Down with healthy school lunches, says House GOP

[SuperDuper! 230]

IMO the sarcasm is unwarranted. Government has a role to play in helping consumers be better educated about the products they are buying - be they food products or financial products. Government has no role to play, however, and never should, in mandating consumers eat x servings of leafy vegetables a day. That would be an overreach and it saddens me that you do not agree.

Sarcasm is never warranted.

[Zero Sum 305]

Nutritionally sound meals are what is most cost effective. Those may cost a few cents per student more today but will save thousands of dollars per person in avoided lost productivity and avoided health care cost down the road. See, sometimes what appears to be the cheap option today is really the more expensive option once all things are considered. It takes a bit more complex thinking than reading a price tag on a product here and now.

And its not always that far down the line in terms of time. Obesity shows up pretty quick I'd say. Of course there are those reports that say that many obese Americans don't see themselves as obese.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Of course there are those reports that say that many obese Americans don't see themselves as obese.

No, they're not obese.

[Zero Sum 305]

Growl my stomach makes. Still in the office gettin stuff done.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Growl my stomach makes. Still in the office gettin stuff done.

You're aching for that burger, eh?

[Zero Sum 305]

You're aching for that burger, eh?

Yeah

[Used to be broken 147]

Qu'ils mangent de la brioche",

I'd rather have 1000 fat kids running around than the gov't telling me what to feed my child.

Somewhat of a conundrum.... fat kids don't run...

[Brad and Vika 129]

Baiting post removed. Further baiting or attacks will result in administrative action.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Some foods do make you fat. If that isn't obvious then you are beyond hope. As you like to claim not all individuals are the same in terms of response to different substances, allow yourself the open mind to figure out that cheap food will mean fatter kids.

And then remind yourself of how the funds aren't available for PE programs due to... you guessed it... cost-cutting.

Its all about the education isn't it? You want kids to make good choices? They need to be taught- especially when they don't have that at home.

This is what happens (once again) when you generalize things to the point of showing how naive you are.

It's not the job of a school to keep your kids thin, it's the job of the parents.

You call me naive for believing in the way I grew up, for the way 98% of the kids around me grew up that also weren't fatties? Seriously, the only reason why there are fat ** kids in this world today is because of lazy parenting, not because of school lunches, not because of PE, not because of McDonalds.

Put the blame where it belongs and that's on lazy fat ####### parents who would rather go to Wendy's drive-thru than get up off their own butts and cook a meal, and then just toss their punk kid in front of the TV playing Call of Duty or on the computer playing on Facebook all day.

It's not the food, it's the lack of physical activity at home stupid.

[Zero Sum 305]

It's not the job of a school to keep your kids thin, it's the job of the parents.

You call me naive for believing in the way I grew up, for the way 98% of the kids around me grew up that also weren't fatties? Seriously, the only reason why there are fat ** kids in this world today is because of lazy parenting, not because of school lunches, not because of PE, not because of McDonalds.

Put the blame where it belongs and that's on lazy fat ####### parents who would rather go to Wendy's drive-thru than get up off their own butts and cook a meal, and then just toss their punk kid in front of the TV playing Call of Duty or on the computer playing on Facebook all day.

It's not the food, it's the lack of physical activity at home stupid.

You're only dealing in absolute logic because that is the only way you know how to think. Like I said- hopeless. Am I saying the causes you state are not causal for obesity? No. Can there be other causes? Yes. Learn to think if you can help it.

[Zero Sum 305]

And beyond griping about it on the internet, of all places- what are you going to do about these horrible parents, the only reason for all of society's ills?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's not the job of a school to keep your kids thin, it's the job of the parents.

You call me naive for believing in the way I grew up, for the way 98% of the kids around me grew up that also weren't fatties? Seriously, the only reason why there are fat ** kids in this world today is because of lazy parenting, not because of school lunches, not because of PE, not because of McDonalds.

Put the blame where it belongs and that's on lazy fat ####### parents who would rather go to Wendy's drive-thru than get up off their own butts and cook a meal, and then just toss their punk kid in front of the TV playing Call of Duty or on the computer playing on Facebook all day.

It's not the food, it's the lack of physical activity at home stupid.

It is food as well, Paul. Food and exercise are interlinked. You can exercise, but if you eat the wrong foods you'll be fat as **! Not to mention having arteries like a clogged pipe.

I wouldn't discount the obvious here either, that the GOP arguments here are heavily influenced by special interest groups representing processed food manufacturers.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

How can congress prevent you from making a healthy lunch for your children? I always took a healthy lunch with me to school. Can the GOP stop people from doing that?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It's not the job of a school to keep your kids thin, it's the job of the parents.

Absolutely. But it's the job of the school to ensure that nutritionally sound meals are served to children who are obviously not in a position to make proper dietary choices - especially at a young age. As I said, if parents want to feed their kid garbage, then they can do that before and after school, over the weekend, on holidays and during school breaks. Or even pack them a sack of garbage for lunch if nutritionally sound meals are somehow offensive to them.

How can congress prevent you from making a healthy lunch for your children? I always took a healthy lunch with me to school. Can the GOP stop people from doing that?

Missing the point, Gary. The proper approach is to make the lunch served at school healthy and let irresponsible parents pack garbage for their kids if they so choose.

[Zero Sum 305]

When teachers asked that unhealthy options be curtailed from the lunch menu- at least in my school, school admin would usually justify the vending machines as profitable and ####### food served as cost effective. Maybe what we need is to have all food items removed from school grounds to 'save money' and screw the free lunchers right? Is that what this is really about?