I rarely post on TLT twice in one day but I just wanted to share with you two recent posts from rockandrollmama, an anonymous blogger who also tweets under the handle @rustbeltrants.
In the first post, “Yep, I’m that mom already,” rockandrollmama describes the sudden influx of junk food in her young son’s life after sending him off to kindergarten this year, including Hershey’s kisses taped to his classwork and a request from the teacher for parents to send in items like Froot Loops, gummi bears and marshmallows for use in instructional exercises. In the second post, “Yes, I am the sugar nazi” rockandrollmama shares some further thoughts about the prevalence of sugar (and junk food generally) in her kid’s life.
Rockandrollmama is irreverent and sometimes drops the f-bomb (well, she’s a rock-and-roll mama, after all), but you can tell from her posts that she’s also very respectful of her son’s teacher and after-school caregivers, trying her best to see things from their point of view and to handle these situations politely and discretely.
Her first post included a link to my Food-in-the-Classroom Manifesto, and in tweeting it out she said to me, “Oh @thelunchtray I hope you’ll be my friend since I’m likely to lose some here.” So it occurred to me: let’s let rockandrollmama know she is most definitely not alone in her feelings about these issues and that the TLT community has her back — at least in the virtual world. Maybe take a second to leave a comment below offering her some support, or sharing your best advice on how you’ve dealt with unwanted junk food hand-outs in your kid’s classroom or school?
Thanks, all!
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Stacy @School-Bites.com says
Rockandrollmama, I have been there! After 2.5 years, I have finally succeeded in getting junk food out of my kids’ classrooms (or so I hope–it remains to be seen how our new district no-cupcake policy plays out). It’s a stark contrast to where we were 3 years ago when my oldest child (now grade 3) was in Kindergarten. I say get out there and fight for the health of your child–and ALL the kids in your school district! I tried many different approaches, from serving as Room Mom (aka chief class party planner) to starting a wellness committee to helping getting a stronger district wellness policy in place. It was the latter that seems to have the greatest impact. Definitely start by checking your district wellness policy (on your school district website?)–perhaps there already is a policy that isn’t being communicated or enforced. GOOD LUCK–and keep the faith!
Sally at Real Mom Nutrition says
The good news is that while it can feel like you’re the only one with reservations about junk in schools, sports, church, and elsewhere–chances are you are NOT alone, and there are plenty of parents who agree but keep quiet for fear of rocking the boat. But the boat needs to be rocked! Thankfully there are so many organizations and individuals putting out great resources to help parents in situations like these (hopefully several of them will chime in here). I mentioned a lot of them in a recent post about ways to get involved in school wellness, so I hope you’ll check them out. Good luck!! http://www.realmomnutrition.com/2014/08/18/school-wellness-5-ways-get-involved/
Jamie says
I’m with you on this. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one I know that wants the junk food out of the schools. Stay strong!
Tina says
RockandRollMama, you are not alone. It may feel that way as you start your child’s school experience. I’m seven years in and I still feel like I simply can’t get over what I see going on (don’t get me started on what my child was allowed to buy at lunch without my realizing it). While our teacher requests haven’t been for candy per se, there were, many years ago, requests for macaroni (fun necklace for Mom to wear on Thanksgiving) and the occasional fruit juice request (guess who is anti-juice?!) My now sixth grader needed a healthy post-testing snack for his class when he was back in first grade. I bought cherry tomatoes and carrots for 20 kids. One mom was so happy when her son told her what he tried that day, she called me. The fourth grade birthday celebration? Party on with your own fun packet of colorful sticky notes! Last week, I held the front office door at school for a mother carrying 24 practically luminescent cupcakes. And I was only grateful it wasn’t my son’s class or I might have said something that would have gotten me banned from the school. It’s a long battle fought in miniscule victories. So, props to you for letting the teacher know how you feel. And sharing the Manifesto.
Justin says
I don’t know that I have advice…I’m still working through my feelings on these issues myself, but I can say she’s not alone and attest to the fact that this problem begins EARLIER than Kindergarten for many of us and it’s just as aggravating, if not more so because you’re trying to teach your child perceptions on food before you can really explain your reasoning to them.
We’re a Daycare family…have been since my daughter was an infant. We went out of our way to interview at least a half-dozen “schools” and chose the one that seemed to align with our values and that we felt the most comfortable leaving our infant daughter with all day long.
As the parent of an infant, we were told we were to supply all her food (formula and then “first foods,” in this case) and that she’d be fed on a schedule of our preference, etc. etc. I sort of blindly assumed this, “You supply, we’ll feed,” model would continue. I was wrong. When she got to the “crawler” room (around 10-12 months), we found out they would begin supplying conventional milk, bananas, Cheerios, and raisins. However, they didn’t tell us before supplementing her meals with some of these items. I found out in passing that she was eating store-brand Cheerio’s and sort of flipped-out (mostly because I was gong out of my way to feed her “better than store brand” by buying organic and whole-grain and they were doing the opposite without my knowledge or consent).
It only went downhill from there. I’ve since found out they offer freeze pops (sugar, water, food coloring) as a form of hydration, occasionally substitute her afternoon snack with “Special Treats” when they’re doing a group activity like watching a movie, vanilla wafers…as early as 9:30am, donut holes when supplied by a generous parent who tends to do it nearly weekly, and then birthday and holiday party treats (which I knew about but have concerns about frequency and being informed when it’s happening so I can adjust her other meals accordingly).
I’ve spent quite a bit of time discussing my frustrations on all of these things with a friend because I wasn’t sure exactly what it was I was angry about. We eat some junk food in our home, so it wasn’t about complete elimination of junk for me. We don’t buy 100% organic, so I couldn’t use that as justification. It turned out that what I really disliked was the removal of my choice as to what she was exposed to, how much of it, how often, and when.
Take the donuts for example. I enjoy stopping into the donut shop every so often and treating her to a donut. It’s nice father-daughter time and it’s a special treat. If she’s eating that, AND donut holes once or twice a week at school without my knowing, it’s not a special treat anymore. Also, I have no idea how much junk food is supplanting the well-thought-out and fairly balanced meals we’re packing into her lunch bag.
Another example is the vanilla wafers. We went through a spell around 2 years old where she was not finishing her lunch or afternoon snack (yogurt…one of the few proteins she’ll routinely eat, so it’s an important “meal” of the day for her). I found out by sticking around and watching morning snack that she would nibble at her food and then say she was done. Then, she’d ask for “something else” and the teacher would offer her a vanilla wafer. In my mind, 9:30am is still “breakfast” and a vanilla wafer is a cookie. Clearly, the teacher felt otherwise. My 2 year old daughter was being taught that if she was “done” with her breakfast, she could have a cookie instead, which suddenly explained the entire pattern of not eating what I’d packed all day and then demanding Oreo’s at home around dinner time.
For me personally, this whole thing has become about parental rights and education. It’s a tough line to walk. On the one hand, we’ve chosen to let a third-party act as a stand-in parent during the early years of her life…and I don’t regret daycare for a lot of other reasons. On the other hand, I don’t like giving up my right so easily to teach her basic concepts such as, “A cookie is dessert. It’s a ‘sometimes’ treat and only available after you’ve put good nutritious food into your body.” And she’s 2, so telling her that is useless. She’s learning by watching and they’re not modeling at school what we’re modeling at home.
I really wish that schools would just consider nutrition part of their educational curriculum and not separate from it. Most teachers are smart people. If it’s in their curriculum, they’re going to teach it and model it and schools are going to eventually say, “Wow. These chicken nuggets we’re selling in the cafeteria or these donuts once a week are in direct contrast to what we’re saying in the classroom. Let’s change that.” But I truly think the work to fix this problem needs to begin in the classroom, not the cafeteria.
Now, if I can only find a way to say all of this to the Daycare Director without sounding like I’m just a naggy helicopter parent. 😉
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Justin: Thank you for sharing this story and I’m so sympathetic to the issues you’re facing here. I’m actually finishing a piece for another online publication specifically regarding the food served in daycare centers and your story is eerily similar to the ones I heard from other parents -right down to the vanilla wafers! I’ll share the link on TLT when it’s up – likely in a week or two. Thanks again for being a TLT reader and regularly commenting here.
Justin says
Thanks. I’m looking forward to that article!
I actually didn’t even mention the “hot lunch” program at her school. It’s a set list of 5 things that they offer weekly (Monday Hot Dogs, Tuesday Chicken Fingers, Wednesday Spaghetti, etc.) and it’s ordered as takeout from a local restaurant. We’ve never taken advantage of it because it’s expensive and I don’t think a toddler should be eating restaurant meals for lunch on a daily basis regardless of what the food is.
I’m interested to hear what other daycare centers do.
Also, thanks for doing whatever you did to fix the invisible comments. 🙂
Uly says
Am I the only one who cannot see the comments?
CrunchyMama says
Oh, no definitely NOT alone! I’ve been “that mom” in my kids’ elementary school for years, and I have 2 more years to go. They’re gonna breathe a HUGE sigh of relief when my last kid graduates from 5th grade! LOL
Here’s our experience – http://crunchyprogressivemusicmama.blogspot.com/2013/08/candy-in-school-prepare-for-tirade.html – and here’s part of the reason why: http://crunchyprogressivemusicmama.blogspot.com/2013/08/color-my-world-on-second-thought-please.html
Tina says
I can’t see the comments.
hilary says
Ugh! Kindergarten was a shock for me. Constant junk food rewards for what should be basic expectations like standing in line quietly! Grrr. I tried talking to the teachers and contacting the school’s wellness committee but the health initiatives were not high on the principal’s list of priorities. It was so frustrating and I felt like THAT mom, completely alone in my shock at the amount of sugary garbage food that was being offered to my son in school. Last year I felt overwhelmed and gave in – I will not do that again.