Guest guest Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 This is one of the main reasons I homeschool as well.... ~Anna In a message dated 9/17/2009 9:12:15 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, jb writes: Okay, I took my daughter to school today and there was a notice for parents. Next week they are having a " camping " day on the school grounds. They are looking for a list of things for the parents to donate. Those things are: m & m's skittles marshamallows graham crackers marshmallow fluff gummy bears 15 bottles of water Ugh. Immediately the discussion on this thread in this group came to mind. Why are these teachers not taking this time to teach them better? They are teachers after all! Why not have a list of healthy snacks and for each to bring their own re-usable water bottle? I think will blog about this and write an open letter to all teachers! At least I'll feel a little better. It's seriously the things like this that make me want to homeschool, which I'm also doing for kindergarten right now. It's things like that and and the fact that this week our school districted voted to sell advertising space in the schools. Double ugh. Jacqueline (www.vegblogger.Jacq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Okay, I took my daughter to school today and there was a notice for parents. Next week they are having a " camping " day on the school grounds. They are looking for a list of things for the parents to donate. Those things are: m & m's skittles marshamallows graham crackers marshmallow fluff gummy bears 15 bottles of water Ugh. Immediately the discussion on this thread in this group came to mind. Why are these teachers not taking this time to teach them better? They are teachers after all! Why not have a list of healthy snacks and for each to bring their own re-usable water bottle? I think will blog about this and write an open letter to all teachers! At least I'll feel a little better. It's seriously the things like this that make me want to homeschool, which I'm also doing for kindergarten right now. It's things like that and and the fact that this week our school districted voted to sell advertising space in the schools. Double ugh. Jacqueline (www.vegblogger.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Wow! That sounds like an awful list! It really surprises me to have ALL those bad things at once! I'd forgive graham crackers and marshmallows but also including all the candy is a bit much! My son's teacher last year liked to give the kids candy each day as a way of rewarding them. I complained (in a nice way) to the director and the following week the teacher started rewarding with stickers instead! Anyways, that is awful! Either I'd keep my son home from school that day or have a talk with the teachers about taking out a few items and replacing them with a few healthy items. Let us know what happens! --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jacqueline Bodnar <jb wrote: Jacqueline Bodnar <jb preschool snacks . Thursday, September 17, 2009, 11:23 AM Okay, I took my daughter to school today and there was a notice for parents. Next week they are having a " camping " day on the school grounds. They are looking for a list of things for the parents to donate. Those things are: m & m's skittles marshamallows graham crackers marshmallow fluff gummy bears 15 bottles of water Ugh. Immediately the discussion on this thread in this group came to mind. Why are these teachers not taking this time to teach them better? They are teachers after all! Why not have a list of healthy snacks and for each to bring their own re-usable water bottle? I think will blog about this and write an open letter to all teachers! At least I'll feel a little better. It's seriously the things like this that make me want to homeschool, which I'm also doing for kindergarten right now. It's things like that and and the fact that this week our school districted voted to sell advertising space in the schools. Double ugh. Jacqueline (www.vegblogger. com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 My daughter's pre-school teacher emailed me a week before her school went back - so she could put in her 'order' of veg-friendly snacks that she has come to love in the 2 years we've been at the school!! On the first day, I dropped off a bunch of substitute items for her to keep in the classroom - including cupcakes for the inevitable birthday events and for use on those days when the snack of the day isn't vegan (each family gets a week a year of providing snack for the entire classroom) Her school is a fairly large Montessori school, and we've had all the usual issues with gummi bears, etc (even though they have a 'healthy snack' policy), but I created a list and a note for her teachers at the beginnning of each year that they post - next to the info for the kids with allergies. They're really very good about it - and now the entire campus is aware of the vegan family (only one, sadly) and try and include items like veggie burgers, etc during school events. Also, this summer, my daughter attended camp at school. The final event was to be a 'mud pie' party - the pudding/cake/cookie mess mixed with gummi worms. After deciding that I probably wouldn't get very far by telling them this was complete junk food and not within their 'health snacks' guidline, I ended up provided enough (vegan) ingredients for everyone - including the worms. They ended up having to do two batches because they added the older kids to the party at the last minute. The teachers told me at pick up that day that they had served the two mud pies next to each other and let the kids try both, without telling them which was vegan and which not (except my vegan daughter, who only got the vegan one). They took a vote, and ALL, including the teachers voted the vegan one better by far. I was so happy! (And I felt slightly better knowing that at least one of them was a natural (non-processed), primarily organic mud pie!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 It really is a shame that kids are encouraged to eat such food, especially with childhood obesity at an all time high. This is just one of the many reasons we homeschool our son. We have been lucky, too, in finding a group of homeschoolers who for the most part feed their children healthy food. Not all of them are vegan or vegetarian (there are a few, however), but they understand that we are and at potlucks try to bring some vegan dishes to share. Andrea , " Jacqueline Bodnar " <jb wrote: > > Okay, I took my daughter to school today and there was a notice for > parents. Next week they are having a " camping " day on the school > grounds. They are looking for a list of things for the parents to > donate. Those things are: > > m & m's > skittles > marshamallows > graham crackers > marshmallow fluff > gummy bears > 15 bottles of water > > Ugh. Immediately the discussion on this thread in this group came to > mind. Why are these teachers not taking this time to teach them better? > They are teachers after all! Why not have a list of healthy snacks and > for each to bring their own re-usable water bottle? > > I think will blog about this and write an open letter to all teachers! > At least I'll feel a little better. > > It's seriously the things like this that make me want to homeschool, > which I'm also doing for kindergarten right now. It's things like that > and and the fact that this week our school districted voted to sell > advertising space in the schools. Double ugh. > > Jacqueline (www.vegblogger.com) > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Hello veg people!Firstly, let me tell that I am new here and this is my first message on this group. My name is Cristiana and am from Romania. If there was a special section in this group for presentations then sory for breaking the rules. I write via wap and my abilities are limited by that. Getting back to the subject. I am surprised in a bad way to see that scool teacher ask pupil to eat that kind of commercial snacks and sweets! It is true, they are teachers, they must educate the young ones not to repeat the nutritional mistakes of the matures. But I think there may be two explications for this situation. one - the teachers do not care about the children, they are low educaed themselves and they are not interested in theyr work, they did not teach because they have a calling, but because material reasons. two. The companies make lobby and propaganda in school sector because they know there they can rase the future generation of consumers. So they bribe and charm the teachers with theyr offers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 , " Jacqueline Bodnar " <jb wrote: > > Okay, I took my daughter to school today and there was a notice for > parents. Next week they are having a " camping " day on the school > grounds. They are looking for a list of things for the parents to > donate. Those things are: > > m & m's > skittles > marshamallows > graham crackers > marshmallow fluff > gummy bears > 15 bottles of water > > Ugh. Immediately the discussion on this thread in this group came to > mind. Why are these teachers not taking this time to teach them better? > They are teachers after all! Why not have a list of healthy snacks and > for each to bring their own re-usable water bottle? > > I think will blog about this and write an open letter to all teachers! > At least I'll feel a little better. > > It's seriously the things like this that make me want to homeschool, > which I'm also doing for kindergarten right now. It's things like that > and and the fact that this week our school districted voted to sell > advertising space in the schools. Double ugh. > > Jacqueline (www.vegblogger.com) > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Hi- I've been mulling this over for a few days since Jacqueline first wrote about it. I feel a bit conflicted. The mommy part of me agrees with you in some respects, Jacqueline. I'd hope that teachers are good models, nutritionally, for our kids. But reality of the lives of teachers is something totally different. Teachers (even preschool teachers) can't spend much time teaching nutrition- there's the TEST (not in preschool, I hope!), and then there's the curriculum (yes, there's IS a curriculum and standards in preschool now. I'd love it if they just taught kids how to color and use scissors! But no time for that anymore...). Even if nutrition was part of the curriculum, teachers would probably be forced to use the Food Pyramid or some corporate-developed curriculum to do this- something I'm sure just about all of us wouldn't be so happy about. The 'teacher' in me thinks that nutrition education should fall to the parents. The Hindus will want to educate their kids about their dietary/religious habits; Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists etc., the same. Many parents do a crappy job of this- just like they do a crappy job of sex ed, so the public school system feels like it has to step in, making just about no one happy. When I was in the classroom, I made comments about nutrition, sure, but I would've never made a direct accusation against something a child had brought from home to eat (with the exception of the time a 2nd grader brought a cup of coffee from McD's for breakfast). This would be an invitation to a screaming parent at your door at 2:30 pm for 'criticizing' their parenting etc. As well, teachers are just members of the society at large, albeit the middle class one. I'm not sure why we would expect them to know more about nutrition and/or practice it more than the average person. Teachers, nutritionally, are just like every other profession- a mixed bag. My daughter's Kinder teacher last year played on 3 different soccer leagues and modeled good eating habits for the kids, meat excepted. If we want teachers to teach children about nutrition, we have to train teachers to do it AND put it in the curriculum- something that isn't going on right now in education. Cristiana, I have to admit I'm a little offended by your response. For the most part, I have found that 99.9% of teachers care very deeply about their students, even if their nutritional information is a bit misguided. Teachers in the United States are generally in possession of not only a college degree but also the equivalent of a Master's degree- at least a year of post-graduate school work and mentored student teaching. Many teachers also possess a Master's degree in education or some sub-field of education. Despite all of this, the idea that teachers are teaching for material reasons is simply laughable. Teachers in many states teeter dangerously close to the poverty line and take on second jobs in the summer and on other vacations just to make ends meet. We are very fortunate in my state that teachers are generally paid fairly well (there's a minimum salary that districts must meet), but I can't imagine any other reason other than 'a calling' (very well put!) that anyone would want to teach. If you don't have a calling, the chances that you will quit are quite high, as it is a job NOT for the faint of heart. In fact, 50% of all teachers quit within their first five years. It may be (well, it IS, as Jacqueline said) true that corporations are keen on raising the next generation of brand-loyalists. Teachers, however, have NO SAY at all in these types of campaigns, and in fact often fight against them at board meetings and such. The corporations go straight to the school boards, usually with promises of money to be made for sports and other extracurricular programs. The policy on these types of sales and advertisements comes directly from the school boards, as they are the ones who make the agreements with the companies. As you can tell, I'm a bit conflicted- something I've found more than once since I left the classroom and became 'Mommy'. It has been a real education to see schools from the parents' point of view, one that I think will make me a better teacher somewhere down the line. I'm in 100% agreement with you about the terrible 'snack' list posted for the parents, Jacqueline. I liked the idea that someone else had of bringing the healthy version of the sugarama. Is there a veg version of marshmallow fluff? I don't even know what marshmallow fluff is!!! thanks for letting me rant- j. ________________________________ eeaotly <eeaotly Monday, September 21, 2009 7:36:44 AM Re: preschool snacks . Hello veg people!Firstly, let me tell that I am new here and this is my first message on this group. My name is Cristiana and am from Romania. If there was a special section in this group for presentations then sory for breaking the rules. I write via wap and my abilities are limited by that. Getting back to the subject. I am surprised in a bad way to see that scool teacher ask pupil to eat that kind of commercial snacks and sweets! It is true, they are teachers, they must educate the young ones not to repeat the nutritional mistakes of the matures. But I think there may be two explications for this situation. one - the teachers do not care about the children, they are low educaed themselves and they are not interested in theyr work, they did not teach because they have a calling, but because material reasons. two. The companies make lobby and propaganda in school sector because they know there they can rase the future generation of consumers. So they bribe and charm the teachers with theyr offers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Marshmellow Fluff is vegetarian (it has egg whites in it). You use it for making snacks like rice krispie treats or smores. There is a vegan version called Ricemellow Fluff which you can buy online: http://www.veganstore.com/ricemellow-marshmallow-fluff/Page_1/628.html I haven't seen it in any stores. Renee ________________________________ jenni claire garverick <jennigarverick Wednesday, September 23, 2009 1:20:15 AM Re: Re: preschool snacks . Hi- I've been mulling this over for a few days since Jacqueline first wrote about it. I feel a bit conflicted. The mommy part of me agrees with you in some respects, Jacqueline. I'd hope that teachers are good models, nutritionally, for our kids. But reality of the lives of teachers is something totally different. Teachers (even preschool teachers) can't spend much time teaching nutrition- there's the TEST (not in preschool, I hope!), and then there's the curriculum (yes, there's IS a curriculum and standards in preschool now. I'd love it if they just taught kids how to color and use scissors! But no time for that anymore...). Even if nutrition was part of the curriculum, teachers would probably be forced to use the Food Pyramid or some corporate-developed curriculum to do this- something I'm sure just about all of us wouldn't be so happy about. The 'teacher' in me thinks that nutrition education should fall to the parents. The Hindus will want to educate their kids about their dietary/religious habits; Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists etc., the same. Many parents do a crappy job of this- just like they do a crappy job of sex ed, so the public school system feels like it has to step in, making just about no one happy. When I was in the classroom, I made comments about nutrition, sure, but I would've never made a direct accusation against something a child had brought from home to eat (with the exception of the time a 2nd grader brought a cup of coffee from McD's for breakfast). This would be an invitation to a screaming parent at your door at 2:30 pm for 'criticizing' their parenting etc. As well, teachers are just members of the society at large, albeit the middle class one. I'm not sure why we would expect them to know more about nutrition and/or practice it more than the average person. Teachers, nutritionally, are just like every other profession- a mixed bag. My daughter's Kinder teacher last year played on 3 different soccer leagues and modeled good eating habits for the kids, meat excepted. If we want teachers to teach children about nutrition, we have to train teachers to do it AND put it in the curriculum- something that isn't going on right now in education. Cristiana, I have to admit I'm a little offended by your response. For the most part, I have found that 99.9% of teachers care very deeply about their students, even if their nutritional information is a bit misguided. Teachers in the United States are generally in possession of not only a college degree but also the equivalent of a Master's degree- at least a year of post-graduate school work and mentored student teaching. Many teachers also possess a Master's degree in education or some sub-field of education. Despite all of this, the idea that teachers are teaching for material reasons is simply laughable. Teachers in many states teeter dangerously close to the poverty line and take on second jobs in the summer and on other vacations just to make ends meet. We are very fortunate in my state that teachers are generally paid fairly well (there's a minimum salary that districts must meet), but I can't imagine any other reason other than 'a calling' (very well put!) that anyone would want to teach. If you don't have a calling, the chances that you will quit are quite high, as it is a job NOT for the faint of heart. In fact, 50% of all teachers quit within their first five years. It may be (well, it IS, as Jacqueline said) true that corporations are keen on raising the next generation of brand-loyalists. Teachers, however, have NO SAY at all in these types of campaigns, and in fact often fight against them at board meetings and such. The corporations go straight to the school boards, usually with promises of money to be made for sports and other extracurricular programs. The policy on these types of sales and advertisements comes directly from the school boards, as they are the ones who make the agreements with the companies. As you can tell, I'm a bit conflicted- something I've found more than once since I left the classroom and became 'Mommy'. It has been a real education to see schools from the parents' point of view, one that I think will make me a better teacher somewhere down the line. I'm in 100% agreement with you about the terrible 'snack' list posted for the parents, Jacqueline. I liked the idea that someone else had of bringing the healthy version of the sugarama. Is there a veg version of marshmallow fluff? I don't even know what marshmallow fluff is!!! thanks for letting me rant- j. ____________ _________ _________ __ eeaotly <eeaotly > @gro ups.com Monday, September 21, 2009 7:36:44 AM Re: preschool snacks . Hello veg people!Firstly, let me tell that I am new here and this is my first message on this group. My name is Cristiana and am from Romania. If there was a special section in this group for presentations then sory for breaking the rules. I write via wap and my abilities are limited by that. Getting back to the subject. I am surprised in a bad way to see that scool teacher ask pupil to eat that kind of commercial snacks and sweets! It is true, they are teachers, they must educate the young ones not to repeat the nutritional mistakes of the matures. But I think there may be two explications for this situation. one - the teachers do not care about the children, they are low educaed themselves and they are not interested in theyr work, they did not teach because they have a calling, but because material reasons. two. The companies make lobby and propaganda in school sector because they know there they can rase the future generation of consumers. So they bribe and charm the teachers with theyr offers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Jenni wrote: " The 'teacher' in me thinks that nutrition education should fall to the parents. " Then I would suggest that they not make a list of snacks to bring in for special occassions. Becuase by doing that they are making nutritional implications whether they really want to or not. It makes no difference that the teacher is not standing in front of the room and teaching nutrition from a set of curriculum. By asking for those snacks to be brought in they are making it part of what they teach. The kids do not know if it was part of a written curriculum or not, all they know is that a place they went to learn and from someone that has been entrusted with their education they are being handed all this junk. They are teaching about nutritional education when they do this. It may not be part of the written curriculum for teachers to also teach kids to be polite, say please and thank you, share, or to do any number of things, yet they do it out of common sense and the greater good. I'm all for teachers not teaching about nutrition in school. But that would mean that they need to refrain not only from the book work of it, but also from making a list of crappy snacks for parents to be brought in. Because both routes are teaching the same thing, whether it has been read from a curriulum or not. Besides, I'd venture to say that this on-site camping escaped for which they are seeking the snacks is part of her written curriculum. Asking for snacks for it was likely part of it as well. Only she didn't place any type of standard on what was to be given to the kids. She could have made it a good learning experience and asked for healthy foods. Instead he re-inforced bad eating. Either way the kids will learn from it and she will have been at the root of teaching it that day. For teachers to not teach nutrition they would not have it in their curriculum and not ask for any snacks period. By the way, marshmallow fluff is vegetarian, but not vegan. Jacqueline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 I agree with this, Jenni, very well worded. I'd like to also add though, and I know that this isn't true all over the country, either - In our school district, the PTO has implemented greening the schools as well as healthy child initiatives -we have a CSA through the school, there is also a " Health and Wellness " committee for making sure kids get healthy snacks/meals. We are very fortunate to live in the school district we are in. I'm glad that they at least banned sodas and junk foods (for the most part - healthier junky stuff LOL - there are certain nutritional guides/standards that snacks/drinks have to meet if they're in vending machines in grades 8 and below) in the high schools I think they got rid of soda machines a few years ago, maybe close to 8-10 yrs? Our state has revamped the public school lunches, and they offer more healthy options (there are even vegetarian options at every lunch, even a salad bar in elementary school) because of the school lunch initiatives over the last few years. All public schools in the state have done this (especially if they receive federal aid for school breakfast and lunch -it's modeled after the Appleton Wisconsin Nutrition and Wellness study you can read about here: http://www.greenearthinstitute.org/nutrition/school_policies_programs.html#2 On the first meeting at the school with the teacher (there was a special night to meet the teacher, and find out the curriculum etc) they also had suggestions for things to bring in (carrot sticks, crackers,etc) , and what to NOT bring in (candy, chips, etc) for snacks. Also suggested a classroom gift instead of cupcakes, or muffins in lieu of cupcakes, but not everyone will abide by that... Sure there's still the incidents of people bringing in cupcakes- last year to celebrate summer birthdays they suggested muffins instead of cupcakes (and I volunteered to bake muffins for the class because of my son's food allergy and our dietary restrictions). I'd prefer they just ban the bringing in of them all together, bring in a healthy snack for the class - I'm just tired of the incidents where they seem to forget he can't just have a cupcake (because they don't realize it's got butter/milk/eggs in it ). I get wanting to do something special for your kid because it's their special day, but isn't that what birthday parties are for? With all the food allergies and sensitivities out there, I'd just as soon not risk it, but that's just me. We usually do a classroom gift because then the classroom and the school benefits, and it's nice to instill giving rather than receiving all the time to feel good about something or to mark a special occasion. (For our son's birthday and Christmas and Thanksgiving we " adopt " animals from the Farm Sanctuary or other places I know these initiatives aren't everywhere, but I hope that they will be in every school someday. I think the only way to change it is to advocate for it, get involved. Even if you don't send your kids to public schools, your taxes still go to fund public schools, you can still be active in helping all the other kids who do benefit from healthier schools/lunches - join the school board, volunteer or see if you can help make these or similar changes in your school districts. There may be kids out there whose folks can't/won't be involved with the schools on those levels, but they could still use an advocate to speak up for them. Missie On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 12:20 AM, jenni claire garverick < jennigarverick wrote: > > > Hi- > I've been mulling this over for a few days since Jacqueline first > wrote about it. I feel a bit conflicted. The mommy part of me agrees with > you in some respects, Jacqueline. I'd hope that teachers are good models, > nutritionally, for our kids. But reality of the lives of teachers is > something totally different. Teachers (even preschool teachers) can't spend > much time teaching nutrition- there's the TEST (not in preschool, I hope!), > and then there's the curriculum (yes, there's IS a curriculum and standards > in preschool now. I'd love it if they just taught kids how to color and use > scissors! But no time for that anymore...). Even if nutrition was part of > the curriculum, teachers would probably be forced to use the Food Pyramid or > some corporate-developed curriculum to do this- something I'm sure just > about all of us wouldn't be so happy about. > The 'teacher' in me thinks that nutrition education should fall to > the parents. The Hindus will want to educate their kids about their > dietary/religious habits; Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists etc., the same. > Many parents do a crappy job of this- just like they do a crappy job of sex > ed, so the public school system feels like it has to step in, making just > about no one happy. When I was in the classroom, I made comments about > nutrition, sure, but I would've never made a direct accusation against > something a child had brought from home to eat (with the exception of the > time a 2nd grader brought a cup of coffee from McD's for breakfast). This > would be an invitation to a screaming parent at your door at 2:30 pm for > 'criticizing' their parenting etc. As well, teachers are just members of the > society at large, albeit the middle class one. I'm not sure why we would > expect them to know more about nutrition and/or practice it more than the > average person. Teachers, nutritionally, are just like every other > profession- a mixed bag. My daughter's Kinder teacher last year played on 3 > different soccer leagues and modeled good eating habits for the kids, meat > excepted. If we want teachers to teach children about nutrition, we have to > train teachers to do it AND put it in the curriculum- something that isn't > going on right now in education. > Cristiana, I have to admit I'm a little offended by your response. For > the most part, I have found that 99.9% of teachers care very deeply about > their students, even if their nutritional information is a bit misguided. > Teachers in the United States are generally in possession of not only a > college degree but also the equivalent of a Master's degree- at least a year > of post-graduate school work and mentored student teaching. Many teachers > also possess a Master's degree in education or some sub-field of education. > Despite all of this, the idea that teachers are teaching for material > reasons is simply laughable. Teachers in many states teeter dangerously > close to the poverty line and take on second jobs in the summer and on other > vacations just to make ends meet. We are very fortunate in my state that > teachers are generally paid fairly well (there's a minimum salary that > districts must meet), but I can't imagine any other reason other than 'a > calling' (very well put!) that anyone would want to teach. If you don't > have a calling, the chances that you will quit are quite high, as it is a > job NOT for the faint of heart. In fact, 50% of all teachers quit within > their first five years. It may be (well, it IS, as Jacqueline said) true > that corporations are keen on raising the next generation of > brand-loyalists. Teachers, however, have NO SAY at all in these types of > campaigns, and in fact often fight against them at board meetings and such. > The corporations go straight to the school boards, usually with promises of > money to be made for sports and other extracurricular programs. The policy > on these types of sales and advertisements comes directly from the school > boards, as they are the ones who make the agreements with the companies. > As you can tell, I'm a bit conflicted- something I've found more than > once since I left the classroom and became 'Mommy'. It has been a real > education to see schools from the parents' point of view, one that I think > will make me a better teacher somewhere down the line. I'm in 100% agreement > with you about the terrible 'snack' list posted for the parents, Jacqueline. > I liked the idea that someone else had of bringing the healthy version of > the sugarama. Is there a veg version of marshmallow fluff? I don't even know > what marshmallow fluff is!!! > thanks for letting me rant- > j. > > ________________________________ > eeaotly <eeaotly <eeaotly%40>> > <%40> > Monday, September 21, 2009 7:36:44 AM > Re: preschool snacks . > > > > Hello veg people!Firstly, let me tell that I am new here and this is my > first message on this group. My name is Cristiana and am from Romania. If > there was a special section in this group for presentations then sory for > breaking the rules. I write via wap and my abilities are limited by that. > Getting back to the subject. I am surprised in a bad way to see that scool > teacher ask pupil to eat that kind of commercial snacks and sweets! It is > true, they are teachers, they must educate the young ones not to repeat the > nutritional mistakes of the matures. But I think there may be two > explications for this situation. one - the teachers do not care about the > children, they are low educaed themselves and they are not interested in > theyr work, they did not teach because they have a calling, but because > material reasons. two. The companies make lobby and propaganda in school > sector because they know there they can rase the future generation of > consumers. So they > bribe and charm the teachers with theyr offers. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Great idea about donating a gift to the classroom in lieu of cupcakes (I will plan on doing this), along with adopting an animal on special occasions - my veggie preteen son will love that as he has dreams of having a sanctuary some day. -Pria www.priaingrum.com _____ On Behalf Of Missie Wednesday, September 23, 2009 8:08 AM Re: Re: preschool snacks . I agree with this, Jenni, very well worded. I'd like to also add though, and I know that this isn't true all over the country, either - In our school district, the PTO has implemented greening the schools as well as healthy child initiatives -we have a CSA through the school, there is also a " Health and Wellness " committee for making sure kids get healthy snacks/meals. We are very fortunate to live in the school district we are in. I'm glad that they at least banned sodas and junk foods (for the most part - healthier junky stuff LOL - there are certain nutritional guides/standards that snacks/drinks have to meet if they're in vending machines in grades 8 and below) in the high schools I think they got rid of soda machines a few years ago, maybe close to 8-10 yrs? Our state has revamped the public school lunches, and they offer more healthy options (there are even vegetarian options at every lunch, even a salad bar in elementary school) because of the school lunch initiatives over the last few years. All public schools in the state have done this (especially if they receive federal aid for school breakfast and lunch -it's modeled after the Appleton Wisconsin Nutrition and Wellness study you can read about here: http://www.greenear <http://www.greenearthinstitute.org/nutrition/school_policies_programs.html# 2> thinstitute.org/nutrition/school_policies_programs.html#2 On the first meeting at the school with the teacher (there was a special night to meet the teacher, and find out the curriculum etc) they also had suggestions for things to bring in (carrot sticks, crackers,etc) , and what to NOT bring in (candy, chips, etc) for snacks. Also suggested a classroom gift instead of cupcakes, or muffins in lieu of cupcakes, but not everyone will abide by that... Sure there's still the incidents of people bringing in cupcakes- last year to celebrate summer birthdays they suggested muffins instead of cupcakes (and I volunteered to bake muffins for the class because of my son's food allergy and our dietary restrictions). I'd prefer they just ban the bringing in of them all together, bring in a healthy snack for the class - I'm just tired of the incidents where they seem to forget he can't just have a cupcake (because they don't realize it's got butter/milk/eggs in it ). I get wanting to do something special for your kid because it's their special day, but isn't that what birthday parties are for? With all the food allergies and sensitivities out there, I'd just as soon not risk it, but that's just me. We usually do a classroom gift because then the classroom and the school benefits, and it's nice to instill giving rather than receiving all the time to feel good about something or to mark a special occasion. (For our son's birthday and Christmas and Thanksgiving we " adopt " animals from the Farm Sanctuary or other places I know these initiatives aren't everywhere, but I hope that they will be in every school someday. I think the only way to change it is to advocate for it, get involved. Even if you don't send your kids to public schools, your taxes still go to fund public schools, you can still be active in helping all the other kids who do benefit from healthier schools/lunches - join the school board, volunteer or see if you can help make these or similar changes in your school districts. There may be kids out there whose folks can't/won't be involved with the schools on those levels, but they could still use an advocate to speak up for them. Missie On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 12:20 AM, jenni claire garverick < jennigarverick@ <jennigarverick%40> > wrote: > > > Hi- > I've been mulling this over for a few days since Jacqueline first > wrote about it. I feel a bit conflicted. The mommy part of me agrees with > you in some respects, Jacqueline. I'd hope that teachers are good models, > nutritionally, for our kids. But reality of the lives of teachers is > something totally different. Teachers (even preschool teachers) can't spend > much time teaching nutrition- there's the TEST (not in preschool, I hope!), > and then there's the curriculum (yes, there's IS a curriculum and standards > in preschool now. I'd love it if they just taught kids how to color and use > scissors! But no time for that anymore...). Even if nutrition was part of > the curriculum, teachers would probably be forced to use the Food Pyramid or > some corporate-developed curriculum to do this- something I'm sure just > about all of us wouldn't be so happy about. > The 'teacher' in me thinks that nutrition education should fall to > the parents. The Hindus will want to educate their kids about their > dietary/religious habits; Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists etc., the same. > Many parents do a crappy job of this- just like they do a crappy job of sex > ed, so the public school system feels like it has to step in, making just > about no one happy. When I was in the classroom, I made comments about > nutrition, sure, but I would've never made a direct accusation against > something a child had brought from home to eat (with the exception of the > time a 2nd grader brought a cup of coffee from McD's for breakfast). This > would be an invitation to a screaming parent at your door at 2:30 pm for > 'criticizing' their parenting etc. As well, teachers are just members of the > society at large, albeit the middle class one. I'm not sure why we would > expect them to know more about nutrition and/or practice it more than the > average person. Teachers, nutritionally, are just like every other > profession- a mixed bag. My daughter's Kinder teacher last year played on 3 > different soccer leagues and modeled good eating habits for the kids, meat > excepted. If we want teachers to teach children about nutrition, we have to > train teachers to do it AND put it in the curriculum- something that isn't > going on right now in education. > Cristiana, I have to admit I'm a little offended by your response. For > the most part, I have found that 99.9% of teachers care very deeply about > their students, even if their nutritional information is a bit misguided. > Teachers in the United States are generally in possession of not only a > college degree but also the equivalent of a Master's degree- at least a year > of post-graduate school work and mentored student teaching. Many teachers > also possess a Master's degree in education or some sub-field of education. > Despite all of this, the idea that teachers are teaching for material > reasons is simply laughable. Teachers in many states teeter dangerously > close to the poverty line and take on second jobs in the summer and on other > vacations just to make ends meet. We are very fortunate in my state that > teachers are generally paid fairly well (there's a minimum salary that > districts must meet), but I can't imagine any other reason other than 'a > calling' (very well put!) that anyone would want to teach. If you don't > have a calling, the chances that you will quit are quite high, as it is a > job NOT for the faint of heart. In fact, 50% of all teachers quit within > their first five years. It may be (well, it IS, as Jacqueline said) true > that corporations are keen on raising the next generation of > brand-loyalists. Teachers, however, have NO SAY at all in these types of > campaigns, and in fact often fight against them at board meetings and such. > The corporations go straight to the school boards, usually with promises of > money to be made for sports and other extracurricular programs. The policy > on these types of sales and advertisements comes directly from the school > boards, as they are the ones who make the agreements with the companies. > As you can tell, I'm a bit conflicted- something I've found more than > once since I left the classroom and became 'Mommy'. It has been a real > education to see schools from the parents' point of view, one that I think > will make me a better teacher somewhere down the line. I'm in 100% agreement > with you about the terrible 'snack' list posted for the parents, Jacqueline. > I liked the idea that someone else had of bringing the healthy version of > the sugarama. Is there a veg version of marshmallow fluff? I don't even know > what marshmallow fluff is!!! > thanks for letting me rant- > j. > > ________________________________ > eeaotly <eeaotly (AT) (DOT) <eeaotly%40> com <eeaotly%40>> > @gro <%40> ups.com <%40> > Monday, September 21, 2009 7:36:44 AM > Re: preschool snacks . > > > > Hello veg people!Firstly, let me tell that I am new here and this is my > first message on this group. My name is Cristiana and am from Romania. If > there was a special section in this group for presentations then sory for > breaking the rules. I write via wap and my abilities are limited by that. > Getting back to the subject. I am surprised in a bad way to see that scool > teacher ask pupil to eat that kind of commercial snacks and sweets! It is > true, they are teachers, they must educate the young ones not to repeat the > nutritional mistakes of the matures. But I think there may be two > explications for this situation. one - the teachers do not care about the > children, they are low educaed themselves and they are not interested in > theyr work, they did not teach because they have a calling, but because > material reasons. two. The companies make lobby and propaganda in school > sector because they know there they can rase the future generation of > consumers. So they > bribe and charm the teachers with theyr offers. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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