school lunches just can't get any worse

It's no wonder Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity and one of the highest for diabetes. There are fast food restaurants on every corner, and very few restaurants which offer *any* healthy options. There are a few Subways, but that's about it. From the measly locally-owned offerings, most restaurants serve southern food -- thick with sauces, and often fried. The produce section of our local grocery stores leaves much to be desired. I have found myself cooking less and less down here because I am so turned off by the bruised, aging veggies on the shelves.

But I think the horrendous quality of the school lunches says it all - nothing is being done by those with power to stop unhealthy eating at an early age.  From working at two different school districts, and from the words of teachers in other districts, I can tell you school lunches in Mississippi are pretty awful both in terms of taste and healthfulness.

 Eduwonk linked to this article in the USA Today about rising food prices and their effect on school lunches. Apparently many school systems, especially those who rely on federal government assistance, are having an extremely hard time keeping balanced meals available for their students with skyrocketing prices.  I really have no idea how our school district might keep pace with inflation - I don't see how they could cut any more from the meager meals they give these kids. My guess is that this money will have to come from another department.

If the federal government thinks 2.47 will buy, prepare, and serve a healthy child's meal (including milk) they must be out of their minds. Or they simply don't care about what poor children are eating. To have school districts "charge the math department overhead" to cover the cost of food is depressing. If the government is serious about making sure children are fed, they should be doing it right. As it is, they are simply teaching kids that what you put into your body doesn't matter, as long as it is cheap -- exactly what leads to our soaring healthcare costs when the children grow up into obesity and diabetes.

But the amount of the subsidy was much less shocking than the picture plastered across the top of the article --- which absolutely floored me:

Miami

The photo's caption reads: " A sample lunch tray in Miami-Dade School District".

Now, let me tell you, the lunch trays in Mississippi look nothing like this. Nothing. First of all, we do not have fresh fruit. The only fruit served with the daily meals at our school is very old-looking oranges (halved), a fruit cup (straight from the wholesale can), or one of these, which essentially amounts to ice and sugar. I have never seen an "entree" like the one in the photo. Our entrees do not have any vegetables -- they are typically one of the following: pizza, sloppy joe, fried chicken, chili, hot ham and cheese sandwich, or hot dog. They are filled with grease, and usually taste accordingly. The mornings that I forget to pack a lunch cause me to cringe; I hate the thought of spending 2.75 for this junk almost as much as I do the thought of eating it.

Perhaps the ridiculously bad meals in Mississippi stem from the fact that the state requires both a HOT lunch and a HOT breakfast served each day. Meals would be cheaper, and much, much healthier if we could serve cold lunches. Instead students are often given a warm donut for breakfast, and a slice of pizza with fries for lunch (oh, and don't forget your "fruity sugar ice" on the side). It's ridiculous. I have half a mind to petition the government to change the law -- it must be a state rule if Floria is allowed to give students this fantastic, healthy-looking wrap. I wonder if the Mississippi State Legislature knows, or cares, that their rules have this unintended effect...