Children need to eat to learn.

[Raven]

I am not a teacher, but I know this instictively. If you are hungry, you are thinking about that, not what might be going on around you.

Some very smart person realized that if we fed hungry kids, they would learn better.

I am troubled by some of the posts here on DU which seem to be making a joke of this cheese sandwich stuff.

You have to feed the body if you want to feed the mind.

If the sincere object of your interest is the education of the child, and the child is not decently fed, forget about what the parents have or don't have, or what they make or don't make for an income....

FEED THE DAMN KID!

[ThomWV]

1. Agreed

Feed the dam kid!

[Island Blue]

2. Very true.

This is a huge problem even in the county that I live in, even though it's "rich" compared to many counties in North Carolina. Folks here have taken it one step further and are helping to provide food for kids (who might otherwise go hungry) on weekends and holidays. This is a non-profit, all volunteer effort. http://www.foodforthoughtobx.org/situation.html Many kids would go hungry without this program. You are right - kids must eat to learn.

[fed_up_mother]

3. Ok, here's why this is ridiculous for some of us:

We CARE about the kids who are going to school hungry. What I don't care about are the middle and upper class parents who are very likely the parents bitching about the cheese sandwich because their poor little prince had to eat a cheese sandwich instead of a hot lunch.

In our school, the teachers do a fabulous job of making sure all kids who could "possibly" qualify for free lunch get their paperwork in. It can be a very touchy situation, but it gets done. Furthermore, there's no segregation of any kind. All children have an ID number, and the ID is punched in to a little keypad, and that's that. No one is singled out by a blue ticket or a red ticket or standing in a different line, etc.

"I" am one of those parents who has forgotten on occasion to send in a check when my kids brought a note home saying that they were out of funds. It doesn't bother me or my kids one bit that they might have had to eat a sandwich, but I'm well aware of the type of parent who might get a bit perturbed that little princess got handed a paper bag with a cheese or peanut butter sandwich.

[donco6]

8. We don't even have numbers anymore.

We use finger touch pads. No cards to lose, no numbers to memorize, and no stigma attached to anyone.

I know my lunch people AGONIZE over the idea that they're singling anyone out.

[ogneopasno]

14. Thank you for saying it very, very well. I live in a depressed area, I know the difference between

free-and-reduced lunches, and the cheese sandwich because your parents forgot to pay. And I too know exactly the parents who would be OUTRAGED if their kid was handed a sandwich for ONE DAY.

[fed_up_mother]

15. And don't we know those parents well

I've been around the block more than a few times and I think I can sniff them out by now. :rofl:

[TwilightGardener]

4. I don't know that anyone is arguing that kids go hungry. Haven't seen a post like that yet.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Are you advocating for free lunch, regardless of family ability to pay?

At this time a family of four with a monthly income of $2300 is eligible for free lunch. A family of four with a monthly income of $3300 is eligible for reduced price.

Should the above family get free lunch if they make $20,000/month?

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs08-09.pdf

[Raven]

7. Good question. I guess my feeling is that if the kid comes to school

without lunch, he should be fed regardless of the income of his family. There are many wealthy folks out there who don't give a shit about the wellbeing of their kids. Maybe the town or the county should lien their property to recover the money but I don't think the kids should pay and if they pay the price, we all eventually pay the price.

[CreekDog]

20. i think all kids might eat better if the schools simply chose and provided all lunches

period.

and would probably cost everyone less in the long run and the kids would likely eat a healthier meal too.

but then we would have to pay for it through our taxes instead of the other way through our other pockets. oh the humanity! :eyes:

[EFerrari]

6. There are posters here who will argue to the death that the first priority

is to punish some imaginary parent of their resentful daydreams.

I'm with you, Raven. Feed the damn kid. S/he's going to be paying my Social Security soon enough if I'm lucky. :P

[SmileyRose]

9. I could be mistaken but I think the cheese sandwiches are meant to be eaten.

by a hungry kid who will learn better after a nutritious meal of cheese, fruit and milk.

I believe the battle is over whether the cheese sammich is the problem or the damn fucking bullies are the problem.

[Mr Generic Other]

10. i am a teacher and i absolutely agree that children need to be fed

if they are going to learn.
of course no one wants to subsidize the lunch of a student whose parents can afford to feed the child but the child is not in charge of paying for the lunch. if the parents don't have the money or don't provide the money the child has no way to "pay his/her own way". society then needs to be sure the child is fed.
this is like preventative health care. the cost is much lower in the long run to nurture a child than to rehabilitate an adult.
if you are lucky enough to have avoided hunger you may have no clue what life is like for almost half of america's school children. i have taught kids who were living in cars both with a parent and without. some students in these circumstances do remarkably well but if they do it is because some adult has invested time and energy validating the worth of the child. if the adults trying to have positive impacts on young people also have other adults providing the same with a meal the chances that the student will then invest in him/herself improve.
the price of a meal is nothing compared to the worth of a child.
but then i favor feeding hungry adults too.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. I don't just think school lunchs, and breakfasts should be free. But good quality.

Fresh. Bought locally. Prepared skillfully by a proper cook.

[Thothmes]

12. easy to do, if the local citizen will pony up the tax dollars

to make it happen.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Or just make it a national program.

[Thothmes]

16. Like FEMA is a national program

[handmade34]

17. Maslow's hierarcy of needs

[tanngrisnir3]

18. Honestly, is anyone here at all disputing that?

The point was and is that every kid is getting a meal, even if it's "only" a cheese sandwich, fruit and milk.

It's those who seem to think that students will be irreperably scarred for life in the most egregious, unconscionable manner by other students who are making the issue devolve into blathering, illogical inanity.

[stray cat]

19. How many people had a sandwich for lunch growing up?

Did most people really get a hot lunch with all the trimmings? We brought our lunch and generally it was a sandwich - either cheese or peanut butter. I usually did buy a carton of milk but those of us eating a sandwich never felt we were abused.

[dustbunnie]

21. As a child my mother always packed my lunch. School food was terrible.

Maybe things have changed but back then (15-years-ago) it was mashed potatoes out of a box, strange tasting meatloaf/filler, fake mac and cheese, and overboiled veggies. I always got a sandwich, and so did all the other kids with caring and/or stay-at-home moms. When I got to high school, I ate the caf food, but of course opted for the worst dreck choices. Some of the girls were on never-ending diets and ate nothing all day, and at least one or two threw up their lunches after eating (purposely).