Here it is. A Chicago public school has officially banned lunches from home. And I have mixed feelings about it.
In other countries, this is common practice. In fact, in France it is rare to find a home-made lunch in a school, and they're probably better off for it. The difference is that the French use meal times as an opportunity to educate their children about food and eating. The US typically jams all of their students into a mess hall, where they are fed french fries, chocolate milk, and goddamn breakfast pizza. I have little confidence in this movement. But I'm not so quick to judge!
The tricky part about an issue like this is that once children and children's rights are mentioned, everyone seems to get completely libertarian. It was hard to find anything written on this that didn't condemn Principal Elsa Carmona's decision, which was made with some justice. I mean, from what I know I'm against it, but it certainly makes sense if everyone's bringing Lunchables and soda to school. On top of that, the feedlot mentality that seems to befall most school cafeterias really sets up a kid for a life of not enjoying food. Being herded into a big, white room to sit down in front of a piece of goddamn breakfast pizza (I really have an issue with the whole breakfast pizza thing, in case you couldn't tell) is not exactly conducive to encouraging one to think about their food, much less enjoy it.
In other countries, this is common practice. In fact, in France it is rare to find a home-made lunch in a school, and they're probably better off for it. The difference is that the French use meal times as an opportunity to educate their children about food and eating. The US typically jams all of their students into a mess hall, where they are fed french fries, chocolate milk, and goddamn breakfast pizza. I have little confidence in this movement. But I'm not so quick to judge!
The tricky part about an issue like this is that once children and children's rights are mentioned, everyone seems to get completely libertarian. It was hard to find anything written on this that didn't condemn Principal Elsa Carmona's decision, which was made with some justice. I mean, from what I know I'm against it, but it certainly makes sense if everyone's bringing Lunchables and soda to school. On top of that, the feedlot mentality that seems to befall most school cafeterias really sets up a kid for a life of not enjoying food. Being herded into a big, white room to sit down in front of a piece of goddamn breakfast pizza (I really have an issue with the whole breakfast pizza thing, in case you couldn't tell) is not exactly conducive to encouraging one to think about their food, much less enjoy it.