My response to a parent who makes excuses...

This is a comment I found on a blog about getting healthier school lunches, so I thought I'd share her comment and every so often, I break in (in bold italics) to interject my response. This was emailed to her as is.

I am so sick of all this talk about healthier lunchs.. blah blah blah.. Our school serves things my kids will not eat .. healthier things like "California Vegtables" or beets. My kids GO HUNGRY!! I have to pay for my kids to starve?? Why?? It's ridiculous!

My parents were at fault for not teaching me healthier eating habits...not just my school...thanks for bringing this up. Good nutrition shouldn't be left on the shoulders of your school district, it's your job to teach good nutrition and good eating habits at home, as well. Now, don't think of this as my telling you how to raise your child, but if you're going to put it out there, expect criticism...but I hope you consider this constructive.

They take soda out of the vending machines because it is horrible. So when I just pulled out the CranGrape Juice and the Coke this is what I found:
Ocean Spray Cran Grape:
120 Calories [8 oz serving]
80 mg of Sodium
31 grams of Sugar

Coke:
100 Calories [8 oz serving]
35 mg of Sodium
27 grams of Sugar

So tell me how soda is worse? Looking at the label-it seems juice is. It is the same with Juicy Juicy as well.

Totally agree, but there are juices out there that are sugar free/no sugar added, NOT from concentrate, etc, but when purchasing processed foods and beverages, it's going to be impossible to find something with low sugar. Even if you were to squeeze the juice yourself, fruit has natural sugar and sometimes more than you think it would.

How about we fight to get P.E. back in the school EVERYDAY?? Our school only has it twice a week. We need to be fighting to get our kids supplies like jump ropes and basketball goals/hoops for recess. How about a good ol' game of Dodge Ball?? My 5th grade son has the worse "play ground" I have ever seen. Well, I don't want to exagerate-there are probably worse but you get my point.

I agree with this as well but PE only fixes part of the problem. Some of our healthiest people run, work out, lift weights, but they are still having heart attacks, contracting heart disease, etc. I eat healthy but I'm still 70 lbs over weight and honestly, I just don't get a chance to get out and exercise because of my desk job. I am prime example of how you have to do both. Thank goodness I am w/in a few miles of a gym and as soon as I get a membership, this weight will come right off.

You almost can't but it doesn't hurt to avoid eating things you can't pronounce.

Anyway-good luck with your project. Sad to say everyone is pushing for "healthier" things that will just force me to continue to pack PB & J for my 6 year old. He is 6- not 21 with a "refined pallet"

You can feed your child healthy food with out giving them PB&J and it doesn't require your child to have a "refined pallet". I loved apples and other fruits as a child and I don't think it would be too far fetched to just slice some fruit in place of that jelly...substitute sweet potato fries instead of processed frozen fries...heck, even cut up potatoes would be better!

Apples, bananas, even pears would be better than fruit flavored jelly with corn syrup. grilled/fried Rice balls brushed with a sweet teriyaki sauce mixture or even a garden burger patty cut into fun shapes. It tastes good and it's healthy.
There is a blog called www.lunchinabox.net where a woman speaks of the types of bento lunches she makes for her 5 year old and not only are they healthy but they are fun. She and many other mothers have absolutely no problem feeding their kids healthy foods...but I also assume she's not offering crappy foods as a choice, she's packing the lunch and the kid eats it.

With the internet being a source for infinite knowledge, there is no reason why people can't find what works for them and believe me, your child may not realize it but making it to age 60 with out high blood pressure or high cholesterol should be reward enough and establishing healthy eating habits will pay off by granting your child a longer and happier life as an adult.

Thanks for reading and I wish you luck.

Crys