U is for UNbelievable!!!
Today is more of a rant to some extent and it isn’t directed at anyone, but a blanket observation if you will. Parents you have to know that your children throw out their lunches. You know the fruit and sandwiches you send with them to school? Yes, it goes in the garbage. Working as a lunchroom supervisor, you see things. The first thing I noticed was how much food actually goes into the garbage. If you wondered why your child is “starving” when they get home, I’m willing to bet it’s because they threw out their lunch. I’m not saying every child that brings a lunch throws it out, but when I see kids standing over the garbage can with their open lunch boxes and see a sandwich, an apple or piece of fruit go into it, I’m guessing that they will be hungry when they come home. AND, the school lunches, I’ve seen so many of those too go right in the garbage! I’ve seen unopened milk cartons getting tossed, full pieces of pizza, and it really makes me wonder, how much money is being thrown away on school lunches! I’ve been talking about this with my own kids and my son now doesn’t even take a “real” lunch now because he 1. refuses to pre-make his lunch the night before and he is usually running out the door without a coat because he’s a lazy one, or 2. the sandwiches “taste” like Axe body spray…wha???? My youngest usually eats all her lunch because by the time she has lunch, she is starving and will eat just about anything. My oldest is in high school and her lunch is an hour before she gets home so 9 times out of 10, she will just wait to get home before she eats. I’ve stopped making lunches for them and now they all make their own because they are old enough to do so. I can only tell them what’s good for them, but I can’t make them eat it. My husband always gets on them for not eating vegetables and fruits, but if they don’t like it, you can’t shove it down their throats and make them eat it. At least that is what I tell him! :O
THEN, there is the “I didn’t have time to eat”. Parents, again, your child has plenty of time to eat and again, 9 times out of 10 it’s because they are way too busy talking and socializing to eat! My youngest came home last year telling me that and I couldn’t understand how they don’t have time…but now I see it with my own eyes! Oh the stories I could tell, but can’t! Lets just say that a LOT goes on in the lunchroom and eating is only half of it! 😉
Have you ever asked your child what their lunch room experiences are like? Do you think they eat what you send with them? How much money do you think is wasted on purchasing un-eaten school lunches? My guess, millions!
I agree that a lot of it is the kids choosing not to eat, but from personal experience, that is not always the case. The year I dropped out, our teachers would sometimes hold us after the bell rang and by the time I got to the lunch room, I was waiting for C lunch line to end when I was B lunch. There were times that I heard the bell ring to go back to class before I even had my food. I’m hypoglycemic so I ignored it to at least buy a soda or something surgery that would keep me from passing out. In other schools, we had green hot dogs and a tooth showing up in my friend’s brother’s food (it wasnt his) and repeated food poisoning and one school had a rumor that a cat peed on the brownies because that’s what they smelled like. Not all schools are like this but with the pressure to be thin, it’s not too surprising so many lunches go into the trash. All I can say is ask the kids if they are eating and if not, then ask why, because a lot of times there is a reason behind it.