4 T. dried basil
2 T. garlic powder
2 T. coriander
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t. white pepper
September 2020
School Lunch: A Simple Solution
Want to open a can of worms? Bring up the school lunch program. It can be a group of parents. It can be a group of teachers. It can be a group of elementary school students who have just finished a health unit and one of the topics was nutrition. It can be a group of high school-aged athletes who want to do everything possible to ensure success in their training and in their competition. There is really only 1 statement that I have never heard when discussing school lunches. The statement? “I am sure pleased with the nutritional quality of the school lunch program.” It is always open season on the school lunch program. Just like it is always open season on the nutritional quality of hospital food (not the taste or the quantity, but the nutritional quality). Just like it is always open season on the moral quality of the clergy. Just like it is always open season on the grocery-shopping cart of someone well-known in a community for their speaking and writing about nutrition issues. (I have many personal stories about strangers going through my grocery cart!)
Why So Complicated?
People can literally talk nonstop for hours about what is wrong with school lunches from a nutrition standpoint. They do feel frustrated. They really do want healthy food served to their kids. It does not matter what kind of food that they themselves prepare at home or what they order when they go out to eat. It is exactly the same mentality that is so critical of hospital food. It is what people expect from someone or some organization that sets itself up as the “expert” or the “authority” in a certain area. Should a school lunch serve a slice of pizza to a child right after the discussion in the health or science class describes the negative impact that eating a high-fat diet has on health? What happened to the idea of educating the total child? The same is true of hospitals. The diabetic patient wants to know how the hospital cafeteria can serve the entire list of foods that they just learned in their diabetes education class should not be part of their eating style.
Today’s Reality
We can no longer fall back on the old thinking that says there is no such thing as “bad” food or “good’’ food. This is a poor excuse for continuing to rationalize a desire to eat foods that are really damaging to the body in even very small amounts. One egg yolk has over 200 milligrams of cholesterol. How many does it take to equal “bad”? Is half a yolk okay? How about a slice of pepperoni pizza? We teach kids how to read labels and watch for high (very high) fat foods and then confuse them by serving them pepperoni pizza every Monday (Tuesday if there is no school on Monday!) in the school cafeteria. Let’s get real. It is the twenty-first century, and even people who learned to eat a high-fat diet now know what is healthy and what is not healthy. Even when they continue to eat it themselves, they still do not think school cafeterias or hospitals should be serving it. It is very similar to the addicted smoker (one who wants to stop but can’t) fighting hard to support a cigarette tax to prevent young people from starting.
My advice to concerned teachers, parents, and students is always the same. The reality is not ideal. The conversation can go on for hours, and there is universal agreement in 2 areas:
1 School lunches are too high in fat and almost devoid of fiber.
2 The chances that there will be dramatic changes are slim, although there is no doubt that progress is being made. (Parents would be up in arms if other parts of the educational system settled for mediocrity when it could be on the cutting edge. In most other areas, we demand excellence. It is really more fun to lead the changes than be dragged “kicking and screaming” to the front.)
Have a Plan
What is the goal? What do you want for your kids this fall? Most people concerned about this topic really have 2 points on which they would like to focus.
First, they want good nutrition. They want a balanced meal that has energy foods, body-building foods, and that is appetizing.
Secondly, there is the long-range focus. Here they want to foster good long-term (lifetime) eating behaviors where kids learn to take control (self-responsibility).
The Solution
The solution is simple. Teach kids to take a lunch that they pack before school each morning or the night before and have ready in the refrigerator. It doesn’t have to be fancy, or hot, or complicated, or even different every day. See how many days in a row kids will eat pizza, or tacos, or hamburgers, and then decide if you will still buy the statement that many kids try to sell their parents, “I don’t want to eat fruit for lunch every day, because it gets boring.”
What to Pack?
Turkey on whole wheat
Chicken on whole wheat
Tuna on whole wheat
Low-sugar jelly and peanut butter (no added fat, sugar, or salt) on whole wheat
Fat-free cheese on whole wheat
Bagels (Some bagel shops have 40 varieties. Are you bored yet?)
Applesauce in the package without added sugar
Fresh fruit (dozens of choices)
Bean burrito
Yogurt in the 1-serving carton that is fat-free and has fruit added (many varieties)
Hot soup in a thermos (many varieties)
Skim milk, available for purchase at the cafeteria
Baggies of baby carrots (a great way to show kids that carrots are not a “diet” food)
Take Action
Finally, avoid blaming the system. Get creative. Expand this list. Teach your kids. Learn from your kids. Put your kids in charge. Stay well!
OCTOBER 2020
If your kids want their pasta plain and tell you to hold the greasy meat sauce or cheese, let them eat just pasta. They will not miss the fat and cholesterol. They know something you don’t know. Learn from your kids!
—The Author
Stems and Posole
Recipe:
Place the following in a Crock-Pot and cook on LOW all day:
4 broccoli stems, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 can red beans, rinsed to remove salt
3 small cans no-salt V-8 vegetable juice
1 15-oz. can no-salt stewed tomatoes
1 cup posole that has soaked overnight (or 1 can hominy)
water, enough to bring the level to 2 inches of the top
2 green chilies, finely chopped (or 1 can green chilies, rinsed to remove salt)
6 green onions, finely chopped 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
water, enough to fill Crock-Pot 2 inches from the top
Spices
1/2 t. black pepper
2 T. garlic powder
3 T. ground cumin
1 T. red pepper flakes
OCTOBER 2020
Nonfat and High-Fiber Red Potato Salad
If