Each day I prepare or prep breakfast for my kids. Sometimes it’s a smoothie of yogurt, bananas and blueberries other days it’s a frozen waffle with peanut butter and sliced apples. Eating breakfast is important, it’s something I always enforce no matter what day of the week it is. Last week our children’s school came home with the following Breakfast in the Classroom pilot program.
Monday
Poptart & Cheesestick
100% fruit juice
Milk
Tuesday
Breakfast Muffin
100% Fruit Juice
Milk
Wednesday
Mini Waffles
100% Fruit Juice
Milk
Thursday
Bagelful
100% Fruit juice
Milk
Friday
Mini Cinnis
100% Fruit Juice
Milk
*Milk Options
Non Fat White
Low Fat White
Non Fat Chocolate
Non Fat Strawberry
Non Fat Lactaid
Who: All Students attending ****Elementary School
What: **** Elementary School is participating in a “breakfast in the classroom” pilot. All students will be able to receive a FREE breakfast meal during the time period listed above.
Why: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! It helps improve student achievements, diets and behavior. Children who have school breakfast eat more fruit, drink more milk and consume a wider variety of foods. Child Nutrition services is testing this new alternative breakfast model to determine its effectiveness in our schools.
I’m all for getting food in the bellies of our kids. I realize that there are many children in our nation that are hungry each day and I have NO problem with all the free meal initiatives that are presented but I do have a problem with presenting a pop tart and cheesestick to a child and calling that a healthy breakfast. Where is the fruit, where is the fiber and protein. Cheese isn’t bad but it’s hardly enough protein to sustain a child for the next few hours.
My kids don’t eat pop tarts, I don’t know what a cinni is and I’m guessing Crunchmania (breakfast for the 2nd week) is a type of cereal. My kids eat at home so I don’t have to worry about this too much but I worry about those children that are being offered substandard “food” everyday because it’s what the school district claims it to be balanced and healthy.
I’m curious as to how this pilot program went. Good thing it’s the last day of school.
poptart image provided by wikimedia commons by evan-amos
