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Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

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Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#31

Post by bub »

gavinlynch wrote: post #29

I just want to point out a MUCH more serious attrocity being committed here: This poor, sweet child is so under-educated in the UK that she doesn't even understand the difference between "dinner" and "lunch".. We must rectify this injustice! Will someone think of the children!!! ;)

Dinner can mean lunch in Britain. Also, tea can be biscuits and cake in the afternoon, or the main meal in the evening, which can also be called supper.

Google 'define dinner';

din·ner/ˈdinər/ Noun: The main meal of the day, taken either around midday or in the evening.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#32

Post by kevinalexbrown »

Awesome and hilarious - I would be a very proud father or older brother.

But on a serious note, directed at the media woohoo that always ensues, demanding better food for schools Jamie Oliver style misses the constraint of a limited budget. Presumably there's some price/utility tradeoff between the cost of the food and the health/taste.

Then there's a tradeoff between teacher quality and wages, school size and the number of teachers you must hire, etc. What we should be asking is whether the nutritional value outweighs wherever else the money would be spent. Maybe it is, maybe it's not, but 'oh the school is shamed' is a little much.

Edit: of course the other discussion to have is whether there is a tradeoff between cost and health (including additional cooks needed to produce healthier food on a large scale). But I don't see this in most media discussions either.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#33

Post by babblefrog »

switch007 wrote: post #19
sparknlaunch12 wrote: post #17

Wow. Fantastic result for a young blogger. However I don't think the new meal looks that much better, apart from the sprinkle of salad. Before: Pizza, Corn, Potato Chip, Cupcake After: Pasta, Potato, Cake, Salad

Exactly. The bar should be set a LOT higher.

They appear to be carbo-loading. If I ate that lunch, I'd be asleep an hour later.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#34

Post by leot »

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #32

Awesome and hilarious - I would be a very proud father or older brother. But on a serious note, directed at the media woohoo that always ensues, demanding better food for schools Jamie Oliver style misses the constraint of a limited budget. Presumably there's some price/utility tradeoff between the cost of the food and the health/taste. Then there's a tradeoff between teacher quality and wages, school size and the nu…

Blarney.

Healthy food is not pricier unless you get fancy. Legumes, quinoa, and vegetables aren't more expensive (though they do have smaller margins!) than the crap that they had been serving previously.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#36

Post by hack_edu »

leot wrote: post #34
kevinalexbrown wrote: post #32

Awesome and hilarious - I would be a very proud father or older brother. But on a serious note, directed at the media woohoo that always ensues, demanding better food for schools Jamie Oliver style misses the constraint of a limited budget. Presumably there's some price/utility tradeoff between the cost of the food and the health/taste. Then there's a tradeoff between teacher quality and wages, school size and the nu…

Blarney. Healthy food is not pricier unless you get fancy. Legumes, quinoa, and vegetables aren't more expensive (though they do have smaller margins!) than the crap that they had been serving previously.

The cost of the materials is only a small part of it. Preparing and cooking fresh food requires much, much more effort than prepared packaged foods. Microwavable or similarly low/zero-prep food products require very little labor, require only a few steps before they are served, and create almost zero items to be washed and cleaned. You would be surprised how much cheaper a flat of microwave burritos is compared to an equally caloric-dense flat of fresh or bulk goods.

Also to consider is the cost of a skilled laborer -- someone who can actually cook -- versus a minimum wage worker who only needs to unwrap a package, press a button, and plate it.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#37

Post by j-b »

josefonseca wrote: post #27

And this is in Scotland. Can you imagine what it is like in the poorest countries in the world? This is why we need a permanent, open Internet on all nations, because as soon as the truth comes out, someone does something about it.

In the US we have corporate industrial processed food lobbyists influencing what ends up in the school cafeteria's. We're used to having quick, processed junk food and most people probably wouldn't want it any other way out of ignorance of what 'real' food costs and can taste like. 'Poorer' countries eat much less processed foods and more of the local 'real' foods.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#38

Post by pgrote »

josefonseca wrote: post #27

And this is in Scotland. Can you imagine what it is like in the poorest countries in the world? This is why we need a permanent, open Internet on all nations, because as soon as the truth comes out, someone does something about it.

No, not really. Each day we see atrocities from poorer countries, richer countries. The light of truth shines on it and very rarely is anything done about it on a scale like this.

In this case I think the celebrity involvement helped, but really it was the father engaging the local government.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#39

Post by tjpick »

hack_edu wrote: post #36
leot wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blarney. Healthy food is not pricier unless you get fancy. Legumes, quinoa, and vegetables aren't more expensive (though they do have smaller margins!) than the crap that they had been serving previously.

The cost of the materials is only a small part of it. Preparing and cooking fresh food requires much, much more effort than prepared packaged foods. Microwavable or similarly low/zero-prep food products require very little labor, require only a few steps before they are served, and create almost zero items to be washed and cleaned. You would be surprised how much cheaper a flat of microwave burritos is compared to an…

> Preparing and cooking fresh food requires much, much more effort than prepared packaged foods. Microwavable or similarly low/zero-prep food products.

Microwaving corn on the cob is pretty much as low effort as it gets.

Re: Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes

#40

Post by cdcarter »

bub wrote: post #31
gavinlynch wrote: post #29

I just want to point out a MUCH more serious attrocity being committed here: This poor, sweet child is so under-educated in the UK that she doesn't even understand the difference between "dinner" and "lunch".. We must rectify this injustice! Will someone think of the children!!! ;)

Dinner can mean lunch in Britain. Also, tea can be biscuits and cake in the afternoon, or the main meal in the evening, which can also be called supper. Google 'define dinner'; din·ner/ˈdinər/ Noun: The main meal of the day, taken either around midday or in the evening.

I believe the winking face at the end was to imply some form of sarcasm or joke.
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