Eat your Gruel!!!

[Maggot]

Schools are finding it tough to get out from under the government nutrition thumb. Or dare I say Mrs. Obamas thumb.

School officials will grapple tonight with a new wrinkle resulting from the decision to remove its high school from the national school lunch program.

Londonderry opted out of federal guidelines for nutrition and portion size in school lunches at the start of this school year, saying students weren’t eating the lunches and both money and food were being wasted.

That meant forgoing federal funding for the 8 percent of high school students who receive free and reduced-price meals. The price of lunch increased by 55 cents to $2.75 to help offset the loss.

Dining services director Amanda Venezia said Monday she was told in a conference call last week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may now treat the school as a processing facility.

The categorization would impose substantial regulatory and financial burdens, she said, requiring at least one new hire and lots of paperwork.

Late Monday afternoon, a USDA spokesperson said she did not have enough information to comment.

Londonderry Superintendent Nathan Greenberg said officials plan to ask the school board to contact legislators, who could help secure a waiver for the school.

Since opting out of the national program, the school has had more leeway to design its own dining offerings.

Rolled out in three stages, the options include new menu items, a new snack room, a coffee bar and a frozen-yogurt machine that officials said has sold like gangbusters since its introduction a few days ago.

A salad bar is forthcoming next month.

Venezia said she feels the school’s program now meets adequate nutritional standards while providing food students will actually eat.

About 33 percent of students participated in the school lunch program this September, up from 29 percent last September when the school was still part of the federal program

[Duchess]

Are there any success stories regarding that program? I've only heard negative things, surely there's something positive.

[Maggot]

That's how mandates go sometimes. Reality is a cruel mistress.

[crash]

I'd rather eat my grool..

[Maggot]

The saga continues:

Londonderry is learning that the adage about free lunches certainly applies to the federal government.

School officials are trying to disentangle themselves from the National School Lunch Program.

The Obama Administration’s strict nutrition guidelines, the pet project of First Lady Michelle Obama, have made school lunches less popular with students. The Government Accountability Office last week reported student participation has dropped since 2011.

Small portions left athletes hungry. Limits on salt and butter left food inedible. Fresh fruit mandates left trash cans filled with discarded produce.

Londonderry school officials opted out, foregoing federal subsidies in order to make meals kids would eat. The move has been popular; the new frozen yogurt machine wildly so. The salad bar is coming next month.

“Last year, students ate less and complained more,” says Superintendent Nate Greenberg. “We’ve seen an increase in sales, and kids really like the food.”

Hot lunch is still a bargain at Londonderry High School at $2.75 a day. Parents may pay a little more, but their kids are actually eating.

Turning down federal subsidies threatens to bring down the hammer of federal regulators, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture may treat the school as a food processing facility. Greenberg says federal authorities now insist Londonderry schools upgrade their food storage facilities, and add new equipment in each cafeteria. Greenberg puts the price tag at $500,000. And he can look forward to increased federal food safety inspections, audits and paperwork.

Such heavy-handed coercion erodes local decisionmaking. The school lunch program should not be an offer we can’t refuse.

[Blindgreed1]

The saga continues:

Londonderry is learning that the adage about free lunches certainly applies to the federal government.

School officials are trying to disentangle themselves from the National School Lunch Program.

The Obama Administration’s strict nutrition guidelines, the pet project of First Lady Michelle Obama, have made school lunches less popular with students. The Government Accountability Office last week reported student participation has dropped since 2011.

Small portions left athletes hungry. Limits on salt and butter left food inedible. Fresh fruit mandates left trash cans filled with discarded produce.

Londonderry school officials opted out, foregoing federal subsidies in order to make meals kids would eat. The move has been popular; the new frozen yogurt machine wildly so. The salad bar is coming next month.

“Last year, students ate less and complained more,” says Superintendent Nate Greenberg. “We’ve seen an increase in sales, and kids really like the food.”

Hot lunch is still a bargain at Londonderry High School at $2.75 a day. Parents may pay a little more, but their kids are actually eating.

Turning down federal subsidies threatens to bring down the hammer of federal regulators, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture may treat the school as a food processing facility. Greenberg says federal authorities now insist Londonderry schools upgrade their food storage facilities, and add new equipment in each cafeteria. Greenberg puts the price tag at $500,000. And he can look forward to increased federal food safety inspections, audits and paperwork.

Such heavy-handed coercion erodes local decisionmaking. The school lunch program should not be an offer we can’t refuse.

A friend of mine's mother was a lunch lady in HS. She advised him not to eat the school lunches (they weren't free for us back in the day) because the meats arrived in boxes stamped "Fit For Human Consumption" by the FDA rather than your typically graded meats you see in the grocery store. Turns out FFHC is the lowest grade that you can feed to people and the only guarantee you get is that it won't harm you based on what they knew back in the 80's.