I teach in Germany, where schools do not distribute lunches to students. Instead, students travel to their homes to receive their meals, eat a packed lunch, or purchase a meal at a restaurant. The students here are much healthier than the ones in the U.S. The majority of restaurants serve healthy food compared to the U.S. One reason is that you will rarely see drive thru places and the fast food chains are limited to Subway, Mc Donald’s, Burger King, and Doner Kebaps. The rest of the places are family owned sit down restaurants.
Parents and children take pride in eating healthy and being active outdoors. I find this to be a refreshing difference from when I lived in the U.S. At first, I struggled with the lack of convenience, but I now appreciate that I have to cook a majority of my meals. This helps me reflect on what I put in my food, and I tend to make healthier choices. If schools did not provide children with lunches and let parents worry about it, then would children eat healthier lunches? I think we would struggle, but honestly many parents would probably provide healthier options for their children.
This past Wednesday on the #PTCHAT educators, parents, principals, and other stakeholders gathered to discuss the issues surrounding school lunches.
Here were some of the great ideas shared:
Parentella: Recently it was reported that school lunches do not have to stand up to the same rigorous standards as FAST FOOD! Wow.
fiteach: I wish I knew more about this topic, but our school does not provide lunches. The kids bring bagged lunches.
Celinejr: @Parentella from what I have seen, it doesn’t seem to me that school lunches are very healthy
JaneBalvanz: Are government regs on school lunches consistent throughout the states?
blairteach: @Parentella School food may be a contributing factor, but our sedentary lifestyle compounds the effects of poor nutrition.
readtoday:Children on welfare are the worst off. They are most likely to suffer from diseases caused by unhealthy eating
Parentella: I would LOVE it if schools (& other places) would offer fresh fruit (or even dried) in vending machines
mtechman: @readtoday http://www.idlewords.com/2003/03/french_week_on_school_lunches.htm
EDUCATIONCEO: @Celinejr And we et fat because we have to rush to eat. @readtoday
cybraryman1: My Nutrition page with Nutrition in Schools sites: http://bit.ly/5fSXtl
rizzrazz: @cybraryman1 Educate them on nutrition AND good sleep habits. Yeh, baby.
Mollybmom: @fiteach It was another opportunity to educate my children about the importance of teaching them about respecting themselve
BmoreSchools: City Schools Introduce New Supper Program: Providing students with healthy dinner – http://bit.ly/9m7sv4
fiteach: I wish I knew more about this topic, but our school does not provide lunches. The kids bring bagged lunches.
Celinejr: @Parentella from what I have seen, it doesn’t seem to me that school lunches are very healthy
JaneBalvanz: Are government regs on school lunches consistent throughout the states?
blairteach: @Parentella School food may be a contributing factor, but our sedentary lifestyle compounds the effects of poor nutrition.
readtoday:Children on welfare are the worst off. They are most likely to suffer from diseases caused by unhealthy eating
Parentella: I would LOVE it if schools (& other places) would offer fresh fruit (or even dried) in vending machines
mtechman: @readtoday http://www.idlewords.com/2003/03/french_week_on_school_lunches.htm
EDUCATIONCEO: @Celinejr And we et fat because we have to rush to eat. @readtoday
cybraryman1: My Nutrition page with Nutrition in Schools sites: http://bit.ly/5fSXtl
rizzrazz: @cybraryman1 Educate them on nutrition AND good sleep habits. Yeh, baby.
Mollybmom: @fiteach It was another opportunity to educate my children about the importance of teaching them about respecting themselve
BmoreSchools: City Schools Introduce New Supper Program: Providing students with healthy dinner – http://bit.ly/9m7sv4
Parentella was created to solve the issue of parent and educator communication at elementary, middle school and high school levels. As part of this mission, we are hosting weekly #PTCHAT discussions to encourage a productive dialogue between parents and educators. We hope you will join us Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST.
You may also want to join Parentella on Facebook to keep updated. View the entire transcript here.
If you are new to following hashtag discussions, you may want to check out this video tutorial on using Tweetdeck for hashtag discussions.
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Related posts:
- Are Kids Given Too Much Homework?
- Connecting the home and school for our kids’ success
- Are Kids Bored in Schools?
- What are the Best Practices for Training Teachers to Succeed in 1-to-1 Environments?
- And on Top of Everything Else, There’s Lunch
Tags: nutition, school lunches
good post! I believe that benefits me well. Answers a few questions for me. TY!
I was out of the country for two years. At first, it drove me bananas that there were no frozen dinners or fast food available and I had to cook from scratch. But I realized cooking was not so bad, and I lost my taste for packaged/frozen food. I’ve been back in the US for almost two years now and I still cook from scratch. I can’t stand the cardboard, flavorless fast/packaged food anymore!
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