Did you see the story we had last week about how Fayette County is removing deep fryers from some schools?
I was stunned to see that schools have and use deep fryers in 2010. They have been removed from 19 schools.
Here’s the nut graph from that story:
Those schools now are baking or broiling foods that already were flash-fried — fried briefly at high temperatures — before being frozen and delivered to the schools, says Marty Flynn, the district’s child nutrition coordinator.
They’re still fried. Now they just aren’t fried twice. Great.
And then these nuggets:
Even though the 19 schools have removed frying equipment, more than 30 others still have it, Flynn said. Frying equipment is being removed each time a school is renovated, and no frying equipment is being placed in new schools, Flynn said. The goal is to eliminate all deep fryers.
Meanwhile, in schools that still have frying equipment, moves are under way to reduce the amount of frying or to use healthier, zero trans-fat oils when foods are fried, according to district officials.
That means they are still using them and those chicken strips flash-fried by the vendor are still fried again, right?
One of the photos with the story shows a student’s lunch tray at Russell Cave Elementary, one of the 19 schools to remove the fryers.
It showed once-fried chicken strips, a few orange slices and some unidentifiable fruit in a cup (which most likely means canned), a whole wheat roll and chocolate milk. Two fruits, great. Whole wheat roll, good. Once-friend chicken, not so much. Chocolate milk? Not good, especially if he grabs it five times a week (this was on an average Tuesday).
I got slammed by commenters after the first blog I did on how unhealthy school lunches are. I wrote then that they don’t seem to have progressed much since I was in school, back in the dark ages.
This doesn’t help their argument.
And, frankly, it’s just wrong, especially in a state with one of the highest child obesity rates in the country.
I had a long conversation with Marty Flynn after that first posting and she told me some of the good things happening in the school cafeterias, like switching to whole wheat breads and adding fresh fruit. But, really? They’re still double-frying foods more than half the schools?
Don’t tell me kids won’t drink or eat healthy things. Kids will eat what you put in front of them, especially if you don’t offer sugar-laden and/or high-salt and/or deep-fried crap beside the healthy stuff.
Why not just bake or broil the chicken without it being fried to start with? It might take a little more time to make sure the chicken is cooked, but aren’t kids worth that effort?
I think they are.
— Linda J.
I completely agree with you, which is why I choose to pack my 2 year olds and 4 years olds lunch for daycare instead of paying to have them eat there. It would be much easier to not have to think about it every night, but at least I can control what they eat. School lunches are subsidized by the government at a paltry price. The cafeterias have to make money, and they do it by selling junk food to our children. I teach, and often have students who come in with Funyuns, fruit juice, and dried fruit gummies. This is their lunch. A lot of them are even on Free Lunch, but buy the extras because they taste better. In our district the answer is well, it’s how we make our money. I understand that, but at the same time…what are we doing to the health of the future over money?
Today’s New York Times has an article about some elementary schools that have begun having recess before lunch. The kids are much better behaved in the lunch room,having expended pent up energy,and are much more interested in eating healthy foods. There’s also been much less food wasted. This makes alot of sense to me-I can remember wanting to bolt my food in order to get outside to play.