. What? A cheese sandwich?

I'm surprised it wasn't cake. :eyes:

[Cairycat]

66. In my district, it's a piece of cheese on whole wheat and a milk

And it only happens when a child has overspent his or her account by $30, and many, multiple notes and calls home have been made. It is too bad to make the kid pay for the parent's unwillingness to keep up the account or apply for free/reduced lunch, but why should the school district have to go into (sometimes massive) debt?

The best solution would be to not charge for school lunch, but until that happens, this is as good a solution as can be found.

[madfloridian]

68. Wrong. It penalizes kids and costs more than giving them regular lunch.

[LWolf]

72. Yes.

Because kids whose parents don't apply for free or reduced lunch, and don't send a lunch, still need to eat.

[proud2BlibKansan]

78. Also kids who don't qualify and parents don't send money.

We have quite a few who fall into that category.

[LWolf]

87. Yes.

I don't know about the rest of the nation.

I'm going to feed the kid. No kid goes hungry on my watch because their parents are irresponsible and don't bother to pay for or provide lunch when they have the ability to.

[proud2BlibKansan]

74. Yep. That's been SOP for years.

And it sucks.

I bring food and feed the kids myself.

[upi402]

80. I got sent to collections from my school district

I *prepaid* for lunches with a check. Then WaMu collapsed. They sent me a nastygram and a fine. I explained. They went the collections route. I paid. I voted against the school levy for the 1st time in my life.

Furious and them biting their benefactor's hand? yep

[ncteechur]

82. Who recommended this? I think all should get free lunch but those who need it currently do

get free and reduced lunch. These are lunches for kids who don't have or forgot their lunch money. They charge their lunch and don't ever pay it off. They are given a minimal lunch because everyone who wants a lunch will get one, even if they don't get free or reduced.

So get the story straight before you post a story that is a non-story.

[Jokinomx]

83. My wife is a headstart teacher...

The lunches that they serve for many is the only "decent" meal they get.

It has to be the same with many of the kids there in Fla...

damn... starvation in America

[JVS]

85. That's one of the things that gets me when people talk about serving up healthier school lunches.

It's very hard to balance the needs of a child who gets 2 other meals a day plus snacks with the needs of a child for whom the lunch is the only major source of food.