Absolutely proposterous. This type of mentality is that of moronic origin. If my child was subjected to a rule like this, I would fight this like a wild tiger. Parents can say to their children "Eat what I cook or starve" (shout out to bb for that comment), but if a school official has a problem with what my child brought to school, and essentially told them "Eat what I cook or starve", I would EAT them alive. I would win. Without question, I would win. Ah man now you got me all riled up Marina.

The Principal or whoever made the final decision might 'intend well', but that does NOT excuse the poor conclusion to decide to remove everyone's freedoms by forcing the kids into a eating program that is only 'healthy' by SAD standards. Being in a position of leadership as high as a Principal of an elementary school means that you must use more discernment than this. Remove the poisons like soda dispensers and candy bar machines from the schools. But I cannot support this decision. Definitely not. Personally, I would rebel against it very hard. You must let parents parent their children. Attacking the problem from the root is the correct path. And that is that they are observing that kids are bringing food and drink to school that is unhealthy. Educate the parents. Educate the kids. That's the answer.

I read that article yesterday and my first instinct was "WTF???" but then I see some of the lunches kids bring to school and man, I sympathize with the principal. However, a better alternative would be to hold some good old fashioned nutrition classes and perhaps, hold a contest for the most nutritious school lunch.

Here's the thing - there are food deserts out there and we are in an age when people simply don't have access to proper nutritional information and/or foods. I love what Michelle Obama is doing (politics aside) as well as people like Jamie Oliver in bringing nutrition to the forefront of people's conversations. The article is relevant and I hope it will be used to bring an elevated discourse about SAD.

Instead of lashing out about the principal's decision, it would be more productive to discuss why she felt the need to take such a radical approach and try to fix that problem.

Tom Naughton wrote a great article about his kids' school lunch in Tennessee here (http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/02/03/my-thanks-to-the-dietary-guidelines-committee/):

Yesterday’s government-approved lunch consisted of chicken nuggets (battered and deep-fried in vegetable oil), macaroni and cheese, mandarin oranges in some kind of syrup, and a drink. Some kids chose juice boxes for their drinks, others chose 1% or 2% milk, but the most popular choice was the 1% chocolate milk.

Naturally, I was horrified to see kids eating a meal consisting primarily of processed grains and sugar, and only slightly less horrified to realize that the meal was nearly devoid of natural fats. When I observed how many kids seemed to prefer the chocolate milk, my wife informed me that since the new USDA guidelines call for restricting fat even more, the school will soon limit its milk offerings to 1% white milk, skim white milk, and skim chocolate milk.

Could a bagged lunch be much worse? Maybe if it's a Coke and a bag of Oreos.

It's no surprise that the number of homeschoolers grows about 10% every year.

Here's an article I wrote, just before this story broke. It illustrates what our schools consider healthy...

Can you imagine allowing these people to decide what our children should eat?

http://www.latestinpaleo.com/blog/2011/4/5/this-is-the-healthy-snack-letter-from-my-kids-school.html

When my daughter brings a 'made from home school lunch', her friends don't recognize what she is eating. She said all they eat is pre-packaged, processed junk food. When she goes to her friends house's, same thing, junk food and mostly no meals served. They think she is a "health nut," and would like a veggie burger! She says "NO! I eat meat!!!"

My school offers breakfast, guess what is for breakfast on some days? Cinnamon rolls. Other days are french toast sticks. The lunches and breakfast are ridiculous and not homemade. They do offer a (dead) salad bar with more of their prepackaged veggies.

When I was a child, I was on the "free lunch" program and I could get breakfast. Everyday I was served an egg with either bacon or sausage, probably had wheat toast & butter, with milk.

With the government involved in the food pyramid I don't see how it can be changed.

I think what the principal is trying to do is well-meaning; however, not the right way to do it. Junk needs to be out of the schools - especially elementary. Kids are going to be kids and want the junk that their friends have.

I would have liked to see the principal ban junk food and soda in lunches rather than not allow home-made lunches. Don't know how the school would go about that - but in a perfect world hey?

Love reading some of the comments in the article "my grandson is a picky-eater" yep -kids are picky and crafty little buggers - gotta out-smart them with wholesome healthy foods for their own good rather than giving in to lunchables.

i live in an city and i actually sympathize with the principal, even if i don't agree with her. being on a morning commute and watching the crap that kids are fed(pop tarts, plastic bags with fruit loops or frosted flakes, fructose- laden sippe things- this isn't including the ones i see eating candy for breakfast) and sending them to school on a super sugar high and all that entails must definitely frustrate those trying to teach them. the meals that they are offering them aren't good by our standards but by the type of fare that most of those kids are getting, it is better.

the big picture is that the science/medical/pharmaceutical/big agriculture cabal that has cooked the science on health and lobbied the hell out of the gov't to institute recommendations based on that science(the lunches she chooses for those kids definitely look like the food pyramid to me) have let those kids down more than this principal has.

Yes, because the government should tell our children how to eat. The same government that brought us the "food pyramid," the FDA, and the USDA. When the food pyramid is turned upside down, subsidies for corn and other grains are abolished, and big pharma doesn't run the FDA, I'll consider listening to the government when it comes to what food our kids should eat. Until then, I will decide how to best feed my children, thankuverymuch.

It is not up to school administrators to decide what my child will eat. This principal is way out of line. If parents prefer to send a lunch, that's none of the principal's business! (There is no such policy at my daughter's school, but if there were, I would raise hell.)

It's bad enough that many kids hardly get any time to eat lunch (20 minutes for my kindergartener). Super short lunch periods only teach them to eat with haste and not take pleasure in tasting their food or in the company of their peers. Eating quickly lends itself to overeating. Pile on the stuff that's served in most schools and throw in a dash of little to no gym class and what do we have before us? Just look around at any playground. I've never seen so many overweight kids.

My prediction is there will be a story next week where the kids will be allowed to bring their lunches again. I think this prohibition is stepping into issues this school is not considering (i.e. health, religion, economic, etc.). If I wanted to "protest," I would send my kid to another school if possible. If not, then maybe send a snack in his/her backpack that technically wouldn't be taken to lunch? Tough one.

Here is an article with an actual picture of the school approved lunches: http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/04/11/chicago-school-wont-allow-students-to-bring-lunch-to-school-anymore/

You'll note that the "healthy" lunches appear to contain raisins, apples, milk (presumably skim), and pizza. I'll let that speak for itself.

I wrote a blog post about this and broke down the nutrition specs on the government's sample lunch menu on my blog http://paleofreedom.com/2011/04/no-such-thing-as-a-free-lunch/ I have one autistic and one gluten intolerant child, so obviously I am totally opposed to this. I would personally home school, but I know not everyone has this option. I am offended by school board trustees or legislators who have no clue what they are talking about trying to feed my child or tell me I cannot. It's absurd! PS- "They" do not care at all. It's about money, which I also explain how much, where from and who gets it in my blog post if you're interested.

We make lunch for my 2nd grader every day. We give him the choice and he can buy lunch if he wants. To his credit, he always refuses and wants our lunches. It is sometimes a challenge to pack something that can withstand a few hours of being knocked around a backpack at room temp, while still being fresh and rich in nutrients when eaten, but it is a challenge I gladly accept.

He and his buddies refer to the pizza as "death pizza" because it tastes so bad and has apparently caused some fireworks later in the school day (vomiting). He says that many kids that buy their lunches every day juat buy 1 or 2 desserts. Those are the same ones that he complains about being "over active" during class. He also says that kids that pack their lunches usually have nothing more than prepackaged chips, bars, etc. which are bad but sadly better than what they serve in school.

U.S. schools have so far to go to provide basic nutrition to school kids that I think they will never get there without profound and radical changes to the whole concept of food. It is particularly sad that our school children eat worse than our prisoners.