A turkey sandwich and chips from home versus school nuggets: Sounds like a toss-up to me
UPDATE: As I noted yesterday, we had yet to hear the other side of this bizarre story. Among the reports I am getting today: No federal guidelines led to the subbing of the home-brought lunch of the 4-year-old with a school lunch. There was a state review under way of the child care center at the school, which includes the nutritional content of the lunches eaten by children. A teacher apparently was concerned about one child’s homemade lunch and overreacted. I am being told that the school apologized to the parent. There are probably more updates to come. I am trying to get a comment from the state.
Three readers sent me links today to this story out of North Carolina about what sounds like an overzealous response by food police checking pre-school lunch trays.
A state inspector (not sure what that means) checking a Raeford, N.C., elementary school lunchroom decreed that a 4-year-old’s lunch from home — a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice — did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the Carolina Journal story. Instead, the child was given cafeteria chicken nuggets.
While I share concerns about childhood obesity, I still remain uncertain of the right role for schools. This story clearly exemplifies the wrong role.
But let me also add that we don’t know the school’s side of this odd tale. Was the child tossing her sandwich and fruit every day and only eating the chips? Was she telling her teacher she was hungry so she was offered the school lunch? (And was the “agent” cited in the story actually the teacher?) In deference to student privacy, schools often don’t respond to stories like this, so we are left only with the parent’s account.
A reader was surprised to read this but checked and reported back: I was stunned by this, so I looked to the NC website and found this. It provides:
CHILD CARE RULE .0901
Food From Home
When children bring their own food for meals or snacks to the center, if the food does not meet the nutritional requirements outlined in the Meal Patterns for Children in Child Care, the center must provide additional food necessary to meet those requirements.
I am only sharing an excerpt of the lengthy piece, but if you read the full story, you get the sense that, if this happened, it will not happen again. (The full story also cites the state regulation.)
A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious. The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.
The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.
When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones. The girl’s mother — who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation — said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a “healthy lunch” would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.
“I don’t feel that I should pay for a cafeteria lunch when I provide lunch for her from home,” the mother wrote in a complaint to her state representative. “What got me so mad is, number one, don’t tell my kid I’m not packing her lunch box properly,” the girl’s mother told
When the girl came home with her lunch untouched, her mother wanted to know what she ate instead. Three chicken nuggets, the girl answered.
While the mother and grandmother thought the potato chips and lack of vegetable were what disqualified the lunch, a spokeswoman for the Division of Child Development said that should not have been a problem.
“With a turkey sandwich, that covers your protein, your grain, and if it had cheese on it, that’s the dairy,” said Jani Kozlowski, the fiscal and statutory policy manager for the division. “It sounds like the lunch itself would’ve met all of the standard.”
–From Maureen Downey for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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126 comments Add your comment
Mary
February 15th, 2012
5:09 pm
This happened to my (anti-sandwich) daughter twice at the beginning of this school year.
She was forced to buy a school lunch because the teacher didn’t think her lunch from home was good enough. Great way to confuse and worry a 5 year old in her first few days of school.
What horrid food did I send her from home? The first time it was yogurt, graham crackers and raisins. The second time it was yogurt, apple slices and whole grain crackers.
I sent a note to the teacher and asked what in the world was going on and why was she being forced to order a school lunch when she had a perfectly good and healthy lunch from home. She defended her actions by first saying she assumed those were snacks. Even though my daughter told her they were her lunches and it was packed in a lunch bag and I had put a note in her folder that she would be bringing lunches for home. Oh, and they don’t bring snacks into school, so why would they be snacks? Nevermind the fact that they would be awfully big snacks for a 5 year old girl.
The teacher then claimed that it was school policy to order a lunch for anny child that didn’t bring a sandwich for lunch. Since when is a sandwich the only acceptable lunch? My daughter does not like sandwiches, so I send her with the best options I can and that I know she will eat. This includes whole grains, dairy and fruit. As for meats and vegetables, she gets them with her dinner at home.
After sending a firm note to the teacher that my daughter was to only eat what I prepare for her, the issue was resolved.
I was left with the bill for two school lunches, plus the two homemade lunches she didn’t eat at school were wasted.
So aggravted that schools have come to this. It is my responsibility to make sure my children eat good, balanced meals. The schools are there for education. Not to make parental decisions.
Maureen Downey
February 15th, 2012
5:14 pm
@Mary, Was this a Georgia school?
Maureen
michelle
February 15th, 2012
5:55 pm
This is what Michelle OweBammy wants for ‘the children’. This way they can be as fat as she is
Jake
February 15th, 2012
6:27 pm
@ Northern reader: Here are places you can find this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com a left wing new paper, triad.news14.com/ a Carlonia News Station, Right here on this blog. Do some research.
Also if this was your kid and you packed this lunch and some government inspector came and took yout kids lunch away saying your mother and father are morons and are not taking care of you by doing so, then how would you react? If this was YOUR CHILD HOW WOULD YOU REACT???? I swear some people want to be lead around by the government and be controled by the government. Well if that is what you want then please LEAVE the United States and go live in China or Russia because the United States is not the place for you.
To Mary
February 15th, 2012
7:47 pm
I loved your post. I hated that it happened to your daughter, though. Graham crackers are a staple at my house because they are whole wheat.
If I were you I would send all of the things you usually send in your child’s lunch along with….one of those play plastic sandwiches.
wanna sandwich? Got a sandwich.
Then I’d send a complete nutritional report for a traditional sandwich lunch — white bread with loads of sugar jelly and peanut butter and compaire it to the heathy yogurt and graham cracker lunch nutritional information. I might even add a hidden camera in my child’s collar.
Then, you know, see what happens.
Sounds like a law suit to me.
For your child’s sake, I hope those idiotministrators come to their senses and if they don’t, I hope you find a good lawyer.
Good Grief.
Good Luck.
Good Ma.
To Michelle
February 15th, 2012
7:54 pm
You say about Michelle O’Bama “This is what Michelle OweBammy wants for ‘the children’. This way they can be as fat as she is”
As fat as she (Michelle O’Bama) is?
You may disagree that government has a right to dictate lunches for children. You have a valid argument there.
But when you attack the first lady and call her fat you defeat your own purpose.
Michelle O”bamma is anything but fat. She is the epitome of fit. She had the guts to get on a TV show and do push ups with the host.
Fat? Not a chance.
If you disagree with Michelle touting fitness and nutrition as the role of government, just say so on those merits alone…you really lose your argument when you personally attack a woman who is so obviously healthy and attractive.
What other first lady in our entire history is as fit as Michelle O’Bama? Let’s start with the Republicans….Mrs. Laura Bush? Gentile and slow-moving. She certainly looks attractive but is she fit? can she run? Can she do ONE push up? How about Mrs. Bush senior? Overweight, certainly. Nancy Reagan? Emaciated. Skeletal. Now the Democrats…Hillary — overweight, certainly.
who else in the history of our nation has ever been fitter and in the White House? Our own Presidents aren’t as fit as michelle O’Bama.
Good Ma
To Bu2
February 15th, 2012
8:00 pm
Bu2, you claim Michelle Obama doesn’t talk about exercise. You must be tuned into Fox News 24/7. Michelle Obama talks about exercise every time she opens her mouth. She was on the Ellen Degeneres show doing push ups to promote exercise.
You’re way way way off base. Michelle has an entire campaign called “Let’s MOVE!”
If you want to criticize the Democrats for dictating things that you feel should be left up to the individual (like food and exercise) you may have a valid point but to say Michelle Obama doesn’t promote exercise is the same things as saying Charlie Sheen doesn’t promote prostitution.
Sheesh. Watch something else besides Fox News for a while.
Good Ma
Leigh Ann
February 15th, 2012
8:22 pm
There is a drop-in daycare near us and they have the same deal. Your child’s lunch must have the required components and if it doesn’t they’ll put in the missing thing. So if you have only one fruit, they’ll add a second one. But they won’t take away one protein, for instance, and sub another one. If your child has a milk allergy, you need a doctor’s note. My own daughter didn’t go to daycare but she did Georgia Pre-K at a daycare center and they didn’t allow food from home. If you had an issue like an allergy or vegetarian or kosher, you could send in food but they only wanted to you to send in a sub for the food in question. So you would send a vegetarian entree but still eat the schools vegetables.I don’t understand why this lunch didn’t qualify. The cheese was a serving of milk and the juice was a serving of fruit. And then there was a grain and a banana for a second fruit. The chips were just extra. Hard to believe they would take away a sandwich and offer chicken nuggets instead. Maybe the kid didn’t want the sandwich and wanted the nuggets instead. Maybe she chose to go through the lunch line instead of eating lunch from home and the note just happened to go home to everyone that day. It doesn’t say the note was addressed specifically to her and that her particular lunch wasn’t nutritious.
School seizes lunch, not nutrious enough - Children, problems, school, daycare, behavior, age, teenagers, infants - City-Data Forum
February 16th, 2012
5:14 am
[...] seizes lunch, not nutrious enough A turkey sandwich and chips from home versus school nuggets: Sounds like a toss-up to me | Get Schoo… This is utterly obsurd. I decide what to feed my child, and it isnt as if chicken nuggets was any [...]
Did anyone catch the truth?
February 16th, 2012
6:42 am
Did anyone catch the truth? There were no federal guidelines involved in this.
The specific school was under investigation for not providing good lunches and the TEACHER acting alone is the one who made this assinine decision.
It wasn’t Obama. It wasn’t the feds. It wasn’t the state. A specific pre-school did not serve healthy lunches and the TEACHER acting alone, decided to take it on herself to veto the healthy turkey and cheese sandwich, the healthy banana, the healthy applie juice and the potato chip snack and force the child to eat…a pile of chicken heart attack nuggets.
A TEACHER.
Why does everyone blame Obama and not this specific teacher?
A. They did not read the facts.
B. They have an agenda.
C. ?
Good Ma
ONE teacher did this, not the feds.from Good Ma
February 16th, 2012
8:17 am
Did everyone read Maureen’s comments at the top of the blog? She says clearly that the feds, the Obamas had nothing to do with this decision.
It was a TEACHER acting alone on her own judgement, which we all agree, was a bad one.
The preschool was under fire for lousy lunches. So an individual TEACHER took it upon herself to veto the healthy homemade lunch.
There is no vast left-wing conspiracy. There is no plan by the Obama administration. It was ONE teacher acting alone…like an idiot.
The teacher should be fired. When an adult makes an azz out of herself and brings wrath on the school, it is time to give her the heave ho.
Northern reader
February 16th, 2012
9:05 am
Jake, all of the many places that mentioned it were posted after my comment. Duh.
bu2
February 16th, 2012
9:16 am
@GM
Well I don’t watch Ellen or other daytime talk shows. My kids watch lots of PBS and Disney. I have never seen her talk about exercise. However, she is constantly trying to get kids to eat salads.
She has been pushing major campaigns to control what kids AND adults eat. And its not science based like Obama talked about. Its internet science.
The reality is that there were a lot more sauces and gravies and fried foods when I was a kid. There were soft drinks and candy. Yet there were almost no obese kids. Of course, in those days, most people had B&W TVs, and, if in a major city, 4 or 5 channels, not 200. There were no computers or XBoxes or Wiis. Kids play.
TR
February 16th, 2012
9:22 am
For some reason a teacher thought a student needed something else to eat. The rule quoted above exists at every school. If a student shows up without enough to eat a school should provide something. There isn’t a list of what is right and wrong. AJC is wrong to run with this nonsense. Why to pump bizarre hysteria into the air so you can get on the TV AJC.
Walter
February 16th, 2012
9:47 am
Obama requires us to buy insurance, other fed rules ( Dept of Ag) determine what our children can eat, and other feds dictates winners and losers in the marketplace, with its venture capital decisions such as “green” energy compnaies favored with loans of our tax money.
bu2
February 16th, 2012
10:11 am
@Walter
Don’t forget the sugar tax they are trying to pass.
bu2
February 16th, 2012
10:27 am
@Mary
I don’t think you should get angry at the school for the 1st time it happened (repeated is a totally different issue as it is your right to determine the child’s diet). I don’t think its a “sandwich” issue. Your lunch had no or very little protein so it was very unusual. Growing children need lots of protein. It clearly looked like an oversight and a 5 year old’s statement doesn’t carry a lot of weight. Sandwiches are just an easy source of grains and protein. I think if you had chosen to include a source of protein such as sliced turkey or cheese, it wouldn’t have been questioned.
Leave The Kids Alone! « ourbedofnails
February 16th, 2012
10:32 am
[...] A state inspector (not sure what that means) checking a Raeford, N.C., elementary school lunchroom decreed that a 4-year-old’s lunch from home — a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice — did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the Carolina Journal story. Instead, the child was given cafeteria chicken nuggets. (source) [...]
bu2
February 16th, 2012
10:44 am
@GM
This action is consistent with a pattern of the Obama administration to try to control what we eat. That’s what you fail to understand. Its trying to have DC (or Raleigh) force its value judgements even on your diet. The Obama administration has changed laws regarding school lunches and is putting heavy pressure on food companies with threats of taxes and other things to comply with what the administration wants. Raleigh’s actions have EVERYTHING to do with the direction the Obama administration is taking even if the individual act did not.
bu2 is wrong again
February 16th, 2012
11:04 am
bu2 you villify mary’slunch as not having enough protein. Did you read what she packed? She packed yogurt. Yogurt has LOTS of protein. Yogurt doesn’t have LOTs of empty calories as a sandwich does. White bread is a mouth full of empty calories.
You are barking up the wrong tree again, bu2.
mary packed a wonderful healhty lunch for her child. yogurt has protein and calcium. The graham crackers have whole grain. The apple is a fruit.
Very healthy indeed.
bu2, you really need to educate yourself on calories, fats, proteins, grains, carbs and sugars.
Good Ma
bu2
February 16th, 2012
1:33 pm
@Good Ma
I suggest you take your own advice. Read the label. There’s not a lot of protein in yogurt.
And if you don’t like white bread, you can try wheat bread.
I also suggest you try better reading comprehension. I didn’t villify Mary. I said it was unusual to have little protein at lunch. But it is her perogative how to distribute a balanced diet.
bu2 you are wrong again
February 16th, 2012
2:13 pm
Did you actually read Mary’s post. Her child does not eat sandwiches, white bread or whole wheat. That is why she provided graham crackrs, which have whole wehat and fewer calories.
A six ounce cup of yogurt has 7 grams of protein and only 150 caloires. Comapre than to a 500 ca lorie turkey sandwich.
You still don’t get it, bu2. You don’t know what you are talking about and you want Mary to just put up with the self-appointed food police teacher who took it upon herself to snatch away her child’s healthy lunch.
If you think it is inappropriate for Michelle Obama to talk about food and exercise, then it stands to reason that forcing a child to throw away her lunch is also inappropriate.
Choose a side and stick with it, bu2 and get your facts straught. You still haven’t admitted that Michelle OPbama promotes exercise. Her Let’s Move campaign is on the Disney channel, your favorite.
If you want to disagree with the Democrats, then do it but you won’t make anyone respect your arguemtn or opinion if you bash the first lady for being fat and not promoting exercise. (You really need to get out more).
Good Mother
Maureen Downey
February 16th, 2012
2:52 pm
Good Mother, Readers are allowed to send emails complaining about posts and you are the No. 1 source of complaints. Your email does not work so I am advising you here that you need to stop the personal attacks and stay on topic. As I have noted before, I admire your creative writing skills and your uncanny ability to conjure experiences to match whatever the topic is. Your comments would be fine if you would simply stop the attacks.
If the unrelenting personal attacks on other posters don’t stop, I will take down every post, whether you are good mother, dedicated dad or grumpy gramps.
I try to be lenient on length, but you could also consider the beauty of brevity.
Maureen
David Shedlock
February 17th, 2012
2:55 am
Defense of the Federal Government has been lame. First, According to the link provided, North Carolina was basing its required lunches on Federal Guidelines. Second, the school superintendent admits:
“The girl’s teacher should have handed the child a carton of milk to round out the turkey-and-cheese sandwich and banana she brought from home,,,The teacher never should have sent that little girl into that line. She should have gone over and picked up the missing item and brought it to her.”"
How did the teacher know she had juice instead of milk, unless she was supposed to be snooping? The teacher is being made a scapegoat for the school. They are inspecting lunches,and it is to follow federal guidelines.
http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9SUPTQO0%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=931
Ray Johnson
February 18th, 2012
11:40 am
I agree with Ms Downey we do not have both sides of the story. Judging the official response received thus far I do not expect clarification any time soon. Most can agree, who ever took such action showed a serious lack of judgement.I read the NC law, it provides daycare for NC children 3 and 4 years old, employment for private and public school teachers and mandates post secondary education for most involved ensuring further employment for NC institutes of higher education. Simply put it is a federally subsidized jobs bill for teachers and assorted other government agencies local, state and yes federal.Mom you are lucky all they did was feed your child and send you a bill for $1.25 read the law the next time it could be much worse.
for the record
February 18th, 2012
2:12 pm
Superintendant Bob Barnes confirmed there was an agent from Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child Development and Early Education at the school Jan. 30 who examined some student lunches. Hopefully those of you excusing this behavior as that of an overzealous teacher will accept that this is the government forcing parents to feed their children a certain way.
In addition, this purportedly happened to a second child named Jazlyn Zambrano around the same time, at the same school. If what the second mother says is true, we need to be looking pretty hard at what Constitutional authority the government has to usurp a parent’s decision.
It is one thing to require a school to provide healthful lunches at the cafeteria for children to purchase. It is wholly another to come into my pantry and tell me what to feed my own child.
As a mother, I would be furious about the mixed messages this sent my child: “your mom doesn’t care for you as much as the state does” or “mom doesn’t know about nutrition” etc. Don’t you dare drive a wedge between the trust between a parent and a child, and embarrass or intimidate my child.
This is not the USSR.