I love chocolate milk, but in our house it’s a treat. It has a ton of sugar in it and it shouldn’t be in school lunches as a “healthy” option, in my opinion. My daughter isn’t eating lunch at school yet, but the time is coming. We’re doing our best to teach her the difference between healthy food and treats. At the moment, if you gave her a box of regular milk and a box of chocolate milk, I know which one she’d take. Yep, chocolate. She’s 3, I have time to work on it, but I do think she’s starting to understand what is healthy and what isn’t. Here is what I didn’t know about school lunches:
“Along with a grain, a vegetable, a fruit and a protein, milk must be offered at every meal if a school district wants to get crucial reimbursement from the federal government. Students need only take three of the five items offered, but chocolate milk is a popular choice. ” This is from a recent New York Times article, A School Fight Over Chocolate Milk.
The “Renegade Lunch Lady”, Chef Ann Cooper (also featured in the New York Times article above), is dedicated to making sure kids everywhere have wholesome, nutritious, delicious food at school. In her video below, she likens chocolate milk to soda in drag.
AC vs. Chocolate Milk from Creative Intelligence on Vimeo.
Chef Ann has been featured on ABC Newsline, CNBC, CNN, The Martha Stewart Show, and TED.
Good News for San Diego: Chef Ann will be the featured guest at the 1st Annual Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center Fundraiser (Oct 1-3), created by San Diego chefs Julie Sayer Darling and Melissa Mayer. All proceeds will benefit Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center in National City, CA which is dedicated to reconnecting students and families to the natural environment through food, community engagement, and education. There are different events on each day that everyone is invited to attend:
This fundraiser also coincides with the Yahoo! Motherboard’s September topic of teaching kids healthy eating habits. It’s an important topic, and I’m so glad to learn a little more about what Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center does to help San Diego.
I still struggle with healthy eating habits in my own home. We ate out tonight, and it was all I could do to get my daughter away from the butter and bread. Don’t get me wrong, I let her eat it, but it’s a challenge to tell a 3 year old that emptying the butter dish is not ideal. For now, I mainly try to teach her by doing. I eat a boat load of salads, healthy vegetables, and minimal sweets in front of her.
Back to chocolate milk though. What is your opinion about having it at schools?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: patty_reiser
September 21, 2010 at 7:47 am
I agree that everything should be done in moderation.
I think it should be the parents choice as to whether they would like their child to have chocolate milk. Plus, working at an elementary school, I have seen kids behaviors change right after lunch. I have a feeling that chocolate milk would make it much more difficult for the teachers.
Twitter: MamaMaryShow
September 22, 2010 at 8:09 am
Love the title of this post! I think Chef Cooper is right about that. I think Chocolate Milk should be reserved for special occasions.
Our school hot lunch program is outsourced to a local company that provides very healthy, organic, locally sourced meals.
But they offer chocolate milk.
Every survey they have, I always comment on how a company with such high standards offers juice and choco-milk to kids. Why can’t the options just be water and milk?
I definitely need to be better about teaching my kids what is a treat and what is healthy. By the time they’re in school, I’m hopeful that they’ll make good choices—even if the cafeteria doesn’t.
We let our kids have treats on special occasions, chocolate milk is one of them.
I don’t want to keep things from the kids cause then they go crazy when they do get it but we do the same as far as setting an example; we eat healthy in front of them and talk about it openly.
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