Children everywhere are going back to school. Kids are getting back to their old routines, meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones. This year, however, children are in for a rude awakening as they deal with the bland food that is offered to them with the hopes of curbing childhood obesity. To be clear: something should be done about childhood obesity. As we move forward, we become more and more detached from our rustic roots and Americans are leading a more-sedentary lifestyle and obesity and the associated heart disease is a problem that should be combatted. However, in keeping with the radical policies of our time, the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is wreaking havoc upon our nation’s children in a misguided attempt to bring obesity under control. Michelle Obama, the nation’s leading busybody, has spearheaded this effort across America not merely to better-educate about healthy choices, but to restrict the ability of people to choose what their children eat. Victor Skinner reported for EAGNews what he discovered when he visited a Minnesota high school and found: There’s a sign in the lunchroom of Minnesota’s Sartell High School: Students can choose two packets of barbecue sauce, or three ketchup packets, or two ketchups and a mustard, or just one packet of mayonnaise. The new condiment quotas are the product of new federal regulations that strictly limit calories, fat, sodium, sugar and most other nutritional elements of school snacks and lunch foods. The rules, championed by First Lady Michelle Obama as a means to combat childhood obesity, are part of the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The measure, implemented in phases since 2012, overhauled the National School Lunch Program to force schools that receive federal lunch funding to offer “healthier” meals and school snacks for students… “All juices must be 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, or diluted with water but no added sweeteners,” she said. Elementary students are now limited to 8-ounce servings of milk or juice, and middleschoolers are limited to 12 ounces, SCTimes reports. Snacks are now limited to 200 calories, while full lunches cannot exceed 850. “Any condiments or accompaniments must also be included in that nutritional profile,” said Braulick, adding that the district is lobbying for exemptions, such as eliminating the mandatory fruit or vegetable requirement. “To tell them they have to take it does not get them to consume it,” she said. But what happens when government gets involved in telling people what they can and cannot do is happening in lunchrooms across America: kids aren’t abiding by the rules. Reports flood in each month of increased school waste where kids either discard the vegetables that are now part of the dietary requirements or, worse yet, kids are going hungry. Children grow- it’s what they do. While nobody’s going to profess that downing a whole bag of Doritos is healthy, the alternative being offered to kids is also detrimental to the health of our nation’s kids. Think back to high school: how many played sports? Football, baseball, wrestling, track- couple these activities with the caloric requirements of a growing body and it’s clear that the rice cakes and carrots sticks being shoved down the throats of today’s kids simply isn’t going to cut it. Skinner reported, however, that schools are only required to abide by these absurd policies if they receive federal funding for the lunches. Skinner reported: Wayzata High School officials dropped out of the National School Lunch Program this year, along with a lot of other schools in many states, because the one-size-fits-all regulations don’t jibe with the school’s diverse student body, CBS reports. “We’re trying to make sure they get enough food, because if they are athletes, they are here at six in the morning until at least six at night, so they are hungry,” Sue Johnson, the school’s cafeteria coordinator… Despite a 25 cent increase in the price of lunches at Wayzata High School this year, school lunch sales have increased significantly with the new menu – a clear indication the district made the right move. “We’re seeing increases between two and three hundred lunches a day,” Anderson said. The answer to so many problems pushed by the federal government seems clear: refuse their so-called “help.” It’s amazing that states are now forced into deciding between these absurd restrictions or forgoing federal funding, but it’s clear that students simply don’t want what Michelle Obama is selling.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:13:50 +0000
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