Mom Gives Kids Homemade Lunch, School Forces Them to Eat Ritz Crackers

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Neetzan Zimmerman - Gawker


http://i.imgur.com/evXi5Mb.jpg

A mom who thought she was properly parenting by sending her two young kids to school with a homemade, whole-food lunch was shocked to find a penalty note from school officials informing her that the lunch of roast beef, potatoes, carrots, oranges and milk she provided was "unbalanced" and therefore had to be supplemented with Ritz crackers.

She was also fined $10.

http://i.imgur.com/aaduwWh.jpg

According to Weighty Matters, the Manitoba Government's Early Learning and Child Care department blindly follows a policy which requires lunches to be "balanced" according to "Canada's awful Food Guide."

Unbalanced lunches are subject to supplementation and a fine of CDN$5 (US$4.80) per "missing item" per child.

In Kristen Bartkiw's case, she "neglected" to include "grains" with Natalie and Logan's packed lunches — a "dereliction" that was "corrected" through the "supplementation" of Ritz crackers.

According to the nutrition facts found on its homepage, a serving of Ritz crackers (~10 crackers) contains 6.5g of fat, of which nearly half is saturated.

To drive home the ridiculousness of the policy, Kristen tells Weighty Matters she could have sent her kids to daycare with "microwave Kraft Dinner and a hot dog, a package of fruit twists, a Cheestring, and a juice box," and it would have been met with approval by the MCCA.

As a follow-up, Kristen notes that other parents falling short of Manitoba's policy has resulted in the creation of a hot lunch program, which she described as "great."

[MrsM]

this is just stupid

[FBD]

one does not NEED fking grains. grains are a staple because your body digests them slowly and they help fill you up.

and 10 bucks for fkn ritz crackers?! I would have returned the note with a comment saying politely fuck off and stay out of my child's lunchbox.

[Loser]

And so it begins. The government is telling you how to live ;)

[Acid Trip]

:confused:

Did you get this from The Onion? Or is that part of Canada just awash in liberal idiots?

[MrsM]

:confused:

Did you get this from The Onion? Or is that part of Canada just awash in liberal idiots?

Us Liberal advanced thinking folk are more east. This policy is not in place where my kids go to school, so it must be the conservative idiots :)

[Acid Trip]

Us Liberal advanced thinking folk are more east. This policy is not in place where my kids go to school, so it must be the conservative idiots :)

Don't worry, I looked it up. Manitoba is run by liberals. :tup:

[Noilly Pratt]

Un-be-frigging-leivable! Definitely not here on the west coast.

[Goofy]

this is just stupid

Our entire planet is becoming stupid unfortunately :(

[Hal-9000]

give them a piece of whole wheat bread ffs instead of Ritz crackers...

[Hal-9000]

:confused:

Did you get this from The Onion? Or is that part of Canada just awash in liberal idiots?

In the old days typically conservatives in the western part of the country and liberals in the eastern parts....(hal is west, MrsM is east)

that's changed and there's more of mix across the country now

[Noilly Pratt]

It's getting hard to pack a lunch for a kid...Wife won't let me buy buy processed meats with all the salt and chemicals of it...so I buy fresh from the turkey shop - major $$'s and constant trips back to the store. Peanut Butter sandwiches and Nutella are out because of 1 kid having peanut allergies.

Most often my daughter likes a Bagel with Creamcheese, and some fruit. And, yes, a few Ritz crackers or Goldfish crackers sometimes.

[Hal-9000]

these kids are going to live to be 180

[Noilly Pratt]

...and the parents are going to die early from heart attacks trying to keep things nutritional, taking them to dance lessons, music lessons, sleepovers, field trips (schools have no $ so no bus trips anymore) etc etc. :)