The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: happyg on November 19, 2013, 12:03:47 am
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g8BZ_zHIhb4/UoeXfV5hPYI/AAAAAAAAKRw/FG7bpYRBUq4/s400/IMG_5305.JPG)
It's quite possible that the single stupidest school lunch policy on the planet comes courtesy of a strange interpretation of the Manitoba Government's Early Learning and Child Care lunch regulations (an earlier version of this article incorrectly pointed at the Manitoba Child Care Association as the source of the strangely interpreted policy).
Apparently if a child's lunch is deemed "unbalanced", where "balance" refers to ensuring that a lunch conforms to the proportions of food groups as laid out by Canada's awful Food Guide, then that child's lunch is "supplemented", and their parent is fined.
Blog reader Kristen Bartkiw received just such a fine.
She sent her children to daycare with with lunches containing leftover homemade roast beef and potatoes, carrots, an orange and some milk.
She did not send along any "grains".
As a consequence the school provided her children with, I kid you not, supplemental Ritz Crackers, and her with a $10 fine.
As Kristen writes, had she sent along lunches consisting of, "microwave Kraft Dinner and a hot dog, a package of fruit twists, a Cheestring, and a juice box" those lunches would have sailed right through this idiocy. But her whole food, homemade lunches? They lacked Ritz Crackers.
So what say you? Have you come across a more inane school lunch policy? Because I sure haven't.
[Kristen also updated me that consequent to parents failing to pack "balanced" lunches they've moved to a hot lunch program that she describes as great. So perhaps some good came out of Manitoba's idiocy after all]
http://www.weightymatters.ca/2013/11/parents-fined-for-not-sending-ritz.html (http://www.weightymatters.ca/2013/11/parents-fined-for-not-sending-ritz.html)
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You can get a whole box of Ritz crackers for $2.50.
Ten dollars, really!??!
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You can get a whole box of Ritz crackers for $2.50.
Ten dollars, really!??!
That's a fine! The stupid part is, the kid doesn't have to eat the crackers if he doesn't like them. Same with school lunches. It makes no sense.
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Fined for not feeding him something with minimal nutritional value. Okay.
:shrug:
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Fined for not feeding him something with minimal nutritional value. Okay.
:shrug:
I wouldn't pay it. If I were that lady, and had the time, I'd meet my child at school, and let him eat in the car. I suppose that's against the rules, too. For the first six years of school, I mostly went home for lunch. My school didn't have a cafeteria, so it was either bring a lunch or go home for a hot meal.
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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 33
Calories 79
% Daily Values*
Total Fat 3.66g 6%
Saturated Fat 0.627g 3%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.283g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.872g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 124mg 5%
Potassium 15mg
Total Carbohydrate 10.27g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0.3g 1%
Sugars 1.29g
Protein 1.15g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 2% Iron 4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Nutrition Values are based on USDA Nutrient Database SR18
But, but, what about the sodium, the absence of vitamins, the Carbohydrates? Nutritional value indeed.
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(http://accidentalmommies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ritz-bits-ingedients.jpg)
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I would not feed something with those ingredients to my dogs, much less a child
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Sounds like someone needs to learn what the term "balanced meal" means - and it isn't the parents nor the child.
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All those ingredients packed into one little cracker?
Now that is Food Value.
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What the hell??
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All those ingredients packed into one little cracker?
Now that is Food Value.
And they blame drilling for oil on the high rate of asthma in this country.. just reading those ingredients made me cringe... no one should eat all those artificial ingredients and food coloring - especially children.
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And they blame drilling for oil on the high rate of asthma in this country.. just reading those ingredients made me cringe... no one should eat all those artificial ingredients and food coloring - especially children.
At least not every day..
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I would have paid that fine with a couple of birds.