Doughnut holes, cheese puffs, and Pop-Tarts remain
May 7th, 2007,On March 14 I wrote about my attempt to persuade our daughter’s preschool to change its snack menu. To date, there has been no change. I will cross my fingers, remain hopeful, and hope others will suggest changes as well.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Bill - Thanks for this and the earlier post. I read but didn’t really process your earlier post until today, but in between, my wife noticed the public school lunch menus in the newspapers, and we were aghast at the low quality of the meals. Truly stunning, and not something that can be worked off in one 50-minute lunch period or a few minutes of recess. (If kids even have recess anymore.) I’ll have to look up that book you mentioned in the original post.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Thanks, Christopher. It’s easy to assume that other people will make what we think are the right choices - such as not putting largely nutrition-free food on children’s menus. However, as we must often remind ourselves, we don’t all operate with the same beliefs and knowledge. Maybe school food workers think the snacks at my daughter’s school are fun “treats” that kids will burn off in no time. Maybe that will happen for some, but for others food like this will form a substantial part of their calories for the day.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
This is truly appalling to me. I am utterly shocked that a preschool–or any school–would serve POP-TARTS as snacks. Why?! What possible rationale could there be? I find this incredibly depressing and worrisome, as we prepare to put our oldest child in preschool in the fall–especially since we work very hard at home to make sure her diet is nutritious and devoid of junk food. Since obesity runs in her genes and she tends toward a heavier body type, snacks like Pop-Tarts and doughnuts are NOT what she needs. Does any kid? When are the people in charge of things like this in our country going to take the childhood obesity problem seriously? Can’t a little preschool in Northfield be a healthy model for other schools and other towns? Why ever not?
May 8th, 2007 at 10:28 am
This problem isn’t just restricted to the preschool. The quality of food offerings, especially at the elementary and middle schools, has been a pet peeve of mine for several years. I wish I had the time and energy to mount the necessary crusade. Where’s the community outcry? Do people really not know how much CRAP is being fed to our kids by our “top-rated” school system in this town?
A humorous aside - as I was posting this reply, the Google Ad box on the left sidebar was offering me the opportunity to “try Coffee-Mate for free!” (Ingredients include: partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, sugar, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor). It’s not easy to get away from all this stuff in our society!
May 8th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Bill, etc I am disappointed to see the lack of change at the preschool, although I also realize that sometimes changes take longer than we hope they will. I too remain hopeful that the school is looking into alternatives and that things will indeed get better! My son is moving on to another school next fall and I can only hope that the options there are at least a little bit better! I think it’s a never-ending battle. I will also note that there are many districts around the country that are moving toward s a more sustainable food program, however, these changes are brought about by parents who are willing to spend the time and energy that it takes to make these changes- perhaps a movement could be started in the Northfield District?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Thanks for all of your comments. Yes, we need to be patient, and we also need to talk to those in charge. I think things will change, and I hope they do so in the local public schools before our daughter reaches kindergarten!
Some clarification: we send our daughter’s snack with her, and we send an entree on days when meat is served since she, like her mother, is a vegetarian. The lunches do seem more healthful than the snacks.
Regarding Tracy’s post: yes, sometimes, the Google ads are less appropriate than I would like!
May 15th, 2007 at 3:04 am
Bill et al,
In my humble view, you parents won’t get far until you wield clout on a par with that of the junk food industry.
That’s a longshot. You have no comparable money and hence no hope of buying the right politicians. Most critically and direly, your schools are dependent on the kindness of corporate strangers.
In Northfield you’ve tried reason and politesse, and they didn’t rumble the Pop Tart express.
So why not try agitprop?
Many parents staging a strike in which they pulled their children out of lunch hour while TV cameras rolled might be a start.
Try decamping on school grounds with banners of super-obese children undergoing emergency room stomach staplings, their burst bellies superimposed with the familiar friendly labels of Pop Tarts, Fritos, etc. “This patch job brought to you by Crispy Cremes!”
And/or: hire a graphic artist to Photoshop giant before-and-after pictures of your children as they’d look if they became obese, and tell the TV cameras that you are seeking to nip this junk engorgement in the bud.
I’m not sure where it all would lead–perhaps only to your arrest, odd looks at the racquet club or disinvitation to the mayor’s next soirée. But having watched reform efforts in this area for years, I feel safe in saying the Pop Tarts are here to stay unless your interventions continue and grow grander, bolder and more upsetting to those who directly profit by ruining your children’s health.
With big agra moving increasingly into organics and healthier foods, a near-term solution would be persuading those giants to reposition themselves as benefactors (read: happy monopolizers) who dispense good foods to schools. Pressuring their junk divisions out will have to come first, but the right hand would go if the same captive markets were available to the left hand. The free market likes sure things!
Good luck.
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
[...] Back in March and May, I wrote about the snacks at my daughter’s pre-school. I’m happy to say that the doughnut holes and Pop-Tarts are gone from the August snack menu, but the cheese puffs remain. Are they gone permanently? We shall see. [...]