Sunday, November 08, 2009

Nutrition in Schools? Preposterous!

The link leads to the California Department of Education's Food program page. What is of particular interest to me is the fact that, although one can find any combination of data analysis and training materials regarding transport, acquisition, distribution, and costs (in the form of grants or reimbursements) there is missing something very important to the actual use of the food itself (I'll cut-and-paste):

Nutrition Analysis of School Meals

School meal nutrition analysis report from National School Lunch Program reviews conducted by the California Department of Education (CDE).

* School Meal Nutrition Analysis Report: 1998-2005 (In Process)

Yes, that's right. the actual nutritional value of the food served in the public schools of Cal-ee-Foh-nee-a is not only 4 years past due, but hasn't been properly analyzed in 11 years. I checked the "nutrition information" page of my local school district and I found all sorts of information regarding the carbohydrate values of the food they serve. Where's the vitamins? The salt? The sugar (well HFCS [gag] anyway)? McDonald's has a more comprehensive nutritional list (almost kept a straight face there) than our public schools.

This is not good. I don't really care if the food improves or not. I don't even care that what they serve is truly a tragic approximation of food. Okay, the fruits are good as long as they haven't soaked everything in lemon juice. All I want is the information necessary to correct nutritional deficiencies arising from the ingestion of this meal. I need to know what vegetables to serve to give the right balance of vitamins and minerals. How, exactly, are parents supposed to compensate with such a lack of information?

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