Preschooler's Homemade Lunch Replaced with Chicken Nuggets

Preschooler's Homemade Lunch Replaced with Chicken Nuggets

Updated: Wednesday, 15 Feb 2012, 4:54 AM PST
Published : Wednesday, 15 Feb 2012, 4:54 AM PST




(NewsCore) - A North Carolina preschooler was fed cafeteria chicken nuggets after a state employee decided that her homemade lunch was not nutritious enough, the Carolina Journal reported.

The West Hoke Elementary School student's lunch box -- which contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice -- was inspected by a state agent in the girl's classroom and deemed not to meet the nutrition guidelines set by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to the report Tuesday.

A regulation from the state's Department of Health and Human Services says lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs -- even those brought from home -- should adhere to the USDA guidelines. If a student's packed lunch lacks any of the required items, the child should be provided with the missing foods.

The USDA suggests meals should contain one meat portion, one serving of milk, one serving of grains and two portions of fruit or vegetables.

The girl came home from the Raeford, N.C., school afterward with a note for her mom and a bill for $1.25 to cover the cost of the chicken nuggets she ate.

Her mom, who did not wish to be identified, wrote a complaint to her state representative, Republican Gaston Pridgen, saying she did not feel she should be made to pay for a cafeteria lunch when her daughter was provided with a homemade lunch.

"What got me so mad is, No. 1, don't tell my kid I'm not packing her lunch box properly," the mom told the newspaper. "I pack her lunchbox according to what she eats ... It never consists of a vegetable. She eats vegetables at home because I have to watch her because she doesn't really care for vegetables."

School principal Jackie Samuels told the newspaper he did not "know anything about" parents being charged for the meals that day.

A North Carolina preschooler was fed cafeteria chicken nuggets after a state employee decided that her homemade lunch was not nutritious enough, the Carolina Journal reported.

GrayWolf wrote:

I'd raise hell if some school did that to my kid.

RedBedroom wrote:That is just crazy. Like Al said, it's not as if it was soda and chips. I would be very upset if this was happening to my child because it is a parent's right to pack what they wish to pack.

I would be willing to bet in less than ten years, bagged lunches won't be allowed anymore. All the concern about allergies has sharing being policed (which does make sense). So, I bet they will require all students take a bagged lunch eventually.

In my son's school, he would much rather have school lunch because each day they have a taco bar, pizza and other "fun" foods from which he can select. However, I rarely allow him to. Other than the less than stellar choices, he also has limited time to eat if he stands in line.

Forgiveness Man wrote:Ah, Government intrusion! Chickens Nuggets are healthy for you now, because the government says so.

gingersnaps wrote:Seriously, now they're trying to be lunch nazis?? Far as I'm concerned, the lunch from home sounded just fine. I think that the school should be asking the parents ahead of time if it's okay to add something to the lunch if it's deficient but I'm sure they're too stupid to do that.

BTW, the parents should tell the school to stick it with the 1.25.

Nystyle709 wrote:LOL.

The schools' chicken nuggets prob. ain't real chicken anyway.

Alan Smithee wrote:

They're Soylent Green

CeCe wrote:

The lunch from home sounded MORE healthy. Wonder how much chicken is actually in those "nuggets"? The school really crossed the line here.

And I would never send them their $1.25. Let the "state agent" cough it up.

CeCe wrote:NC is turning into the dumbest damn state in the country.

Schools can’t criticize home-packed meals

Friday, June 1, 2012
(Updated 5:57 am)

RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers are reacting to a recent chicken-nuggets lunchroom controversy that raged on conservative talk shows and web sites by banning school officials from looking at the nutritional balance of home-packed meals.

The state Senate on Thursday unanimously approved legislation that would block child care facilities from providing foods or drinks to children whose parents are sending them with packed lunches.

A pre-kindergarten teacher at a Hoke County school resigned this spring after telling three 4-year-olds in her class that their homemade lunches didn't entirely meet federal guidelines for well-balanced meals. School officials said the teacher should have rounded out the children's packed lunches with a carton of milk or whatever else was lacking, but instead the children got cafeteria meals that included chicken nuggets.




http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/06/01/article/schools_can_t_criticize_home_packed_meals#nrcAnc_Middle2_Jump

Shale wrote: When 200 pound women are determining what is healthy eating you have to wonder.

i get ur point, but i must interject. I'm a 200 pound woman who probably knows more about nutrition and proper diets than most "thin, average, healthy" people. WHY do you ask? cause women with lifelong weight problems have researched all the tips, the best brands of foods, what has what calories, what makes the metabolism speed/slow down, what the best exercises are...

there are reasons that we are still fat... even after knowing all that. so lol