'We Are Hungry' YouTube Video!

     This week, I was told of a very interesting YouTube video titled, 'We Are Hungry'.  If you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out below!

   

     Immediately I knew that it would be a hit.  When I first viewed it, it had over 15,000 views in two days, and as I am writing this post, it is just shy of 50,000 views!!  I was so interested in the video, I contacted the person who posted the YouTube video to ask a couple of questions.  The video poster, blk5348, was happy to answer my questions.  I was most curious about why blk5348 posted the video, and how the idea was created.

" I am one of the few teachers that still occasionally eats lunch at school. Partially because I have a really short amount of time to eat, so it's just easier to eat there. I'm very active during the day and have a high metabolism and burn through a lot of calories and protein in a day. One day I went through the line and asked why we weren't getting meat. I was told the cheese that was in the breadstick accounted for the protein allotment so they weren't allowed to give us meat in the sauce. I was pretty upset, so I took a picture of my meal and posted it on Facebook with the story. The response and conversation was overwhelming."

With a little help from a fellow teacher, blk5348 was able to come up with the video idea, and with the lyrics from her colleague, they talked to kids to see if they would be interested.  

"From there, we talked to students and parents, got it approved by the administration and the rest is history." 

     What an awesome video!! 

-----There is still time to give your answer in The School Lunches Suck! Blogs poll: Lunch Price, so head over there and vote today!!  Did you know that you can receive The School Lunches Suck! Blog in your email inbox? Just use the 'follow' tool on the right side of the page!!

2nd Guest post from LUKAS!!!

Lukas sent me over another guest post this week, I hope you enjoy reading it!

Hello again,
In the past few weeks I have noticed an increased popularity on the subject of which we are fighting for, school lunches. Many of those fighting are farmers, they understand the importance of a healthy meal, not to mention the fact that what they raise is being used to feed our youth.  Do you think that Mr. Obama is eating 800 calories per meal? My guess is definitely not. One carton of 2% white milk is equal to 100 calories and has 8 fluid ounces of content. A handful of the students at my high school are just getting out of Physical Fitness and are not only hungry, but also thirsty. If you drink 16 ounces of milk you already have 200 calories of your lunch which is equivalent to ¼ of your meal. One baby carrot supplies you with just 5 calories.

On this lunch plate there are 7 carrots shown, with 35 calories for the total. The average sized muffin resting there on my plate has 180 calories, I honestly think my mouth is big enough that I ate it in one bite. The cup of pineapple on my plate has nearly 50 calories, but there interesting part is the potatoes. Now as I’ve said before I have been on a farm all of my life, and I’ll tell you this; we LOVE our mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, buttered bread, and roast lunch! After we eat, we head out the door to continue working in the 100⁰ heat, or the freezing cold snow, and I am yet to gain a pound. But isn’t the main point of being a student, to get an education? How are we supposed to focus with the bare minimum amount of fuel sitting in our tanks? None the less, this portion of mashed potatoes and gravy is packed with 400 calories. Let’s add all this up.



Milk:100
Pineapple:50
Carrots:35
Muffin:180
Main Course:400









That equals up to a grand total of, 765 calories! I know that on an average practice of 45 minutes I burn 700 calories. That doesn’t include the calories I burn trying to recover, which continues to add up all day long. An teenage boy, who DOES NOT play sports is supposed to attain 3,000 calories per day. If practice is at 6:30 a.m. I burn over 1,500 by 9 o’clock! These meals are outrageous! In the next few days I will be contacting a Senate Representative and a man who writes articles in the High Plains Journal, to speak of this issue and way they could possibly help us win the battle. Until then, find a vending machine.

-Lukas

-----Be sure to give your answer in this weeks poll: Lunch Price, which ends Sunday. After that, I'll make sure to post the results!! Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the food service director at my school, so we can talk about the blog. Be on the look out for a post about that, and soon an interview with some of the people involved in the YouTube video We Are Hungry!!!-----

Garden City guest poster...Legit Lindy!

I am very excited to announce that The School Lunches Suck! Blog is going to start featuring another guest poster, Lindy! Like me, Lindy is a senior in high school who is not very happy with the new federal guidelines regarding school lunch. Be on the lookout for more posts from Lindy, and later this week another post from Lukas!
Enjoy!

My name is Lindy and I am an unhappy and underfed senior at Garden City High School in Garden City, Kansas.  This year, I will be a member of the first graduating class out of our district’s brand new, $97 million high school.  I will also be a member of probably the most underfed senior class that’s ever had the privilege of being a Garden City Buffalo.  Seriously.

Until this year, Garden City’s juniors and seniors had the 
privilege of leaving campus for lunch.  For most, that meant a quick run home for a bite to eat, a walk across the street to Subway, or a mad dash to one of the many nearby fast food restaurants.  But, our new school came with new rules—one of those being that we are now all stuck on campus for lunch.

Honestly, the majority of my school’s 2000+ students weren't really very worried about it.  Although we were being stripped of one of the few privileges of being upperclassmen, we were promised that we would have more lunch options and a higher quality of food coming out of our brand spankin’ new kitchen.  Boy, were we in for a surprise the first day when we walked in the cafeteria and saw what they had to offer!
Everyday, we pretty much have three options: hamburgers, pizza, or some type of Mexican food, and don’t forget a handful of soggy, half-baked French fries.  The quality of the food isn't exactly the greatest, but the portions are even worse.  I don’t participate in sports, but I do lead an active lifestyle.  By the time I get home from work, I’m STARVING.  I can’t even imagine how hungry the football players, volleyball girls, or cheerleaders are after they get done with practice.  When high school students are being fed the same portions as grade school students, you know that you have a problem.

The majority of our school’s athletes survive by eating multiple meals.  It’s not uncommon to see a football player eat three school lunches in one sitting.  With our school lunches ringing in at $2.30, that means that the football players are paying $6.90 every day just so they aren't hungry.  Wouldn't it be more reasonable to feed us one meal that actually fills us up?

What’s on the menu today? 9/18/12
-One Beef Enchilada
-Handful of Tortilla Chips
-Salsa
-Packaged Fruit
-Milk



My fellow students, it’s time to speak up.  If we don’t tell them that we’re unhappy, nothing will ever change.  We’re the ones eating the meals, we should have a say.  Let’s do something about it!

Until Next Time,
Lindy

Thanks, Lindy!!!

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Keep sending in your pictures of your or your childrens lunch, for the post Lunch from Alabama to Wyoming!! Pictures can be sent to teubks@gmail.com

Until next time, stay full!!

It's not their fault!

     Before I really get into writing about the lunch schools now serve, I want to make one thing absolutely clear to everyone who reads the blog.

The lunches schools now offer are not the fault of those who serve and prepare the meals.  

     Cafeteria workers are very hard working people; many who truly love their job.  I have the utmost respect for the people who make and serve my meal at school, as my own grandma is a 'lunch lady'.  It was not their decision to change the food they provide, it was the government's.  The people who prepare the food I eat at school day in and day out are only doing what they are told to do.  They did not decide that as a Senior in high school I can have only 10-12 ounces of meat a week.  They did not decide that I am allowed to eat only 10-12 ounces of grain products a week during lunch.  It was the government's.  It simply is not their fault.  

     The several women who work in my school's cafeteria are some of the most caring, friendly people I know.  Everyday, I say 'hi' to them as I fill up my tray, always receiving a reply back, along with a 'how is your day going?'  Many know me by name, and one in particular even remembers my birthday.  With this blog, I only seek to show people exactly what is served for lunch in America's schools, not to put-down and complain to the food service workers in my school, all of whom I greatly appreciate.  

     Make sure to watch this week for posts on what I ate for lunch, and sometime soon a spotlight from another student at Beatrice High School - their thought on lunch!

Friday, August 24th.

     What's for lunch on Friday, August 24th?  Mini corn dogs, dinner roll, and french fries. (I opted for a different vegetable, though.)

Here is a breakdown of what I ate today.  I provided calorie counts for the labeled products.  The other food-I have no idea.

• 1/2 pint 1% low-fat milk........100 calories
• 1 can tomato juice..............30 calories
• 3 strawberries
• 6 mini corn dogs
• 1 (very) small roll
• 1 cup green vegetables
• butter/ketchup/ranch...........120 calories

     Total Vegetables: ~ 2 cups

     Total Fruit: ~ 1/2 cup

     Many people would say, well, this is a good sized lunch.  When I sat down to eat it, I too thought the same.  However, about an hour later in my math class, my stomach was growling, even though I had just eaten.  I found it difficult to focus on class, and wondered how other students were faring.  

     Unlike some of my classmates, I do not have football or sports practice right away after school.  I thought to myself, How on earth are they going to make it through practice, on such a light meal?  I am lucky enough to be able to go home after school and have a snack, while these athletes can't, and often have practice until 5 o'clock!  Surely, they can't preform their best when they are hungry.  Where will the energy they exert in practice come from? The answer is not the lunch they ate earlier in the day.  The meal is too small for anyone on the football team, or a cross country runner who routinely runs 5 miles a day in practice!  Those athletes need the energy from their lunch to perform well, and as of right now, they are not getting it.

     Simply put, this meal is not enough to keep a person full. In order to be focused in school and at practice, students need more than this snack to give them energy they need.

Until next time, stay full!!