More public schools dish up 3 meals a day

[Judi Lynn]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Tx4obama (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

More public schools dish up 3 meals a day
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | Associated Press – 14 mins ago.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Too often it is after the fact that teachers discover their students are worrying less about math and reading and more about where the next meal comes from.

So Doug White, principal of Garfield Elementary School in inner-city Kansas City, was relieved when his school, like many across the country, began offering dinner to students enrolled in after-school child-care or tutoring programs.

With breakfast and lunch already provided for poor students, many children now are getting all their meals at school.

"When you know about those situations those kids are bringing into the school and we are asking them to sit down and concentrate and do their work, and they might be hungry and we haven't been made aware of it yet — we definitely want to do everything we can to help the kids," White said.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/more-public-schools-dish-3-meals-day-190309968.html

[cstanleytech]

1. I'm not complaining about this since my brothers and I were in a similar

situation 30+ years ago since our father abandoned us and our mother struggled to support us on her own but it does make me wonder if this is the best thing to do really? By that I just mean if the kids have to be fed how bad is it for their parents and or siblings? Perhaps they should look at extending the program to provide such assistance to the entire family? After all no one should be forced to go hungry.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. I know, at least in our district here, a lot of these programs

go hand in hand with a pantry of sorts...where boxes of food are given to the parents. I can't say that's the situation everywhere.

Some food is better than no food.

[BOHICA12]

3. Is the loss of home-economic skills partially to blame?

And I'm not trying to be sexist, but the ability to take inexpensive ingredients and feed a family is something handed down between generations. Homelessness trumps all that, I know, but how many of us could stretch 16 weekly meals out of $60 to $100? Our grandparents could and often did.

[tabasco]

4. No.

Next question.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. No.

It's called poverty.

[BOHICA12]

8. Poverty it is ....

... perhaps its the inability to access food sources sufficient to plan and prepare. But the ability to stretch a food budget was always a topic and source of a strange sort of pride amongst my parents and their parents - all products of the Great Depression. So, is this a lost skill?

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Soon to be banned by the GOP

Since they hate children and the poor I can't see them staying quiet on this for long.

We have a state rep here who has already said he wants to ban ALL free meals at school. And he accused teachers of helping parents cheat on free lunch applications.

Note the hypocrisy in the GOP approving of USDA subsidies to wealthy farmers (many of them in Congress) yet if the USDA spends LESS feeding children it's considered wrong.

[elleng]

7. Waiting for this.

[mopinko]

9. i think this sends a deeply comforting message to kids.

it is the message that civilized societies make sure children get.

[Tx4obama]

10. Locking. Not LBN

Please consider reposting in GD, or Good Reads, etc.

Thank you.