Public School Lunch: It's time for a change

  I went to public school my entire life. While all of my friends in the neighborhood went to Catholic school. my parents just didn't have the money to send me there. Growing up that was a little difficult to swallow but as I look back at it now it wasn't such a big deal. I turned out just fine with a Public school education. What wasn't fine, was the school lunches. It may be difficult to understand if you did not go to a public school, but lunch time was awful. I would BEG my mom to pack me a lunch in the morning just so I didn't have to eat the slop they were serving. I remember times where I would stand in line with the other kids and try to guess what they were serving for lunch. The meatloaf wasn't made from beef, spaghetti and meatballs looked like 5 day old pasta with broken up hamburgers in it. They would even attempt to serve fish. How some kids got past the smell of it is beyond me. It kind of reminds me of a cross between rotten fish and feet. Delicious I know. On Friday's, they would treat us to pizza. The only problem is the pizza was impossible to chew. THey would microwave this mini round pizzas by the dozens. The other crust was like chewing rubber and the inner crust just tasted like cardboard. I am no doctor (yet), but I know that can't be healthy for a growing child.

  In New York, they are making the first step in making Public School food better, more nutritious. In an article in the New York Times, schools are participating in aprogram called Wellness In Schools. The program is a non-profit program where Culinary Graduates are hired by the school to make a delicious and nutrition menu for the kids. Listen, it is not a mystery why we are the fattest country in America. I know fast food chains like McDonalds is a major contributor, but so are the lunches in school. Kids at an early age are forced to eat microwaved slop for lunch. This, with no doubt in my mind, leads to future poor eating habits. With the government putting their hands in everything else, I think it is about time that they start putting more focus on what is being served at the lunch tables. The best way to solve a problem is to catch it early. Kids in public elementary schools shouldn't have to eat hockey puck hamburgers for lunch. A grilled chicken sandwich with a side of apple slices and confetti corn sounds alot better.

Ryan