Okay, here we go...I am now stepping onto my soap box. Bear with me, please...
Ever since the new lunch guidelines have gone into effect, thanks to Mrs. Obama's platform for healthy eating, I have heard/read numerous complaints about the portion sizes that kids are served for their noon meal at school. I have not personally eat a school lunch in quite some time, and I don't know what the portion sizes are exactly. I do know that I am thrilled that students are required to have fruit and veggies on their plate. Granted, that does not guarantee the child will actually eat the fruits and/or veggies...BUT at least they are being exposed to healthier choices. Honestly, I believer that should start at home, not school. If we are truly going to deal with the "obesity epidemic," then we are going to have to do more than put a spoonful of broccoli and an apple on a child's lunch tray.
Rabbit trail...that's not even the soap box I want to get on, at least not right now. Back to my main point. Must. focus. and. stay. on. topic.
My problem is not actually with the new guidelines at all. Instead, I am struggling with people's response to them. When I hear/read things like, "I'm starving," it's like nails on a chalkboard. It grates on my nerves, but more than that, it pulls at my heart strings. When I taught fifth grade, one of the first things I told my students was that they were never, ever to say, "I'm starving." At least not while in my class, or in the very least, in my presence. I went on to explain that I was pretty sure most of them had eaten breakfast that morning before coming to school, and if not, it's was more than likely a choice they made rather than not being able to eat because there wasn't food in the fridge/cupboards. I also assumed that most, if not all of them, would have supper that night. In between those two meals, they would ALL have lunch at school -- whether they packed their own food or ate what the school cafeteria was serving that particular day. Many of them would even have a snack when they got home from school, before eating their evening meal. Yeah, not starving. Not even close.
I am not trying to be legalistic or anything like that. I totally understand that, "I'm starving" is just a phase, a casual expression used without thought to the true meaning of the words. That doesn't make it okay, however.
You see, I have personally seen starving children. Having lived in a third world country for nearly two years and being surrounded by utter poverty, my perspective on life changed drastically. After you have witnessed children on the street, every rib showing, you tend to look at things a bit differently. You walk into Wal-Mart or Dillons or Hy-Vee and get overwhelmed with the aisles and aisles of food in front of you. You remember those children who didn't know for sure where their next meal would come from or when they would have the opportunity to eat again. You see the eyes of the mother who is unable to comfort her child's rumbling, grumbling, hurting tummy.
I was going to "forgive" people's comments and tell myself yet again, "They don't mean it. They're not being literal. They're not looking at things the way I might." Then, this morning, I saw a video on facebook that "pushed me over the edge." I know they're just trying to be funny. But they're not thinking about the pictures of the people I saw in a mailing I received earlier this week about children who are truly starving. They're not acknowledging the countless homeless people or those struggling to make ends meet and can't afford groceries right here in our own country, our own communities, our own neighborhoods. In their humor, they are making light of those who really are hungry.
And I just can't stand by and not say anything. I tried, but just couldn't. Hence, this blog post.
Please hear me though. I am not denying that you may not feel as full as you would like after eating the school lunch you were served today. I am not arguing that you personally would like more food on your plate, that you need the energy to play your sports or do whatever activities you are involved in on a daily basis. I am simply asking you to please think about your word choice. And to appreciate all that you do have. That you had lunch at all is more than the 925 MILLION PEOPLE who may have not eaten anything today, or yesterday, and are truly hungry.
This is a battle I fight every day. When Coralyn whines, "I'm hungry, Mommy," just twenty minutes after she finished her breakfast, I want to scream. I am still figuring out how to teach her the realities of life, in a way that an almost three-year old can understand. If you know how to go about doing that, I would love your help/advice/tips. For now, I am dealing with a lot of tears and "senseless" crying as I refuse to give into her requests for snack after snack after snack.
Okay, I will now step off my soap box, and your toes. Thank you for listening to me. Hopefully you heard my heart, not just the words I wrote.
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