??? Why? Do you know how many people still buy Mickey D’s for their kids? If mom and dad aren’t going to buy the fruit for their kids then I’m sure the kid aren’t going to eat the fruit at school. The first thing kids throw away out of their lunch is the apple. Usually at another kid.

Why doesn’t every school have a true cafeteria where we can ensure kids are fed wholesome, nutritious food?!

Kids come to school without lunches, live off chips & junk.

Put it to the people of BC upgrade out schools!

These mini/half-way/incomplete programs are band-aids, nothing more.

Do it right! These are our children for goodness sake!

We just had that topic the other day … regarding cafeterias in HS.

We brought our lunch money or our own lunch and ate it at school. Even those who lived 5 minute walk away did that just to be with our friends.

When my chikdren grw up in PG, they were all able to walk to school and come home for lunch. For thiose who could not, there was a room set aside for lunch and they all brought their “lunch pails”. Remember those? Do those even still exist for children and workers?

I agree that one has to do a bit more than preaching. One has to set the environment.

Order in vegetarian pizza for lunch !!!!! ;-)

While they are at it, promote the 100km diet ….. see how long it takes to figure out there are few vegies and fruits available here.

“aside for lunch and they all brought their “lunch pails”. Remember those?”

Yes I see alot of kid’s carrying lunch cans to school with names like Red Bull and Monster on them.

“Why doesn’t every school have a true cafeteria where we can ensure kids are fed wholesome, nutritious food?!”

The same reason why schools are under funded. You already have the baby sitter now you want the tax payers to feed them too?

“Kids come to school without lunches, live off chips & junk.”

Who’s fault is that?

“Do it right! These are our children for goodness sake!”

If mom and dad aren’t supplying the food then it’s time to foster them out to someone that will buy them food. Energy drinks and junk isn’t food.

In the US it doesnt even have to be a vegetarian pizza Gus – two tablespoons of tomato sauce counts as a vegetable serving to them LOL
http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2011/11/18/pizza-school.html

I’ve seen parents rack up $70 orders at McDs, so they could freeze some of it to feed their kids later. Then we wonder why there are so many obese kids nowadays. When you see what parents are buying in the way of groceries for their kids these days, its shocking. No cooking, EVER. Heating up and serving, yes, all the time.

NoWay: “The same reason why schools are under funded. You already have the baby sitter now you want the tax payers to feed them too? “

I’m confused… are teachers babysitters or professional educators? If they’re just babysitters, they’re funded just fine.

Actually JohnnyB if you paid the teachers babysitters wages you would have to pay them a whole lot more.

Not hard to get 30.00 per day per kid. That’s actually pretty darn cheap for daycare. Teachers don’t get anywhere near that wage.

NoWay – that only holds true if the teachers were paying all of the overhead out of pocket. You go to a daycare and pay $30 a day and that person has to supply the building, heat, lights, insurance, food, license fees etc etc… I know people like to compare daycare to teachers salaries but it is a rediculous comparison.

oh I forgot – people that run daycares are also self employed so add in no pensions or benefits or paid vacation time ;)

Don’t forget to add in no corporate tax too, interceptor.

“Not hard to get 30.00 per day per kid. That’s actually pretty darn cheap for daycare. Teachers don’t get anywhere near that wage.”

Day care workers are restricted to children per caregiver rations ranging from about 4:1 to 12:1 I believe from infants through to shool aged children.

So, they may make $30/child per day, but the total per day is limited per person. Also I doubt the worker gets that fee. I suspect it it is the daycare owner, which may be the same person, but then I think they are limited to 6 or so, thus $180/day.

I am not sure how many days a teacher is on the job per year. Let’s say 210 days discounting holidays and vacations during July/August and another 3 weeks for Xmas/Easter.

That rounds out to 200 days on the job at $180 for the home based daycare worker which works out to $36,000/year which, I believe, is less than the starting salary for a teacher.

I need a better example with some real figures to be able to compare a fully employed day care worker to a fully employed teacher. I doubt the daycare worker will be better off.

That figure in the 4th paragraph should be 200 days not 210.

Wow………..its amazing how a headline about fruits and vegetables become a discussion about the monetary value of a babysitter? If the posters ate more fruits and vegetables themselves maybe they would be able to stay on task better :)

@yellowcanoe – Quite often in conversation, the topic will change. Try to keep up.

I’m glad others responded to Noways comment about daycare. I had to do a double take on that one.

Now why do they limit daycare caregivers to 4:1 or 12:1 ratio? Think about that!

30.00/day per kid would be what someone would pay cash under the table to an illegal daycare. There are alot of them out there. Real daycare isn’t anywhere near that dollar value. Just look up the “Y” to see what they charge.

Back to the fruit! You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink! Proper nutrition starts at home. Put a box of apples and a box of fries in a classroom in any school and watch what happens.