Did the bag contain ONLY 3 fruits - apple, banana and, say, orange - or did it contain some more items?

In other words, were the 3 fruits ALL the lunch she packed for herself? Was it to be a fruit-ohly lunch?

wintercat, I believe that is all that was in her bag. I can see that we are clearly in opposition on this topic. lol!

I probably should have posted this on the other side, but since a lot of current threads are talking about healthy foods and eating more fruits and veggies, I thought it was ok here. Someone can move it if they know how.

I'd take it to the local news.

(p.s. I say it's fine on this side. It's food related, and the other side is so slow these days that it's easy to forget it even exists. Can't remember the last time I bothered to click over there.)

The first thing I'd suggest your cousin do would be to request a copy of the school lunch regulations for her daughter's district, take it home and look through it, and see if there is a written rule pertaining to the reason for her lunch confiscation.

Most likely, it's not because she had too much fruit but because she did not have four different food groups.

Under our First Lady's guidance, the rules for school lunches sent down to the states by the Federal Gov't have changed dramatically in the last few years and schools are struggling to interpret them.

I can understand you being upset but you have to see the rules first to figure out where the school is coming from in order to make a case for them to change them.

So they won't let homemade baked goods in the classroom because of "safety" concerns, and now they take away a bag containing 3 pieces of fruit from a 17 year old young lady? And some people wonder why so many parents are choosing to home school? Evidence reveals there really are food police....

wow, talking about food police, how's this story:
In Utah, recently, they took away the school lunches from 40 students and threw them in the trash because they weren't fully paid up. Then they gave them a glass of milk and a piece of [evil] fruit instead! :p

Here is a link that might be useful: Utah school throws out children's lunches

Party Music - I was making sure I got the facts right before voicing any opinion. I don't see anything wrong with posting this here. I wasn't sure whether her lunch was fruit-only or whether she had a three-fruit dessert. I always have a 2-fruit dessert like banana+apple/orange or orange+avocado etc. because each one of them enhances the flavour of the other. Some people do think it odd when they see me biting into each fruit in turn, but there's no law against it.

Seems like the problem isn't too much fruit but too little - actually zero - of anything else.

Perhaps the girl had good reason for eating a light meal in the middle of the day. She might have some rigorous gym training or whatever. But barring that, If I noticed a teen, especially an active teen , having only 3 fruits for lunch - on a regular basis and not once in a while - I'd be concerned about some eating disorder. After all, she's still growing up.

I don't think there's any ill will behind this.

A three fruit lunch really isn't a healthy balanced meal for an active young person but to throw it away is dreadful wastefulness!

And if it was ALL that she had for lunch, then they threw her entire lunch away!!! I had a fruit salad for lunch yesterday--blueberries, banana, orange. I think it was a good lunch.

I'm sort of surprised that the content of her lunch is the focus here. To me, I am horrified that the school, or the government has taken it upon themselves not only to decide what they are offering for lunch but are inspecting lunches brought from home and deciding what is and isn't allowed. That is outrageous and a dangerous precedent. Talk about Big Brother. People should take the time to confront this kind of effort to 'regulate' their eating habits and choices and change that in their schools.

Prairiemoon, I think you definitely have a point. I was quite taken aback when I read the opening post. Here in Israel it's unheard of, to the best of my knowledge, and it does seem a gross violation of privacy.

I'll be devil's advocate, though, and argue that when an increasing number of people use food in a manner that turns it from a source of life into a source of disease and death, a government may consider it justified to intervene. The statistics speak for themselves.

prairiemoon2, that was my point when I said "THEY decided" and that's why *I* would have gone berserk if I had been involved in any way!

Regarding the focus on the lunch itself: IMO, the premise that eating only fruit for lunch is wrong because it's an unbalanced meal is specious. Who here eats only perfectly balanced meals?!?! Who's to say she didn't eat a breakfast and dinner to round out her daily nutritional requirements?! And, BTW, they are daily nutrition RECOMMENDATIONS, not legal requirements! What would they have done with me?....I almost never ate lunch in HS! I guess they would have locked me up!

And then there's the "too much fruit" irony: Everyone is being told to "eat more fruits and vegetables". That's apparently good unless you attempt to eat more than ONE piece of fruit, in which case it will be confiscated -- and discussed here. :)

:p

This post was edited by party_music50 on Mon, Feb 3, 14 at 8:26

So they threw away her fruit, which is crazy, but then did they give her something else to eat? Or did she starve for the rest of the day? I can see maybe suggesting that she eat something else too, but sheesh!

This is really going too far when you can't even control your own lunch. I understand not offering up junk food in school, but to strip you of what you bring in? I've never heard of such a thing. That's ridiculous.

Especially when what is considered "healthy" changes so much over time. And especially when each of us have individual issues that need to be accommodated. If there is anything that isn't "one size fits all" it is diet.

To be clear, they confiscated her fruit and did not offer her anything to replace it. Apparently they decided it's better to starve than to eat too much sugar. :p

I'm with Prairie Moon.
And I'm thinking this could be the most important thing she learns from going to school.

It never amazes me what school authorities take it upon themselves to do. I am totally against what this school did. Like someone else mentioned, maybe she has a hearty breakfast and her mother fixes very good dinners so she eats light at lunch. Now, if she had planned to eat cookies, cake, chips, etc. I would understand the school's actions, but they would have to provide a lunch for her after taking her's away. To let her go hungry is better than eating fruit? That's ridiculous. I would have gone to the powers that be and raised the roof.

Madonna

I don't care if all she'd brought for her lunch was a bag of potato chips. She is 17! The powers that be think she is old enough to make independent decisions about birth control but not old enough to decide what to have for lunch. It's a crazy world we live in.

I'd be so livid about that it would make headlines. "Mom murders lunch room staff over three pieces of fruit" mad.

LOL, not quite but I had a similar incident with my very own dd in 4th grade. She has a medical condition that required her to have frequent snacks to maintain certain blood sugar levels and the easiest thing for her to eat and carry was trail mix that happened to contain a few choc chips. Her teacher took it upon herself to confiscate it because of those choc chips and dd nearly ended up in a coma. YUP, don't think that teacher will be interfering again

No-one, and I mean no-one, should take away someone else's food for any reason. You can make suggestions and provide guidelines AND PROVIDE HEALTHY FOOD OPTIONS for those who need it, but if someone wants to subsist on cookies, cake and junk food you can't stop them, only advise against them doing it while providing a better choice.

And did they also take away all the bags of chips and loaded hamburgers and slices of pizza that maybe some of the other kids had?

Christine - too true!

I understand the 'if you see something, say something'. A reasonable opening for conversation about having just fruit. Taking it is just unacceptable. At any age. Fruit is expensive and hard enough on the grocery bills for parents keeping healthy food available for their children.
I never ate lunch in high school. I had breakfast with my dad, usually grapenuts, spit a banana, split a grapefruit, hard boiled egg. Mom was always rushing around and just had toast. The school lunch offerings were disgusting. I just packed snacks like homemade trail mix and a yogurt. Sometimes tuna or pb and honey but only ate when a bit hungry. I played all sports available so small snacks were just healthier for digestion being so active.
Always had big meals for dinner after practice.
In first grade, (some things are never forgotten), i had a mean old teacher prepping for retirement, that scolded me for my lunches...maybe i was a picky eater but did not like the traditional soggy sandwich. I like celery, carrots, and crackers with peanut butter and cheeses. Grapes and apple slices. Tuna plain, ham plain, hated mayo. All had to be packed separate, not touching, (lol), and i would make my selections as i wanted at the moment. Fresh, not soggy. This teacher thought that was not a proper lunch even though it was the same ingredients. Weird. I was shy and terrified of her. She also tried to change me as a left handed child. Squeezing that pencil in my right hand over and over.
My mother taught school for 30 yrs. She sent my dad to have a talk with her.

If a child is withdrawn and depressed, not social, over-weight or under-weight, at any age, i could see a concern, but not a whim aggressive taking of any food, ever.