Are you ready?

[jyuukai]

I don't know if this was posted as a reply yet but it clearly shows what actually happened for those who agree that it seems strange for the officials to just 'take' her lunch.

I hate news stories like this. People see half the facts, flip their lids, declare the world is ending or something along those lines, and then it just spins out of control from there. IMO a news article should NEVER be posted without the whole truth out there for the world. Sensationalism at it's best.

 

[shadowpaints]

we are super self sufficent. we raise our own chicken, beef, and pork every year. this year we will have goat meat again,goat meat doesnt last too long here.. and goat milk. we also trade fresh eggs and some meat for veggies from our neighbors if we dont have a garden every year. i plan on teaching my self to can fruits and veggies this year. oh and make jam!

we currently have 4 freezers. 1 for chicken ( 150 chickens we processed last year) 1 for pork(320 lbs of pork) 1 for beef(1000 lbs give or take) the other is for other things we can freeze for future use. we have a full pantry also.

we also trade chickens, eggs and goats for chicken feed. and have traded goats and foals for hay.

ever since my hubby and i have gotten married, we decided it was best to be as selfsufficent as possible!

as for the little girls lunch being taken, that is crazy! i think that as long as the lunch wasnt all candy then why take it away?? i kow i would be sueing if someone at school said that i was packing my kids lunch wrong. what happens if the kids have allergies?? i mean sheesh!! this world is slowly getting crazier and crazier!

 

[Sonya]

I don't care if her Mother packed her a box full of twinkies, it's no ones business....our liberties are being taken away daily...and this is just the beginning.

As far as "Are you Ready"...you should watch the new show on NatGeo called "Doomsday Preppers".

 

[Sonya]

From what I've been hearing there is no 2nd side to the story of the little girls lunch...her mother packed her a turkey sandwich, banana, apple juice, and potatoe chips and the school said it did not meet usda standards so they fed her the school lunch and sent a bill home in her lunchbox for the meal. There is nothing more to the story. I hope she sues the crap out of the school, unfortunately that comes out of all our pockets. I've never even heard of a lunch inspector, but apparently they are out there and we are paying for that too.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

I understood from the article, she was given the full lunch meal (whatever else that included), but only ate the three nuggets. [Her mom stated she is very picky eater, so had packed foods she'd actually eat in her lunch.]

The article I read stated that they look at the packed lunch and decide which elements are missing and then provide the missing elements at the expense of the parents which is why I got the impression that they decided she was missing whatever it is that chicken nuggets provide. I understand my reaction to the article was not in line with the general outrage over government interference; I'm actually okay with the schools making sure the children are well-fed so they can focus on their studies. In fact, having been in depressed communities where many people rely heavily on government support, I feel the government needs MORE involvement and regulation in some areas and was disappointed by this example of how counter-productive their current system is.

 

[Magic]

I'm wondering if a child would be coerced to eat meat if her family were vegetarians and there didn't happen to be "acceptable" protein in the child's lunch that day? Or made to drink milk when the child was lactose-intolerant and had to get her dairy in a different form? Or was given a food item from the school lunch she was allergic to (which may have been the reason the lunch was brought from home in the first place?) This was a very young child and of course she would just do as the adults in charge told her to do, whether that was good for her or not.

Anyway, people don't have to have a fully balanced meal at EVERY meal. You could eat only fruit for breakfast, protein and dairy for lunch, and vegetables for dinner, and be perfectly fine. Or even one food group per day, as long as all of the food groups were taken in turn. There are many people that aren't able to eat wheat, etc, and eating it is not necessary to have a balanced diet.

Too much government involvement in our lives, for sure!

 

[Sonya]

The govt needs to be more involved in our personal lives and create more regulations??????? Wow is all I can say.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

The govt needs to be more involved in our personal lives and create more regulations??????? Wow is all I can say.

That's a pretty narrow interpretation of what I said, if you are referring to this passage:

In fact, having been in depressed communities where many people rely heavily on government support, I feel the government needs MORE involvement and regulation in some areas and was disappointed by this example of how counter-productive their current system is.

This statement would only be relevant to you if you are receiving government support - a topic I only brought up in relation to why schools are getting involved in what children eat in the first place. Once again, my perspective on this is largely colored by the fact that I have repeatedly seen gross abuse of government support across several sectors. I'm not going to go on and on about this, since it's pretty OT, but I do feel that if you are asking for the government to support you then you should expect to receive that support on their terms. In that scenario, I would think the role of government regulation would seem obvious.

----

Just a little edit here to clarify that I am all for the secondary topic of "self-sufficiency." If everyone was more self-sufficient we wouldn't have to worry about so much government interference.

 

[Miniv]

"If everyone was more self-sufficient we wouldn't have to worry about so much government interference. "

I beg to differ. The government is already interfering if you want to sell unpasteurized cow or goat milk. They are proposing inspections of eggs if you sell or trade them....Plus the tax man gets involved. And then there's the situation of selling or trading your home grown vegetables or even having a yard sale.

 

[vickie gee]

From what I've been hearing there is no 2nd side to the story of the little girls lunch...her mother packed her a turkey sandwich, banana, apple juice, and potatoe chips and the school said it did not meet usda standards so they fed her the school lunch and sent a bill home in her lunchbox for the meal. There is nothing more to the story. I hope she sues the crap out of the school, unfortunately that comes out of all our pockets. I've never even heard of a lunch inspector, but apparently they are out there and we are paying for that too.

Thank you Sonya. I can appreciate it when people deal in reality. How about the reality that the government is also tracking our social networking??

 

[Riverrose28]

"If everyone was more self-sufficient we wouldn't have to worry about so much government interference. "

I beg to differ. The government is already interfering if you want to sell unpasteurized cow or goat milk. They are proposing inspections of eggs if you sell or trade them....Plus the tax man gets involved. And then there's the situation of selling or trading your home grown vegetables or even having a yard sale.

It is already happening here in Maryland, you are no longer allowed in my county to have free range chickens, they must all be penned or housed. If they catch you with free range you will be fined $80. per chicken. Also you can not sell farm freash eggs without an inspection. You can sell vegtables at the local farmers market though. You can not barter, such as trade livestock or anything else for a service or anything else without paying taxes, just as if it were sold! Go figure!

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

It is already happening here in Maryland, you are no longer allowed in my county to have free range chickens, they must all be penned or housed. If they catch you with free range you will be fined $80. per chicken.

So all chickens must be penned up in cages? How terrible!! Are they going to actually enforce it?

 

[Riverrose28]

So all chickens must be penned up in cages? How terrible!! Are they going to actually enforce it?

Sorry I didn't mean it that way, I should have said penned up in a fenced yard or enclosure. I've seen chickens running loose on other farms, and seems like they don't get ticketed, but a show chicken breeder told me about this law when I had some chickens. It applies to all poultry, not just chickens. I was told it had to do with containing illness.

 

[Jill]

I haven't read every post, but wanted to see if anyone's been watching "Doomsday Preppers" on National Geographic? It's very entertaining and also informative in some segments.

 

[SHANA]

Here in Quebec it is just as bad. My mom was in charge of a school cafeteria and the goverment offical did not want her serving pizza(hello that is her best day). They also were fussy on other things she served. She thought it was to much of a bother and left to go to a old folks home. Now she is retired. Jeesh!

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

From what I had heard, too, is that the school is subsidized for every lunch they sell. Since the little girl brought her lunch they weren't getting their "cut"....

 

[mini horse mania]

I haven't read every post, but wanted to see if anyone's been watching "Doomsday Preppers" on National Geographic? It's very entertaining and also informative in some segments.

Wow just looked at a few episodes on youtube....im not as ready as they are...well,if all that happens,im pretty sure usda wont be worrying too much about what folks eat then....

 

[Katiean]

When I first heard about this story, they said that they made her have the school lunch. Then they interviewed someone from the school and they said "No, the child CHOSE to eat the school lunch". Give me a break. A 5 year old is not equipped to choose.

Also, do you want to know what is going into our milk and beef cows in northern Nevada? The waist from making marshmalloww mateys, toasty O's, and corn flakes. And what ever gets in the stuff when they are cleaning up. The wet mash muck sits in a truck until it is full and then it is trucked out to feed the cows. YUM!

 

[kaykay]

Like ML I also suspected there was more to the story (or parts left out)

Heres an updated version

Lunch Story

 

[Shari]

So basically, after reading the whole thing, the State/School can replace the lunch of any child, if they feel it isn't a balance lunch, even when it is.

Not Kosher, specially with kids that have allergies. I can see this bitting them in the backside in the future.