Holy @#$% - School lunches in France

[Narse]

My Mom is a teacher and knew the cafeteria staff well. Back in the 80s when I was in elementary school our food was great. All hand cooked and prepped. This was a public school also.

 

[spaceman]

back in the 80s where i was @
it was low grade dog food

 

[iGas]

The French kids are eating way better than I'm.

 

[Narse]

back in the 80s where i was @
it was low grade dog food

I have no doubt. I was lucky that in my time at school we had tons of parent involvement and it showed. We had a Commodore 64 and a Apple IIe computers in every classroom. This was in like 84, so it went further than just the food. Mind you I lived in a very small town in upper east Tennessee so the small population may have made it easier as when I go back there now its not nearly as good. The school now has four times as many students as when I was there now too.

 

[dquan97]

At my son's kindergarten class (Montessori program), lunches are $1.25 full price and $0.40 subsidized. Here's Feb lunch schedule: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/214038/February%202011 Lunch Menu.pdf

I think the selection is decent, especially for a public school. I have not seen the portions or quality of the meal.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

The US has a fundamental attitude problem. Here, everything is somebody else's responsibility. Compare that to the chef at around 3:00. He takes pride in what he does and sees it as his responsibility to feed the students at his school well. I have a feeling if he didn't, the parents would remove him immediately. And he does it for $2.50/student, while people around here seem to insist is impossible.

The problems here in the US won't be fixed with money, it goes way beyond politics and taxes and rich/poor. We've had it far too easy for far too long and we're soft and weak. Nothing will change until we have a severe crisis when people are forced to take responsibility for improving the situations of themselves, their families, and their communities.

This. Pride in what you do and a dedication to improving how you do things seems to be lacking.

Here here.

HEAR HEAR.

 

[freegeeks]

I think it's 2 things

The French people working in the kitchen have a lot of pride in their work, with pride comes dedication and to deliver a good product

Secondly, as you can see in the video, schools are still regarded as a institute of authority. The lady had to explain why her kid was not having lunch at school. Schools in Europe have a more actively involvement, not only in education but also in general upbringing of your children. If schools think that you are doing something wrong, as a parent you will be questioned about it. I think that a lot of American parents would not accept that and would see this as an interference in their private affairs. I think that a lot of US parents have more this who-are-you-to-tell-me-how-to-raise-my-kids attitude so schools have a more hands off approach

just my 0,2 eurocents

 

[0roo0roo]

Its sad that we don't feed our kids good, freshly made food in schools. Instead we serve them processed, microwaved food that meets (arguably) the bare minimum specs.
Its disgusting. My kids will never eat a school lunch. Brown bag it.

Oh and talk to this guy about it:

yea that was embarassing, la school district is more close minded than the hick state he last did his show in. never thought that would be true. they block him at every move, because they know they serve their kids shit.

only way this changes is if you require all the teachers and admins to eat the sh*t the kids have to

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Is $5-$6 the actual cost or just what they charge? If that's the cost that's fucking absurd that we're stuck in this shithole with chicken ammonia nuggets and gross canned green beans that have been steamed for 4 hours.

 

[coldmeat]

My elementary school didn't have a cafeteria. Either you brought food from home or you didn't eat. In high school the cafeteria was more like a restaurant, where they made you whatever you ordered and you only ate their once or twice a week.

 

[0roo0roo]

Is $5-$6 the actual cost or just what they charge? If that's the cost that's fucking absurd that we're stuck in this shithole with chicken ammonia nuggets and gross canned green beans that have been steamed for 4 hours.

probably cost, not being a restaurant they don't need a profit margin, raw cost of food in school bulk can't be that much either. and unlike a restaurant, you can perfectly predict how much food you need each day, no fluctuation in customer base, no waste.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

probably cost, not being a restaurant they don't need a profit margin, raw cost of food in school bulk can't be that much either. and unlike a restaurant, you can perfectly predict how much food you need each day, no fluctuation in customer base, no waste.

You would expect all those things to be true... but I'm pretty sure at least the bolded isn't...

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

You would expect all those things to be true... but I'm pretty sure at least the bolded isn't...

Why not? Unless the food is literally too rotted to be edible, it can be used in some kind of stock or casserole where it can be cooked long enough to tenderize it or extract all the flavour.

 

[0roo0roo]

You would expect all those things to be true... but I'm pretty sure at least the bolded isn't...

not by the "restaurant"....but by the "customer" sure.

but that is the problem, if you give the kids options, they won't eat. if you give your kid the choice between a pile of chocolate bars and chips and dinner you can guess what will happen. thats what we do in todays schools when instead they should be told to pound dirt when they ask for anything else. not sure why kids suddenly became boss, even the pansy french know that kids are there to take direction, not give it.

 

[CptObvious]

It's not just schools. I'm working temp for the state gov't and the food the cafeteria serves daily is deep fried Southern cooking. While it tastes good I couldn't eat that every day.

I think if schools in the South did offer healthy cooking, the school boards would cave in to an angry minority of parents screaming about how un-American they are.

 

[zanejohnson]

just wanted to add something about waste...

when i was in jail, the food was basically the same as it was in school lol... and, they would COOK SO MUCH MORE SHIT THEN THEY NEEDED, A LOT would get thrown away everyday.. and heaven forbid they give the extras, to the inmates.. they just wouldnt.

 

[shopbruin]

At my son's kindergarten class (Montessori program), lunches are $1.25 full price and $0.40 subsidized. Here's Feb lunch schedule: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/214038/February 2011 Lunch Menu.pdf

I think the selection is decent, especially for a public school. I have not seen the portions or quality of the meal.

It isn't bad, but some of the days they don't serve any real vegetables. Corn and potatoes are not vegetables.

It'd also be nice if they cut out the canned fruit, because it's so sugary. It'd also be nice if they could cut up the fresh fruit for the kids - I really doubt a kindergarten student is going to eat a whole apple. :-(

I swear after watching Jamie Oliver, whenever I have kids, I'm packing their lunches daily.