Comments on: School Food: Japanese Style

By: A planner who favors edible, eco education, and risk

A planner who favors edible, eco education, and risk — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:26:20 +0000

[...] School Food Japanese Style [...]

By: June Taylor’s Artisan Way With Fruit

June Taylor’s Artisan Way With Fruit — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:32:54 +0000

[...] School Food: Japanese Style [...]

By: Sarah Henry

Sarah Henry — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:21:39 +0000

Hi RookieMom,

Lovely to see you here and nice to know you follow me on Berkeleyside as well.

Congrats on your incoming BUSD kindergartner. I’m not sure what you’ve heard about Berkeley public school lunch, but it’s about as good as it gets. Salad bar, organic milk & meat, whole grains, hot foods filled with veggies. No chocolate milk or highly processed, packaged crap here.

It’s not perfect, of course, but Ann Cooper, Bonnie Christensen and crew have done their very best to overhaul cafeteria food. Click on the school food link on my blog to read back stories about BUSD lunches.

Snack, which is provided by family & caregivers, is another story. Teachers do their best to provide guidelines for appropriate food but they’re beholden to whatever comes in with the kids. Sometimes, though not frequently in our experience, that can be rubbish. If your kid is already a healthy eater, he may just pass on junk snack that doesn’t appeal (or delight in scarfing down some forbidden food;)

By: RookieMom Whitney

RookieMom Whitney — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:05:09 +0000

Hi Sarah, I read your contributions on Berkeleyside; I am the co-founder of 510families.com and RookieMoms.com. My son is about to enter the Berkeley public school system and I am just realizing that he’s going to be exposed to all kinds of things that we consider unacceptable for lunch. Any words of wisdom on how to arm him to maintain perspective on that? I’m wondering if I should prep him ahead of time.
RookieMom Whitney´s last [type] ..Erin&8217s Two Very Rookie Summers

By: Alisa Bowman

Alisa Bowman — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:12:39 +0000

I really hope US schools start to catch up to these others ways of doing things. It’s so sad what passes for “edible” in this country.
Alisa Bowman´s last [type] ..The Hidden Camera Marriage

By: Sarah Henry

Sarah Henry — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:27:52 +0000

Hey Melanie, Well, for starters, don’t blame yourself. Maybe your kids have other adults in their lives who do eat a more “white bread” diet, and your girls gravitate to that way of eating.

I have a good friend who has three kids. One child has always been a healthy and adventurous eater. One pretty much survives on chicken nuggets alone. One is picky but has a wider repertoire. Same parents, same food gets served up at night. Go figure.

By: Sarah Henry

Sarah Henry — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:22:58 +0000

I pack my kid’s lunch too, Claudine. And sometimes he does trade with his buddy — but it’s often for something relatively healthy — so I don’t sweat that too much.

By: Melanie Haiken

Melanie Haiken — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:35:20 +0000

The one thing I don’t understand is why “modeling” good eating hasn’t worked better, at least in my case. I’m a super healthy eater – love salads, veggies, fruits, and don’t eat much meat. But my kids, despite all my attempts, insist on eating a much more “white bread” type of diet, and as they get older (they are 14 and 17) I have less and less influence. I just don’t get it!

By: Claudine M Jalajas

Claudine M Jalajas — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:30:10 +0000

It’s not easy. I work hard to not serve anything pre-packaged or unhealthy. Yet it’s constantly in their faces. What’s a mom to do? I know that I hated school lunches when I was a kid and my French mom always packed my lunch. I often pack my kids’ lunches but I always wonder if they eat it or trade it away.
Claudine M Jalajas´s last [type] ..Learning To Fly

By: Sarah Henry

Sarah Henry — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:39:26 +0000

I love this cross-cultural story about connecting around food with your kids. Thanks for sharing, MyKidsEatSquid (and mochi balls and tofu too!)