My family fostered 40-50 kids over a ten year period, and I’ve seen what starvation can do to a kid. Most people can’t imagine that trauma, and the fact that his has become a state-level issue should be reason to vote out every single politician in Washington, if you ask me.
I don’t understand why it’s such a hard concept for politicians to side with. US politics is just a cesspool of political lobbyists throwing money at politicians to get them to act in the best interests of corporations.
The people share part of the responsibility for voting for those politicians over and over again. Yes, they are falling for corporate messaging but they are also adults who should be able to vote out the politicians who deny funding for feeding children.
Unfortunately a lot of people are selfish pricks who would rather children starve than pay an extra dollar in taxes.
Strangely, I feel like even businesses should be behind this idea. Foodservice companies like Sodexo, Aramark, Sysco, etc should be pushing for this 100%. School food (like any food) doesn’t come out of thin air. “Lunch ladies” aren’t going to the grocery stores to find what to make. All these school districts have contracts with a foodservice company like the ones I mentioned to provide the food and meals to school cafeterias.
By providing free meals to students, governments are also providing guaranteed revenue to these companies. Because now the school is providing ALL the lunches for kids, whether or not some kid still come with a lunchbox from home. That’s gotta be more revenue than before. Admittedly, I don’t know that for sure.
To me, it seems like a win-win. Kids aren’t going hungry all day, and big business gets to make its money.
These companies provide prison grade food tho… we need either better vendors or the state needs to take over. Current situation is unacceptable from nutrition quality PoV unless the goal is to prep this kids to eat prison and/or fast food.
But I guess firs thing is to ensure that every child has a meal…
Oh for sure. But I agree; let’s get kids fed, even if it isn’t the best. Then we can work on getting more nutritious, healthier foods. I remember having chicken tenders and a bottle of pop seemingly everyday in high school. Or those rectangular pizzas, ugh. I don’t know how I’m alive today, haha.
I bet these companies could provide better food. But I imagine, as always, it’s a matter of cost. Of what school districts and families can afford. I have a hard time seeing the state or some government getting involved and providing foodservices directly. But that’d be interesting to at least try. I wonder if there are any school districts where the school or district themselves manage foodservice entirely themselves. If so, I wonder if it’s better, worse, or about the same as the average.
I saw documentary on one but it is not easy. School Districts are vehicles for corruption and they dole these contracts out to the big boys for kickbacks. Most of contract value gets wasted, ie not spend on quality of food but to grease the machine.
My great grandmother also fostered kids for a decade or more. She told us a story of one kid in particular who wouldn’t let go of his plate after they had dinner because he was afraid no one would ever give it back to him.
There isn’t a fiber of my body that could ever deny meals for children. It’s the perfect use of my tax money.
The worst we had was a three year-old girl who made a habit of stealing and hiding food, because that’s how she’d survived. The habit kept up for almost a year before she realized she was safe.
My family fostered 40-50 kids over a ten year period, and I’ve seen what starvation can do to a kid. Most people can’t imagine that trauma, and the fact that his has become a state-level issue should be reason to vote out every single politician in Washington, if you ask me.
I don’t understand why it’s such a hard concept for politicians to side with. US politics is just a cesspool of political lobbyists throwing money at politicians to get them to act in the best interests of corporations.
It’s “we the people” not “we the LLC”
The people share part of the responsibility for voting for those politicians over and over again. Yes, they are falling for corporate messaging but they are also adults who should be able to vote out the politicians who deny funding for feeding children.
Unfortunately a lot of people are selfish pricks who would rather children starve than pay an extra dollar in taxes.
Strangely, I feel like even businesses should be behind this idea. Foodservice companies like Sodexo, Aramark, Sysco, etc should be pushing for this 100%. School food (like any food) doesn’t come out of thin air. “Lunch ladies” aren’t going to the grocery stores to find what to make. All these school districts have contracts with a foodservice company like the ones I mentioned to provide the food and meals to school cafeterias.
By providing free meals to students, governments are also providing guaranteed revenue to these companies. Because now the school is providing ALL the lunches for kids, whether or not some kid still come with a lunchbox from home. That’s gotta be more revenue than before. Admittedly, I don’t know that for sure.
To me, it seems like a win-win. Kids aren’t going hungry all day, and big business gets to make its money.
These companies provide prison grade food tho… we need either better vendors or the state needs to take over. Current situation is unacceptable from nutrition quality PoV unless the goal is to prep this kids to eat prison and/or fast food.
But I guess firs thing is to ensure that every child has a meal…
Oh for sure. But I agree; let’s get kids fed, even if it isn’t the best. Then we can work on getting more nutritious, healthier foods. I remember having chicken tenders and a bottle of pop seemingly everyday in high school. Or those rectangular pizzas, ugh. I don’t know how I’m alive today, haha.
I bet these companies could provide better food. But I imagine, as always, it’s a matter of cost. Of what school districts and families can afford. I have a hard time seeing the state or some government getting involved and providing foodservices directly. But that’d be interesting to at least try. I wonder if there are any school districts where the school or district themselves manage foodservice entirely themselves. If so, I wonder if it’s better, worse, or about the same as the average.
I saw documentary on one but it is not easy. School Districts are vehicles for corruption and they dole these contracts out to the big boys for kickbacks. Most of contract value gets wasted, ie not spend on quality of food but to grease the machine.
My great grandmother also fostered kids for a decade or more. She told us a story of one kid in particular who wouldn’t let go of his plate after they had dinner because he was afraid no one would ever give it back to him.
There isn’t a fiber of my body that could ever deny meals for children. It’s the perfect use of my tax money.
The worst we had was a three year-old girl who made a habit of stealing and hiding food, because that’s how she’d survived. The habit kept up for almost a year before she realized she was safe.