Teenagers are so creative when they want to be, aren’t they? Usually mom and dad, unsuspecting grandparents and sometimes teachers are on the receiving end of their innovative excuse-making or their inventive yarning. But First Lady Michelle Obama is getting a little taste of it too, just in case 14-year-old Malia isn’t giving her enough of it at home.
A group of Kansas high schoolers put their snarkiness to music to create a little ditty called “We Are Hungry,” a parody of Fun’s “We Are Young” that simultaneously protests the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and sends a clear message to Mrs. Obama that some kids are less than fulfilled by their scanty school lunches.
Engineering this four-minute production proves just how annoyed teachers, parents, and obviously students at Wallace County High School are about the un-portion-ate restrictions. (Get it? Un-portion… never mind.) By the video creators’ own admission, active teens require 2,000–5,000 calories per day. But here’s the thing: just because the policy limits school lunches to 850 calories doesn’t mean the kids have to starve. It just means they aren’t going to get the bulk of the calories they need in that one mid-day meal.
(The boy who sits down in his long jump is my favorite.)
Teenagers are notorious for skipping breakfast, so they could beef up that morning meal or bring along healthy snacks to supplement what they feel is lacking in lunch substance, especially if they’re involved in after-school activities and sports that keep them away from dinner—and hence, their next meal—longer than they would like.
But there’s nothing wrong with the policy itself because these Kansas kids and their frazzled teachers and parents aren’t taking into account that there are plenty of kids out there eating and barely moving afterward. Since obesity is one of Mrs. Obama’s bailiwicks, it explains why she’s stripped lunchtime down since some communities—maybe not in Kansas, but plenty of others—are having a harder time stripping down the size of their kids. So if you play ball or cheerlead, good for you. Just know not all teens are burning their food off that fast.
Kudos to these students for their cute creativity, but I think they’d be better off walking swiftly and carrying an apple. Or a granola bar. Or a baggie of carrots. Or some yummy graham crackers. Or fresh pineapple.
Time to go cook dinner, clearly.
Do your kids complain of being hungry after school lunch?
Image via Gaulsstin/Flickr
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Comments 27
Way to totally miss these kids' point and dismiss them with extremely stupid alternative solutions. Not all kids come from home environments where they can eat breakfast, especially nutritious ones. Not all kids have time to do this either, so many of them, especially those in rural areas, have to catch school buses at 630 am or earlier. Would you want to eat at that time? Didn't think so. Many kids also come from homes that are too impoverished to provide nutritious dinners or have parents who don't care. My point is, way too many kids in this country rely on school lunch as their only substantial meal of the day. I don't care if all kids participate in sports or not. 850 is not enough to sustain any growing teenage body, whether they are physically active or not. Also, many schools are using these new federal guidelines as an excuse to cut back on the quality of food...which was never great originally. This plan is absolutely terrible, although the idea behind it was good. It is being executed very poorly and at the expense of millions of growing students across this country.
Janelle Harris: You don't have a damn clue what you are talking about. I am a Kansas resident and my husband works for the local school district. There have been write-ups in the paper explaining these new lunch "standards." It is absolutely asinine what the regulations are doing to school lunches - anyone with half a brain would see that there is more to this than teenagers complaining about being hungry.
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In our school district, in order to follow these regulations, students must have at least 7oz but not more than 8oz of bread/grains for lunch each week. So, for example, if the standard bread slices equal 2 ounces and a student has a sandwich for lunch 5 days in a week (totallying 10oz of bread/grain) then they have gone over the alloted amount by 2oz for that week. So, what the school has to do is make their own bread (at a greater cost) because no one slices anything in 1.9oz portions. The logic is that (and this is in the policy, reported by the media) 1.9oz can be rounded DOWN to 1.75oz for a total of 8.75oz for the week... and then that can be rounded down to 8oz in order to meet the regulation. AND THEN on their sandwich rolls, they have to literally cut off a fraction of an ounce on each end to get the roll to weigh under 2 oz to meet guidelines.
(cont.)
On top of that, students are NOT ALLOWED to refuse fruits and veggies, even if they know they will not eat them and will throw it in the trash - the kids try not to waste food that they know they will not eat, but they are forced to take it and waste it. You can put it on their plate, but you can't make them like it or eat it (especially if they are in high school). Also, they say that kids are allowed to come back for as many fruits and veggies as they would like, however that doesn't help kids not be hungry - the student atheletes especially need extra protein that they aren't allowed to get in their school lunch.
(cont.)
Seriously, SERIOUSLY! This is some seriously bad math that will not make one bit of difference in the end. It only ends in costing taxpayers money and frustration for all involved.
Sadly enough, many children who receive free or reduced-fee lunches come from families who don't have enough food for their children at home (we even have a Food-4-Kids program to provide for those who are hungry at home!)... you really think these kind of guidelines are serving these kids well?
The problem with obesity isn't school lunches... the problem is at home!
Go Manderspanders! That was enlightening. The bigger problem here is also that the GOVERNMENT is deciding what the students are eating WITHOUT input from the parents. Or input from the students themselves for that matter. Something is wrong here...
Thanks for all the info manderspanders. I guess I just feel like we went from one extreme to the other. I've heard a lot of people say if you don't like it pack your child a lunch but I've heard there are food Nazi's for that too.