Being a cafteria worker and PTO board member, I can sympathize. We work in a district where our school is 70% Hispanic and the other 30 a mixture and yet once a week we have Chinese Food. On top of that we have okra and some of the stuff I wouldn't eat. Most kids just throw them away since we don't allow trading of food.
The best thing to do is to talk to the Cafeteria Manager. Just because the district puts something on the menu doesn't always mean that's what they have to serve. Our monitors check and report what the kids are and are not eating. They can also check to see how many kids are eating what when they go through the line - provided they have more than one selection.
If you don't like what the Cafeteria Manager has to say, go to the District and talk to them. They do have federal guidelines as to what types of food they serve, but if more kids throw away corn, but tend to eat more beans, convince them to serve more beans (and we all know how many types of beans there are).
We have kids who would like to skip meals rather than to bring something from home or eat in the cafeteria line. It's not good. Some of them ask for seconds (we do not serve seconds in our district). Though it would cost more, it should show that many kids really don't get enough. We don't want the kids to get too much and then be blamed for making their kids be overweight, but the kids need food to get energy and to help with their thinking caps.
UGH!! I can't rmember my password but wanted to reply...
What we have done when we know we are going to have a "hot" issue is have the ones that need to comment sign in first and these people are called on to avoid confusion. It is then understood due to the volume of people present we ask you allow each person three minutes (DON'T FORGET A TIMER!) to their thoughts. Of course you have out bursts (or maybe you will luck out!) and these parents need to be reminded this person has the floor. I have found it helpful to also ask those that have questions directly related to the kitchen to please write it down as the PTO Board can pass it on to the kitchen staff and you expect the staff to answer them.
If you can get a staff member to attend great!! BUT it should be stressed that they are here to answer questions and help to find a solution NOT for stone throwing practice! Shouting will not be tolerated we are all here for the same reason, our children....
We did some by-laws additions and I wish we would have done/said some of this!! Let us know how it goes!
mykidsmom
Keep in mind that school lunch programs are dictated by federal law and guidelines, and while you may be able to make some variances in quality, you won't be able to change much about the actual choices of foods and quantities.
Your district's central office Food Service Administrator (provided you have one) is the person to whom you need to speak.
I would try to get the person in charge of your school districts cafeteria's. You'll probably find that they have strict guidelines as to what they can purchase and perhaps a low budget. Maybe they survey the kids (or remains from lunch trays!) and see what's actually eaten. I would want to have someone there that has the power to change things so you're not just creating a b* session. We had the person in charge of transportation and buildings come last year and it was very insightful to hear what the administration can and cannot do. Sounds interesting!
We have been having an ongoing issue with the quality of the school lunch program. We would like to make this a topic at a future meeting and I'm looking for suggestions on how to run a meeting where this is the discussion topic. Normally we have a guest speaker at each meeting. This one would be more of an open forum type of meeting and I'm looking for guidelines!!!
