Sheryl's Awesome Online Discoveries and Memories

I read an article recently about the number of hungry school children there are.  And how that is affecting their learning.  The article went on to talk about the free lunch programs many schools have.  And it further went on to tell that some of these same schools are sending home “care” packages of frozen leftover food from these lunches.  Very altruistic, but problematic.

This got me thinking.   First of all, the price of a dozen eggs in not that much.  Maybe $2-$3.  I buy 18 for less than $2.00. (see note below), Twelve eggs should be able to provide at least six breakfasts, if not more.  If it is a matter of time, hard boiled eggs are so easily portable.

HOW TO BOIL AN EGG

It is so easy to hard boil an egg. Put them in a pan covered with cold water. Bring the water to boil and then turn off the burner.  Let the eggs sit until the water cools and put them in the refrigerator.  All a child needs to do is grab one or two eggs in the morning.  If they are running late, shell them and eat them in route on the way to school.  Are children prevented from eating on the school bus?  Or maybe even have hard boiled eggs available at the school when the kids arrive.

I know they would rather have sugar-loaded fancy-named cereals that they have been psyched with through ads on children’s programs.  But if they are truly hungry a hard-boiled egg is very filling.

School Lunches for Hungry School Children

Second thought that bothered me was why there was so much food left over from the lunches.   Was the cafeteria cooking food that the children did not want to eat at lunch time.  If so, they wouldn’t want to eat it later at home.  It seemed like more of a waste and not a solution to hunger.

One solution would be to look at the menu – the foods being prepared.  It should be nutritious, true, but it also has to be something that the children will eat.  I am an old woman, but I can still remember the things we had in our school cafeteria.  Sloppy Joes were always a big favorite.  True it is not a Big Mac, that kids seem to be spoiled with.  Peanut butter and jelly is nutritious and inexpensive.  True, care has to be taken because of some children’s allergies to nuts.  There is also cheese sandwiches, also inexpensive, although the price of bread has become outrageous.

Take home meals

Second, if the cafeteria is making too much food, they should look at the quantity they are preparing.  Maybe a decrease in what they are preparing should be analyzed to save money in the school district budget.  Or maybe used to provide breakfast or a mid-morning snack. I remember in the lower grades, we always had graham crackers and milk at mid-morning and we didn’t have this problem then even though it was during and right after World War II. What has changed? The nation was poor back then. Now we are affluent, or supposedly, but we have hungry school kids and people living on the street.  

OPINION

It just seems inconceivable to me, in this country, that anyone should be going hungry.  People who need them are getting food stamps.  Perhaps education on how to  shop with them should be included.  True, potato chips are food items, but it does not provide much nutrition or stave off later hunger.  A 10-ounce bag  of potato chips is about the same price as 5 pounds of potatoes.  I shouldn’t have to spell out the better purchase.

I think it may have been in the same article that I read that some restaurants are now putting their overage out in ways that the homeless can have it without digging in the garbage cans.  Now that, I can endorse, although it might be more kind to serve it to these same people within the restaurant itself.