Another layer of incredulity

Day three has come and gone in the 2009/2010 school year. The September day was gorgeous with a brilliant blue sky, cool breezes and warm sun. Every other tree at the front of the school showed just a tease of orange in leafy clumps, making a promise that more delightful colors would soon burst forth. Only one child was stung this morning in the bus loop instead of yesterday's three. The bus loop waiting time lessened by 15 minutes or so. These were all good things on day three!

The cafeteria has changed for the better! With recent rennovations, the once cavernous, room with ugly gray walls and government surplus high fat, high sugar, high carb food has been transformed. Now there are hot meals served. We have an actual cook! Lovely colors are displayed on walls and floors and the ear-splitting roar of hundreds of elementary children is muted with special walls. I choose to believe that a quieter, calmer cafeteria will lead to quieter, calmer students. Now maybe we can work on manners. Manners need to be taught and of course this starts at home. Parents should not wait for the school to tackle manners. Manners, are after all, extremely difficult to teach to hundreds of children simultaneously. For example, I would like to see less yelling and more conversation in the cafeteria. I would like children to learn to chew with mouths closed. I would like to see children learn to handle knives, forks, spoons and napkins. More than anything, I would like to encourage children to try various foods before they toss them unopened or unpeeled into the garbage. A colleague of mine wandered through the cafeteria on day three and noted how many fresh and unbruised bananas had been tossed into the trash. Had I had more time that day, I would have gone to the cafeteria and rescued as many bananas as I could. I am not a huge banana fan but I do use them all the time to bake banana bread.

In past years, teachers in our district have been forbidden from salvaging food thrown away in the cafeteria. The reason for this backward policy is unclear. The policy is wasteful and unacceptable. There is something wrong when thousands of dollars are spent on improving a cafeteria and the healthy food is tossed away. There is something wrong when pre-packaged junk food is discarded and a proper cook is hired, yet pints and pints of milk are drained down the sink daily. We need to work actively to promote better health for our children. We live and work in a county with excessively high percentages of childhood diabetes and obesity. Fresh fruits and healthy foods should not be tossed into the garbage. One cannot force a child to eat something but the food need not be wasted. I have every intention of rescuing perfectly edible food in the future. Perhaps I shall deliver several loaves of fresh banana bread to Central Office.