Parents who hate packing kids’ lunches, raise your hands!
School lunches for kids isn’t as easy as it used to be when we were kids… peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were a main staple for many of my peers growing up.
But nowadays, there are allergies to consider, and a slew of picky eaters among our little ones. How can we, as parents, ensure our children are eating healthy meals and snacks, and enough of it, during school?
We just do it. Moms spend mornings cutting out cute little shapes for their unadventurous child’s toast, another mom sneaks in carrots and zucchini in the banana chocolate chip loaf she made from scratch.
Sometimes, parents decide to also pack a little treat, either fruit gummy snacks, or chocolate chip cookies. Healthy meals plus a treat didn’t hurt anyone.
You’d never think your school would be involved in dictating what your child is and isn’t allowed to bring into the school – other than foods containing serious allergens, like peanuts and tree nuts.
But parents in Durham say schools are policing the food kids bring into school, telling students they aren’t allowed eat snacks that are deemed unhealthy. Some kids have had their entire lunches withheld and sent home!
Is this acceptable? No!
One mom says her son in junior kindergarten was not allowed to eat banana bread for his morning snack because it contained chocolate chips. Elaina Daoust of Whitby says she was “infuriated” when he was instructed to eat grapes out of his lunch instead.
“He came home with a chart (listing healthy snack ideas) and told me he and the teacher talked about it and healthy choices. She also sent a note to me. I was really, really, really mad for several reasons,” Daoust told the Toronto Star.
Her son is a picky eater, and that she bought the snack-size banana bread because many teachers discourage home-baked treats, and these were labelled as being nut-free and safe for school.
“It’s not like he had chips or a chocolate bar,” Daoust says, noting that she has sent the banana bread to her children’s new school this year with no issues so far.
And if he did have chips or a chocolate bar? That’s up to the parents to decide!
If I know that my kid has had a full breakfast of eggs, toast, and fruit, and plan on a healthy dinner, don’t we as parents get to choose if our kids can have a snack during school?
Healthy eating is now a large part of Ontario’s health and physical education curriculum with student learning about the food groups in Canada’s Food Guide – which is also a topic for debate!
How healthy is the Canada Food Guide? The guide is outdated and full of misinformation, in my humble opinion. The guide advises adults to eat six to eight servings of grain products a day, and to limit saturated fat, which occurs naturally in animal products such as eggs, dairy and meat as well as in some vegetable oils like coconut and palm oils.
It also tells Canadians to trim visible fat from meat, limit butter, and cook without or with little added fat. It also advises consuming only two to three tablespoons of unsaturated fat — often described as the “good” fat that is found in plant-based foods and oils — daily.
The fixation on carbohydrates and grain products, and the lack of “good” fat is what is driving obesity and related medical conditions. For decades, governments and scientists in the U.S. and Canada have warned of the harmful effects of saturated fat on the heart and cardiovascular system, urging consumers to shun butter, eggs and red meat. But recent research shows that these foods contain healthy saturated fats.
The “war” against saturated fat was based on bad science. It was never really proven that it caused any harm. In fact, recent studies suggest that there is no association at all between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease.
After the Toronto Star contacted the Durham Catholic District School Board, it’s evident that these food policing decisions are not recommended by the board.
“There is nowhere in our policy or procedures that says our staff is allowed to take food away from a student,” says James MacKinnon, a teaching and learning consultant with the DCDSB.
The school board does not direct teachers or lunch assistants to monitor whether the food a student brings is healthy. Durham District School Board officials declined an interview, however Superintendent Luigia Ayotte issued this statement:
“We understand there may have been some issues with regard to certain foods students bring for snacks and lunches, but food preferences and choice remain with students and parents unless they pose an adverse allergic danger to other students.”
Common examples of food discouraged in their children’s classrooms include:
Goldfish crackers, Bear Paws cookies, granola bars, string cheese, Jello, juice boxes, pudding cups, gummy fruit snacks, raisins, Animal Crackers, chocolate milk and Sun Chips.