In the news today was a story that should not have surprised but alas I was anyway. Fox News reported that a preschool girl was not allowed to eat the lunch her mother packed for her because the contents did not meet “”U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.”” The student was provided a lunch of chicken nuggets provided by the school cafeteria to provide the nutrition she needed to live. In what world can chicken nuggets provided by a school lunchroom be considered edible much less healthy? You may be thinking that her mother surely packed her a lunch of wood chips and pixie sticks to merit such an action.
The student’s lunch consisted of:
turkey and cheese sandwich
banana
apple juice
potato chips
Moreover, the student was sent home with a letter and a bill charging the parents for the chicken nuggets. The letter stated that parents who did not pack a healthy lunch would force the school to supplement and parents would be charged. What? You mean the schools are not taking the time to inspect children’s lunches? Yes. Yes, they are. That is your tax dollars at work. Since your tax dollars were not enough to pay the state workers who inspect the lunches, they need to find ways to say a banana is unhealthy so they can nickel and dime parents to supplement with healthier options. Healthier options such as chicken nuggets.
As you can obviously tell this news is appalling to me. I am tired of the school systems playing parent. This is the first step in a school system claiming they know better than the parent and will take action. Sure, it is only chicken nuggets today, but if we continue to hand over our rights neatly tied in a bow, it will not end here.