I stumbled upon a new blog today that someone at work had bookmarked http://neverseconds.blogspot.ca/ about a young girl's photo documentation of her school lunches. It makes me glad to not live in the UK, although sad not to live in Asia where it seems they have some pretty weird but yummy lunches.
This blog touched me this week partly because of my own recent quest to improve my own school lunch (since I'm a teacher and therefore eat at a school too). I've been watching what the students in my many classrooms bring with them each day for inspiration (sometimes - I'm surprised by the number of unhealthy lunches that make it to school with students too). In our Ontario public schools for the most part we do not have cafeterias like in the States and UK (based on my assumptions from watching Jamie Oliver's School Lunches), but we do have cafeterias in our high schools. They aren't the healthiest, but they seem healthier than the ones featured on tv and in the blog above.
For now, our public school systems provide an opportunity to purchase milk (real milk and not the sugary watery stuff) for 50 cents a ticket. Students have a choice between white and chocolate but the school limits the amount of chocolate purchased and in some schools your parents select white or chocolate for you to be delivered to the classroom. We also have healthy delivered lunches once a week - usually pizza, pitas, or subs. But sometimes hot dogs with veggie sticks. It is important to note that province wide schools are now required to meet health requirements for food provided to students. That means that the pizza delivery companies in order to keep the school orders had to switch to whole wheat thin crust, low fat cheese, low sodium, etc. All pop and candy machines were also removed from the schools.
This has nicely coincided with Chris' posts on what he has been eating and conversation between us reminiscing about our childhood lunches. So I ask you...what did you bring for lunch when you were in school?
I tended to eat peanut butter and honey or jam sandwiches, bagels with cream cheese, tuna sandwich occasionally, or a wrap with chicken lunch meat. For snacks I was allowed one treat ie. Joe Louis, fruit roll up, or granola bar and as many fruit and veggie options as I wanted. I usually had yogurt, cottage cheese or a homemade muffin as well. I also took part in the milk program where I had white milk most days, but the occasional treat of chocolate milk.
Wow... school lunches. In elementary school, it was usually a rather gross balogna sandwich on buttered white bread. If I was lucky, it was a sharp salami with mustard, but when wrapped in a plastic bag, I found the bread always got soggy. Usually supplemented by a warm stick of waxy cheese and the chocolate milk I could by for 50 cents.
ReplyDeleteIn Jr. High, it became those Chef Boyardee microwaveables most days until, heaven of heavens, Friday, which was pizza day from Panago.
Then in high school, I discovered, as you say, the cafeteria, which led to a usual diet of four hashbrowns and a can of coke for breakfast and fries smothered in gravy and ketchup. And a can of coke. They were the cheapest, most filling things on the menu.
Man, I wish I'd known about healthy dietary habits back then. Turns out that I spend less now, day-to-day, on lunch, than I did in school. On the other hand, I'm buying my own groceries and can choose the weird meat that I put in my never-white-again sandwiches!
Your post made me laugh Jelly. I've had a few of those meals as well. Amber
ReplyDeleteThis kid is going to have some life, She's a real Scot. { BLOG }
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