Yes, Cheetos, Funnel Cake, and Domino's Are Approved School Lunch Items

[G_j]

http://m.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/school-lunch-conference-cheetos

And other lessons from my trip to the annual school nutrition conference.
—Kiera Butler on Wed. July 16, 2014 6:00 AM PDT

<snip>

Indeed, the exhibitors' guiding principle seemed to be something like: "Whatever you do, don't tell them it's healthy." I watched as a Sara Lee rep promised a cafeteria director from Louisiana that her students wouldn't be able to detect the whole-grain flour in her company's chocolate muffin. The PepsiCo booth stocked a flyer (below) informing attendees that newly formulated Cheetos fit with the guidelines. When I sampled a vitamin-fortified, low-cal Slush Puppy, the rep asked me, "Doesn't that taste just as good as a regular slushy?" (It didn't.) A food service company rep promised me that his funnel cake was "plenty sweet," even though it fit within the calorie limits. (It was.)

While the exhibitors were eager to show off their products' nutritional stats, few offered actual ingredients lists. When I asked the rep at the Uno pizza booth why ingredients weren't included on his nutrition information sheet, he told me the list wouldn't fit on the page.

"Don't the school nutritionists ask you what's in this?" I asked. Nope, he said. Most of them just wanted to know whether the product met the legal guidelines. He offered to email me the list later. When he did, I learned that Uno's Whole Grain Low Sodium Sweet Potato Crust Pepperoni Pizza contained nearly 50 ingredients, including sodium nitrite, which has been linked to cancer. I also persuaded the Domino's rep to email me a list of ingredients in his company's specially formulated school pizza, SmartSlice. It was also nearly 50 items long, and included silicone dioxide, otherwise known as sand.

After wandering through most of the 180,000 square feet of exhibits, I came across an earnest gray-haired woman in the back of the cavernous room selling frozen "pulses"—mostly lentils and chickpeas—to stir into soups and sauces. I was the only one at her booth. Had she noticed that everyone seemed drawn to the big-name foods up front? She responded that she hoped attendees would consider fortifying their name-brand meals with some of her lentils. "If you add a pulse product to a potato salad, it steps up the nutrition," she offered hopefully.

But the attendees would have to find her first, and that would be a tall order: Corporations such as PepsiCo and General Mills had rented out multiple exhibit spaces ($2,400 to $2,600 a pop) in the high-traffic front and central aisles of the exhibit floor. Some big booths even had café-style seating areas where attendees chatted as they gobbled up samples. "You have to go in the far corners to find the more interesting stuff," says Steve Marinelli, who runs the food program for a rural Vermont school district and told me he was having trouble locating the wholesome foods he wanted. "Someone was selling this really cool hummus, but you really had to look hard to find it."

The lentil lady didn't stand a chance.

[Wait Wut]

1. The rec is for you, G_j

I'm not sure if your post is more gross or depressing.

The crap I had to eat in school was probably worse than what they serve now, but I still rarely let my kid by lunch at school.

Thanks for the info...I think. Not sure how to process it, though, much less what the hell to do about it.

[femmocrat]

5. What you can do.... continue to pack nutritious food for your children.

Don't give them money for "snacks" (junk food).

If there is a PAC (parents' advisory committee) at your kids' school, volunteer to serve on it.

School breakfasts and lunches are abominable.

[Wait Wut]

6. My son is 32.

I did all that when he was in school. Now, his wife does it for me. I just get to laugh when she finds hot dog wrappers under the seats of his car.

I don't even have grandchildren to worry about. What I do worry about is society. We've created a horrible cycle of bad habits disguised as 'good enough' habits. Now, we not only have to teach kids how to eat, but their parents.

On a positive note...the natural food stores in the area are busy, parking lots are full, I see people reading labels and asking questions. Not just young hippy and hipster types, but people like me. I think we're getting smarter. Now, we need to start demanding that our schools are smarter.

[Ilsa]

2. Our school cafeteria actually cooked real food.

It was fattening, but more wholesome than the dull stuff they serve now.

[femmocrat]

3. How depressing.

I had such high hopes for better school nutrition programs, but it seems the big processors have just found new ways to game the system.

[KamaAina]

4. Don't forget ketchup

Gotta have some veggies in there.

[F4lconF16]

10. You say that sarcastically

but things like that actually are happening

[Calista241]

7. Cheetos are good! N/t

[CTyankee]

8. dear god, how awful...

[KittyWampus]

9. Chick Peas. You can do so much with them. Delicious things. It's all in the spices….

and method of preparation.