Pizza is now a veggie...

[moolie]

I used to argue that pizza covered ALL the bases with the food pyramid, at least mine always did

Calling it a vegetable just limits its delicious contribution to the pyramid as a whole, I say!

This.

We were always told (when we studied nutrition each year in school) that pizza could be considered a very complete meal all in one, if it included meat and enough veggies. Grains, veggies, protein, dairy--all in one delicious slice. It was even recommended to us as a breakfast food for growing teens. (But that was all based on Canada's Food Guide, not exactly the same as the US Food Pyramid.)

 

[me&thegals]

I really can agree with that! However, school pizza does NOT include ANY veggies except the sauce.

 

[FarmerChick]

I agree. A pizza can be made super healthy. The school lunch pizza I believe isn't in the super healthy category
ya know, my ingredients to make homemade sure aren't what is distributed at lunch. but yea it is a good all around food.

I sure LOVE PIZZA....the good homemade kind or the loaded super duper calorie horrible nasty one loaded extra extra cheese and pepperoni.

 

[me&thegals]

Mmmm, pizza! I'm starting to crave it Our classic pizza this time of year is with fresh applesauce and raw carrots on the side. I think I'll use pesto instead of tomato sauce, then a pile of stir-fried spinach and chard, then top with stir-fried onions, garlic and peppers, then cheese, pepporoni and sausage. We'll NEED forks!

 

[moolie]

I'm not familiar with school lunches, we don't have them here. Kids bring their own lunches to school, except for "special" lunch days like pizza or hot dog day, or high schools that have cafeterias or commissaries.

I was just speaking to the potential food value of pizza

 

[me&thegals]

I'm not familiar with school lunches, we don't have them here. Kids bring their own lunches to school, except for "special" lunch days like pizza or hot dog day, or high schools that have cafeterias or commissaries.

I was just speaking to the potential food value of pizza

Really?!? When I went to school, I think about 1/2 and 1/2 brought lunch/got it at school. These days, 1-2 kids in an entire classroom will have brought lunch; everyone else buys it at school or gets it free due to reduced income.

 

[moolie]

I'm not familiar with school lunches, we don't have them here. Kids bring their own lunches to school, except for "special" lunch days like pizza or hot dog day, or high schools that have cafeterias or commissaries.

I was just speaking to the potential food value of pizza

Really?!? When I went to school, I think about 1/2 and 1/2 brought lunch/got it at school. These days, 1-2 kids in an entire classroom will have brought lunch; everyone else buys it at school or gets it free due to reduced income.

I know there are breakfast programs at schools in particularly low income areas, but I'm not aware of any lunch programs. Even in BC where I taught at a school in a low-income area we didn't have lunches. But most schools here don't have cafeterias, just lunch rooms or the kids eat in their classrooms.

This is just western Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan) though.

I don't know anything about Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, or the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland) or the Territories (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)--it may be different in the east or north.

 

[FarmerChick]

moolie what happened if a kid repeatedly never brought a lunch and it was noticed?

just wondering


cause in the good old USA we fund everything for everyone...which don't get me wrong, feeding a kid is important, but it is curious what happens in your area if a kid is not eating lunch.

 

[moolie]

moolie what happened if a kid repeatedly never brought a lunch and it was noticed?

just wondering


cause in the good old USA we fund everything for everyone...which don't get me wrong, feeding a kid is important, but it is curious what happens in your area if a kid is not eating lunch.

You know, I really have no idea

When my kids were little I volunteered as needed in their classes--the Kindergarten teacher had a drawer full of "healthier" packaged snacks for kids who "forgot" a snack in (half-day) Kindergarten, not sure what is happening now that a lot of schools and soon the entire province is going to full-day Kindergarten.

My youngest daughter had a boy in her class all through elementary school who did bring a "lunch" each day, but it was hardly nutritious (candy, pop, sometimes packaged junk like those crackers you dip into "cheese"--and he had the bad teeth to go along with his diet. He eventually moved away, but I know the teacher was constantly calling his family. I guess it wasn't a bad enough situation for child services to come in, but all the kids in class knew he wasn't eating properly and that his "hyper" behaviour was likely connected to his diet. Kids or the teacher would often share with him when the class was out all day on a field trip, e.g. to the Zoo--I saw this first-hand. He had two parents, but they both worked more than one job and weren't home much, so this kid kinda fended for himself when it came to making a lunch--thus the poor food choices.

Now that my kids are in Jr. High and Sr. High I'm a bit disconnected from that world, but I do attend Parent Council meetings at their schools as I have done since they started school, and we probably just don't live in an area of town where there is as much of a problem as there might be in other neighborhoods.

I'm sure that anyone who does have access to any sort of program that might be out there for this is likely to keep it quiet, so the kids aren't teased or bullied. Probably why it's not common knowledge, even to someone who's always attended Parent Council meetings.

 

[miss_thenorth]

As far as school lunches, it is the same here as what Moolie stated. And FC, if a kid repeatedly does not bring a lunch, nothing is done about it. there is a kid in my dds class who never has a lunch. His friends share with him, but he does attend the breakfast program. And based on 2 tablesppons of sauce representing a a veggie serving?? Then is ketchup considered a vegetable?? If so, that would have made my mother very happy when I was a kid. sheesh!